Final report on aquaculture (Part A)

In consideration of: • the lack of organic juveniles reported by some MS; • the restriction on the movement of live animals between countries and regions based on the Council Directive (EC) No 88/20062; • the reluctance of farmers to introduce on their farms animals which could be unsuitable for the local (geographical) environment (e.g. genetic or population traits, resistance to different diseases, growth performances, reproductive cycle, behavioural characteristics, etc.); and • the lack in the Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/20083 of specific organic rules for managing the life cycle stage between the hatching and the weaning of juveniles, the Group supports the use of non-organic juveniles, for on-growing purposes, when organic aquaculture juvenile animals are not available, subject to the following restrictions/recommendations: a) Organic juveniles should be used when available. b) At least the latter two thirds of the duration of the production cycle shall be managed under organic management (Article 25(e)(2) of Commission Regylation (EC) No 889/2008). c) After the approval of specific organic rules for the life cycle stage between hatching and weaning of juveniles, a transitional period may be established to allow farmers to comply with the new rules. Furthermore, the Group supports the creation of a database on the availability of organic juveniles produced in each country, comparable to the seed database (Article 48 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008).

Transparency of the use of non-organic juveniles should be ensured in such a database.