OREANDA-NEWS. As Cargill expands its presence in aquaculture, two of the company’s feed mills were recognized with the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification. The two feed mills, the Bufalo, Villanueva facility in Honduras and the Masaya, Carretera facility in Nicaragua, can now provide customers four-star BAP-certified feed, the highest designation in the BAP program.

Best Aquaculture Practices, a division of the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA), is an international certification program based on achievable, science-based and continuously improved performance standards for the entire aquaculture supply chain, from farms and hatcheries to processing plants and feed mills.

“Important to both our customers and the consumers they serve, the standards set by BAP address every element of responsible aquaculture, such as environmental responsibility, social responsibility, animal welfare, food safety and traceability, and are benchmarked against the latest Global Food Safety Initiative food-safety requirements,” said Gerardo Quintero, managing director of Cargill’s compound feed business in Central America.

“In Cargill’s animal nutrition business, we have a passion for aquaculture and a strong commitment to growing this business segment,” said Mario Chong, business development manager for Cargill’s aquaculture business in Central America. “By becoming BAP-certified in Honduras and Nicaragua, we can fuel that growth and demonstrate our commitment to our customers by delivering this additional benefit.”

“We are very excited with the growth and acceptance of the BAP program in both Central and South America,” said Peter Redmond, BAP vice president of market development. “The industry has recognized and reacted strongly to the fact that aquaculture is a supply chain in production, primarily starting with the feed mill and ending up with the processor. Cargill’s leadership position on this is a very bold move and enhances the value and importance of four-star BAP product being delivered to the actual marketplace, not a literary one.”