The Sustainable Shrimp Partnership (SSP) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) presented at AquaExpo El Oro the 22 farms that participated in SSP Improvement Program and worked towards achieving the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standard requirements to demonstrate a higher environmental and social performance. SSP Improvement Program was co-financed by the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), and WWF, SSP Advisory Board Members.

The improvement program began by benchmarking farm performance against a number of environmental and social indicators to establish their current performance, identifying opportunities for improvements. Farmers were trained in environmental and legal requirements in Ecuador, good aquaculture practices and requirements for ASC certification and received pre-audits throughout the program to determine the adoption of improvement recommendations.

As part of the Program, Biodiversity and Social Impact Assessments for the 22 farms were conducted to obtain ASC standard.

“The objective of this program was to improve farm sustainability performance, make them more efficient and more competitive on international markets,” said Pamela Nath, SSP director. “Small farmers do not always have the resources to access training and comply the requirements that can lead them to obtain an international certification, through our program now they are ready to achieve it”.