Implications of multiple national certification standards for Thai shrimp aquaculture

• Published in: Aquaculture 2018-08, Vol.493, p.319-327
• Main Authors: Samerwong, Phatra, Bush, Simon R., Oosterveer, Peter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accessibility; Certification development; Credibility; Improvement; National certification; Shrimp aquaculture; Thailand
• ISSN: 0044-8486; 1873-5622
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2018.01.019

Uptake of the the government of Thailand's three national certification standards for shrimp aquaculture (CoC, GAP and GAP-7401) has remained limited. Using the Devil's Triangle framework, which highlights tradeoffs between accessibility, credibility and improvement, this paper examines the Thai government's rationale for developing these national certification standards, and compares this rationale with farmers' perceptions surrounding standard compliance. The findings demonstrate that different groups of farmers experience different tradeoffs between accessibility, credibility and improvement under each of the three standards. The paper concludes that improved coordination of these national certification standards could promote credible and inclusive step-wise improvement pathways for the Thai shrimp industry as a whole. •The Thai government has developed three different national certification standards for shrimp aquaculture.•None of theser standards effectively balance participation, improvement and credibility•Farmers’ decision for compliance is based on their understanding of improvement and the benefits standard offer them.•Step-wise coordination between standards could enable more inclusive improvement across the Thai shrimp aquaculture sector