BAP Team in Ecuador to Tout Market Access, Feed Mill Standards

Three members of the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) division visited Ecuador in October to participate in a conference and to hold two workshops — one regarding the BAP feed mill standards and the other involving food safety.

BAP VP of Market Development Peter Redmond, BAP Director Bill More and Marcos Moya, head of BAP’s expansion team in Latin America and Europe, attended the XVI Congreso Ecuatoriano de Acuicultura & AquaExpo 2014 in Guayaquil, Ecuador, from Oct. 20 to 23.

Redmond took the opportunity to visit Ecuadorian seafood exporters to talk to them about the advantages of BAP certification, especially as it pertains to accessing the European and Asian markets. He also met with Jose Antonio Campusano, general manager of the Aquaculture Ecuadorian National Chamber, to discuss opportunities for collaboration and efforts to promote Ecuadorian shrimp from BAP-certified facilities in international markets.

Also in Ecuador, Moya held two successful workshops. One was held in at the feed mill of INBALNOR, one of Ecuador’s largest aquafeed producers, in El Milagro, Guayaquil. The workshop focused on the implementation of the BAP feed mill standards in the INBALNOR facility.

Kathya Tennison, Nicovita’s quality control manager, and Fabricio Vargas, general manager of INBALNOR, expressed their support for the BAP program as well as their intention to pursue BAP certification in early 2015. Also attending the workshop were Production Manager Cesar Zamudio, Quality Control Manager Grace Jimenez and 10 other team members.

Initiated by the National Aquaculture Chamber of Ecuador and led by Moya, the other workshop involved food safety, part of an ongoing program to communicate the latest advancements in food safety to Ecuador’s aquaculture industry.