Technical Audits:  A quick explanation

• review and analysis of your production system

• evaluation of production methodology

• contrasted with best management practices and successful projects elsewhere

• geared towards increasing profitability and ensuring sustainability

If you depend on a farm or group of farms for a consistent source of high quality product you can benefit from a technical audit. 

If you are experiencing problems with growth, poor or inconsistent survival, high or variable feed consumption, disease problems (bacterial, viral, parasitic, environmental), or water quality issues that are contributing to poor performance of hatcheries and farms you can use a technical audit.  If everything is going smoothly but your costs of production are high, you need a technical audit.  If you are evaluating new technologies where cost benefits are essential for determining their utility, you need a technical audit.  If you are considering being certified by the Aquaculture Certification Council but are unsure if your are compliant, as an ACC certifier I can combine a technical audit with an audit that is intended to ensure that you are aware of what you need to do to comply before you are audited. 

All farms and hatcheries should have periodic technical audits by an external qualified party to verify that the technical aspects of the operation are using up to date technology.   The number one reason is to protect the investment.   Independent audits can assist owners and staff in thinking outside of the box, a critical component for problem solving.  An outside perspective can often see things that those individuals in the middle of the problem can not.  An unbiased evaluation of protocols, production technology and economics of production ensures that profits can be maximized.

The first step is a systematic examination of all facets of the production process starting with the water intake systems and ending with harvest protocols.  For maturation facilities and hatcheries all aspects of culture are considered including water treatment and water usage rates and philosophies, facility design and layout, biosecurity, production of eggs, fry  and nauplii, stocking of tanks, feeding strategies, animal husbandry, pathogen testing, harvesting and packaging, etc. 

This is a thorough and comprehensive overview of those factors that contribute to the success or failure in productivity. 

Farm management is assessed in a similar manner.  After the inspection, a report is prepared in which the protocols that are in place are reviewed and compared with industry norms and suggestions are made as to how to best modify those protocols that may deviate from the norm or potentially interfere with the optimization of productivity.  Where the uses of particular products or protocols are contra-indicated this is pointed out.  The goal is to teach optimized methods of production improve productivity and ensure sustainability.  

No it is not.  The purpose of the audit is to identity those areas that can be improved upon and work together to bring about the changes that positively impact productivity.  Where standard operating procedures deviate from the industry norms or where there are underlying issues that are contributing to global problems, the focus is to assist in implementing constructive change to protect the owners investment not to focus on individual shortcomings.