"This is a huge step forward in Jade Tiger Abalone's journey to become the best possible aquaculture operation," said Anton Krsinich, General Manager of Jade Tiger Abalone.
"Certification is about minimising our environmental impact, providing good working conditions for our employees and being a good neighbour. We are incredibly proud of this achievement. Our customers in Asia are increasingly seeking high quality, cleanly produced seafood, the accreditation process and maintaining this standard will help us retain and grow our market share.
"We have ongoing conversations with our local community about how we can be the best possible neighbor. We remain committed to continuous improvement and protecting our local environment is something our team values highly."
The ASC Abalone Standard was finalised in 2012 by the Abalone Aquaculture Dialogues, which was initiated in 2010. The abalone standard addresses the potential adverse social and environmental impacts related to abalone aquaculture such as farm siting, feed, biosecurity, ecosystem effects, waste management and social responsibility.
"I am delighted to welcome the first certified abalone farm to the ASC programme," said Chris Ninnes, ASC's CEO.
"To help consumers choose responsibly farmed seafood it is important to expand the offer of certified produce available. Now I look forward to the first ASC labelled abalone entering the market."
By committing to certification, Jade Tiger Abalone has opened itself to third-party evaluation in areas of energy and water use, local water quality impacts, and employment practices. SCS Global Services (SCS), a leading third-party certification body, completed the assessment of the Indented Head Farm.
"We are very pleased that Jade Tiger Abalone has committed to ASC and achieved certification," said Dr Sabine Daume, SCS's Regional Director of Sustainable Seafood for Australasia.
"Jade Tiger has shown great leadership by realizing the need for tight biosecurity and stringent health surveillance programs at their farm and here in Australia."
