Atlantic Aqua Farms — a fully integrated, rope-cultured mussel farming and processing company based in Prince Edward Island, Canada — is the first mussel farm in the world to attain Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification since the completion of the BAP mussel farm standards in August, the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) has announced.
“As leaders in the farming and processing of mussels, we constantly strive to maintain the highest industry standards of environmental stewardship, quality, food safety and customer service,” said Terry Ennis, president and ceo of the Orwell Cove-based company. “Our entire team is passionate about producing the best quality mussels on the market, and we aim to be the consumer’s first choice for mussels every day.”
Established in 1989, Atlantic Aqua Farms is North America’s largest rope-grown mussel farming and processing company, and the continent’s No. 1 supplier of premium, live mussels. Its other product forms include frozen mussels packs, which are marketed to retail and foodservice customers under the Canadian Cove brand.
The new BAP mussel farm standards (which are available to view at www.gaalliance.org/cmsAdmin/uploads/bap-musself-813.pdf.) encompass all production systems for mussels, including cultivation on the seabed or on poles, and suspended cultures such as long-line culture and raft-and-rack culture. They also cover various mussel species, including blue mussels, Mediterranean mussels, Chilean mussels, New Zealand Greenshell mussels and Asian green mussels.
The addition of BAP mussel farm standards represents a key advancement for the program, as the new standards will be used as a template for broader mollusk farm standards that cover clams, oysters, scallops and abalone. Currently, more than 600 aquaculture facilities worldwide are BAP certified.
