FIS - Worldnews - First Middle East aquaculture company gets BAP certification
Barramundi. (Photo: National Aquaculture Group)
First Middle East aquaculture company gets BAP certification
SAUDI ARABIA
Friday, January 16, 2015, 22:10 (GMT + 9)
National Aquaculture Group (NAQUA) is the Middle East’s first company to earn
Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification. It’s also one of only 15 companies worldwide to attain four-star BAP status, denoting that its processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills are all BAP certified, the
Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) has announced.
NAQUA is based in Al Laith, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and its seafood products are exported to markets worldwide. The company’s processing plant, shrimp farm, barramundi farm, shrimp hatchery and shrimp and barramundi feed mill all earned BAP certification.
NAQUA is now qualified to offer four-star BAP shrimp and three-star BAP barramundi. It is the world's first company eligible to offer three-star BAP barramundi.
“Today we stand on a new horizon after receiving this global recognition with the BAP certification,” said engineer Ahmed R. AlBallaa, managing director of NAQUA. “This assures us that our steady efforts were correct and still moving forward in the right path. We are proud to contribute to the food security for our citizens by distributing our products in broader bands in the local market, and by exploring new international markets. We are serving our customers with guaranteed quality seafood products that have become internationally recognized.”
Added Nasir Hameed, director of corporate quality and sustainability, highlighted, “At National Aquaculture Group, we pursue a strong approach on high quality and food safety, environment and organization sustainability. NAQUA’s BAP certification is a proof of company’s compliance toward all global regulatory and industrial norms for a sustainable aquaculture system. NAQUA is committed to produce the best possible quality of aquaculture products for our customers and consumers, and BAP certification is a big step to fulfill our promise.”
NAQUA is one of the world's largest fully integrated marine aquaculture operations of its kind, with more than 2,500 employees and an approximate annual production capacity of 35,000 tonnes of shrimp and 100,000 tonnes of fish. The privately owned company produces vannamei shrimp and barramundi, in addition to sea cucumber, algae and artemia products. Its farms are located in the Red Sea of Saudi Arabia, 180 kilometers south of Jeddah, near Al Leith. It has 16 farms for shrimp and three circular cage farms for fish consisting of 14 to 24 cages per site.
Additionally, NAQUA is a founder member of GAA and fully committed to the highest standards for best aquaculture practices. In addition to BAP certification, the company's international certification and recognitions include
BRC, 22000:2005 ISO 9001: 2008, ISO 14001 and
HACCP certification.
