There are two emerging global trends in the production and sale of seafood evident today that the prospective commercial aquaculture projects should understand. They are: Organic Certification and Best Practices Certification. These trends are extensions of existing long-term trends in terrestrial agriculture and livestock food production and are indicators that developed-world consumers are becoming more concerned about health and where their food comes from and how it is grown. In the U.S., these certifications are currently optional for aquaculture farmers; however, major seafood buyers are beginning to require some sort of certification from their sources, thus putting pressure on producers to participate.

In essence, the two concepts generally involve aquaculture farmers adopting certain required processes and procedures to grow their product. Then an independent third party, either government or an approved/accepted private group, inspects and certifies that the product has met these required growing standards. The farmer may then use a special label or logo to show consumers and the marketplace that the farm has been certified. Expectations are that by meeting these standards and displaying this “eco label” or brand, a farmer may charge a premium for the product.

This section briefly introduces each concept, its implantation status with respect to U.S. and global aquaculture, and where an interested business can go to find more information.