A question has come up about Sakon Farm Body of Person farm because it has two different types of culture – cage and pond. The other farm in the IOM, Nin Development Farm, has cage culture but no pond culture. These two farms cannot be in an IOM together. Nin Development Farm can be in an IOM with other farms that have cage culture for tilapia if some can be found but Sakon Farm Body of Person can only be registered as a single farm because it has two types of culture. We do not allow farms to be broken up into two separate farms for purposes of certification if they are indeed one farm and in the IOM program, all farms must be using the same type of culture and culturing the same species, which these are.
After discussing this problem with the BAP staff, especially Ken Corpron and William More, it was decided to do the following. To solve this problem this year, we are asking that SGS issue two certificates and each will be certified as a single farm. We will not charge you the fees of a single farm, which are a little higher than an IOM per farm and will stay with the IOM farm fee only for this year. Next year, they will have to pay the single farm fees unless Nin Development can find another farm to be certified with to form an IOM (one with cage culture production).
We hope this will be a solution that you will agree to for this year because there is no other solution to the problem – and it will give you a year to decide what you want to do next year with the farms.
Please let me know if you have any further questions and please let us know of your decision.
Best regards,