World Wildlife Fund

Aerators operating in an aquaculture pond to ensure water is oxygenated
© René Benguerel

Through a series of roundtables, called Aquaculture Dialogues, WWF works with farmers, retailers, NGOs, scientists and other aquaculture industry stakeholders worldwide to develop standards for responsible aquaculture. The standards will minmize the key environmental and social impacts associated with aquaculture.

More than two dozen standards or certification programs for aquaculture exist. However, none of the programs are effective at making the aquaculture industry more sustainable. The standards created by the Aquaculture Dialogues will be credible because they will be:

• Science-based: The Dialogue standards are being developed with input from the world’s leading aquaculture scientists and will be updated over time to reflect the newest scientific findings.
• Performance-based: The standards will not tell producers what practices to use to reduce or eliminate the impacts of aquaculture. Rather, the standards will provide targets to reach if producers want to address the impacts. How they do so will be their choice. This will encourage innovation and continual improvement on the farm.
• Metrics-based. By being measurable, the standards will be objective and, therefore, more credible.
• Created by a diverse and balanced group of stakeholders. More than 1,000 people are participating in the Dialogues because they want something different – and more sustainable – than what is out there. They have a stake in the outcome.
• Focused on minimizing or eliminating the key environmental and social impacts of aquaculture, not a laundry list of impacts.
• Compliant with the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labeling Alliance.

The goal of the Dialogues is to create draft standards for 12 aquaculture species by the beginning of 2010. When finalized, the standards will be given to a new organization, to be co-founded by WWF, that will be responsible for working with independent, third party entities to certify farms that are in compliance with the standards. Click here for more information about this organization.

The Aquaculture Dialogues build off of previous work done by WWF. Since the early 1990s, WWF has spearheaded the creation of certification programs for forestry (the Forestry Stewardship Council), fisheries (the Marine Stewardship Council), agriculture (Protected Harvest) and climate (the Climate Savers Program).

Learn more

• Dialogue process guidance document
  English | French | Spanish | Thai
• Aquaculture Dialogues overview fact sheet
  English | Spanish
• Find out how WWF is engaging with business in aquaculture

For more information, please contact us at aquacultureinfo@wwfus.org