Best Aquaculture Practices

1. Review BAP Standards: Download and review the relevant BAP standard(s) for your facility type — Farm, Hatchery, Feed Mill, or Processing Plant — from the Global Seafood Alliance website (globalseafood.org). Each standard outlines specific requirements across environmental, social, food safety, and traceability pillars.

1. Conduct a Self-Assessment / Gap Analysis: Compare your current facility practices against the BAP standard requirements. Identify gaps in documentation, operational procedures, worker welfare policies, environmental controls, and food safety systems that need to be addressed before an audit.

1. Implement Corrective Measures: Address identified gaps by updating operational procedures, training staff, improving record-keeping systems, and making any necessary physical or process changes to meet BAP requirements.

1. Select an Accredited Certification Body: Choose an accredited third-party certifier approved by the Aquaculture Certification Council (ACC). A list of approved certifiers is available on the BAP website. Contact your chosen certifier to initiate the application process and schedule an audit.

1. Submit Application and Documentation: Complete the application with your chosen certifier and prepare the required documentation package, including 12 months of operational records, environmental monitoring data, worker welfare records, and food safety documentation.

1. Undergo On-Site Audit: An accredited auditor will conduct an on-site inspection of your facility, reviewing records, interviewing staff, and collecting environmental and product samples. The audit assesses conformance across all BAP standard requirements.

1. Address Non-Conformances: If the auditor identifies non-conformances, you will be given a specified timeframe to implement corrective actions and provide evidence of resolution. Major non-conformances must be resolved before certification can be granted.

1. Receive Certification and Display the BAP Mark: Once conformance is confirmed, your facility receives BAP certification and is listed on the public BAP certified facilities registry. You may then use the BAP Certified mark on packaging and marketing materials, and pursue additional stars by certifying other parts of your supply chain.

BAP standards evaluate facilities across four core pillars, each with specific performance and documentation requirements:

Environmental Responsibility covers effluent and water quality management, chemical and drug use, habitat conservation, biodiversity protection, and responsible use of wild fish in feed. Farms are assessed on their impact on surrounding ecosystems, including mangrove protection, sediment management, and disease prevention practices that could affect wild populations.

Social Responsibility addresses worker rights and welfare, including fair wages, safe working conditions, prohibition of child and forced labor, freedom of association, and access to grievance mechanisms. Community relations and engagement with local stakeholders are also evaluated. This pillar aligns with internationally recognized labor standards such as those of the ILO.

Food Safety examines the use of veterinary medicines, antibiotics, and chemicals — including withdrawal periods and prohibited substance controls — as well as HACCP-based food safety management systems, traceability within the facility, and hygiene and sanitation practices. Processing plants face particularly rigorous food safety requirements.

Traceability requires facilities to demonstrate chain-of-custody documentation that links certified product back through the supply chain. This is the basis of the BAP multi-star system: a product can earn 1 to 4 stars depending on how many supply chain segments (processing plant, farm, hatchery, feed mill) are BAP certified. Each additional certified link in the supply chain earns an additional star, giving buyers a transparent measure of supply chain verification depth.

BAP is one of the most widely adopted aquaculture certification programs globally, particularly dominant in North American and European retail and foodservice markets. As of the mid-2020s, BAP has certified thousands of facilities across more than 35 countries, covering a broad range of species including shrimp, salmon, tilapia, catfish, and bivalves. Its multi-star system is uniquely positioned to reward supply chain integration, making it attractive to large-scale producers and processors seeking to differentiate their products in competitive export markets.

In terms of market recognition, BAP is frequently listed alongside the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) as one of the two leading credible aquaculture certification programs. ASC tends to be more prevalent in European retail markets and is often preferred by buyers with strong NGO relationships, while BAP has historically had stronger penetration in North American retail and foodservice. Both programs are recognized by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI), which benchmarks seafood certification programs against the FAO's Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. This GSSI recognition is an important credibility signal for buyers and procurement teams.

Demand for BAP certification has grown steadily alongside broader consumer and regulatory pressure for sustainable seafood sourcing. Major retailers including Walmart, Costco, and Whole Foods have incorporated BAP (or equivalent) certification into their seafood procurement policies, creating strong market pull for producers. The program has also expanded its standards to cover feed mills, reflecting growing scrutiny of upstream supply chain impacts. Challenges include the cost burden for smaller producers in developing countries and ongoing NGO scrutiny of aquaculture's environmental footprint, which keeps pressure on BAP to continually strengthen its standards.

Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) was established in 2002 by the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA), a nonprofit industry association founded in 1997 to promote responsible aquaculture development. The program was created in response to growing concerns from retailers, NGOs, and consumers about the environmental and social impacts of rapidly expanding global aquaculture — particularly shrimp farming in Asia and Latin America. BAP was designed to provide a credible, third-party verified standard that producers could use to demonstrate responsible practices to international buyers.

In its early years, BAP focused primarily on shrimp farms and processing plants, reflecting the GAA's origins in the shrimp industry. Over time, the program expanded to cover additional species and facility types, including salmon farms, tilapia operations, hatcheries, and feed mills. A significant milestone was the introduction of the multi-star rating system, which incentivizes supply chain integration by awarding additional stars when multiple certified facilities are linked in a single product's supply chain. In 2022, the Global Aquaculture Alliance rebranded as the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) to better reflect its broader mission beyond shrimp and aquaculture. BAP standards have undergone multiple revisions to strengthen requirements and maintain alignment with international benchmarks, including recognition by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI), which benchmarked BAP against FAO standards.