The Global Aquaculture Alliance recognized National Aquaculture Group (NAQUA) with its “Commitment to Excellence” award at Seafood Expo Global (SEG) in Brussels, Belgium, on April 21.

NAQUA was recognized for achieving four-star Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) status in January.

Screen Shot 2015-04-27 at 2.54.31 PMPictured from left to right are Eng. Jaber Mohamed Al-Shehri, deputy minister of the Ministry of Agriculture for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Alsharif Nasser Ali Almansour, chairman of ALSHARQ; Carson Roper, international business development manager for BAP; Eng. Ahmad R. Al-Ballaa, NAQUA managing director; and Michael Fog, NAQUA sales director.

Roper presented the award during a brief ceremony in NAQUA stand (9-4062) at SEG.

Four-star BAP status denotes that the processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills from which a group sources are BAP certified. It’s the highest such achievement in the BAP program.

NAQUA is qualified to offer four-star BAP shrimp and three-star BAP barramundi. It’s the world’s first company eligible to offer three-star BAP barramundi, and it’s the Middle East’s first company to earn BAP certification of any kind.

GAA is among the exhibitors at Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global, the world’s largest seafood trade fair, featuring more than 1,700 exhibiting companies from 75-plus countries.