Setting Credible, Voluntary Standards for Global Aquaculture: CBI Celebrates a Milestone

Send this page

    Aquaculture is booming around the world. About half of the seafood we eat today is grown in a net, a pond, or a tank, and the percentage is growing quickly. Concerns about the impacts of aquaculture on the environment and communities have grown as well. CBI is working with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), fish farmers, advocacy groups and scientists around the world to transform this expanding industry by developing global environmental and social standards.

    Fish Farm in GreeceThe Aquaculture Dialogues take a consensus-based approach to creating credible, voluntary standards for responsible farming of salmon, shrimp, tilapia, mussels, and eight other species. By defining best practice, the initiative aims to shift the entire industry toward more sustainable farming over time. More than 2,000 people, including farmers, conservationists, community activists, academics, and government officials, have participated. Standards for tilapia are complete, and final standards for the remaining species are expected later this year.

    The process is unique because of its global reach, its high level of transparency, its focus on metrics-based standards that measure actual impacts, and its consensus-based decision-making process that brings stakeholders together, enhances the credibility of outcomes and provides an opportunity for creative problem-solving. CBI is providing WWF with overall guidance on the process, and facilitating dialogue and decision making in seven species-specific dialogues. 

    To read more, please click here.

    To see a WWF video about the Dialogues and Tilapia Standards, please click here.