Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) launched a few days ago its new certification standard for farmed seafood at the Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, Spain. As the global leader in aquaculture certification, ASC is setting the standard for seafood and accelerating change towards responsible seafood farming for fish, farms, people and planet. Aligning the twelve ASC species standards into one global standard, the ASC Farm Standard brings greater consistency to requirements across all species standards.
During the launch, the Farm Standard received industry support from guest speakers representing stakeholders across the supply chain. Over 200 attendees from across the supply chain — including producers, retailers, processors, industry bodies, and media — joined the long-awaited launch, which included support from industry guest speakers.
“Sustainability is no longer a trend; it’s the undeniable future, unfolding now. With the population estimated to reach 10 billion by 2050, and with wild-caught fisheries at capacity, the importance of seafood farming will continue to grow—the environmental and social impacts of our industry must be addressed,” said ASC CEO Chris Ninnes.
And he added: “That is why ASC is driven to accelerate that transformation, not least by championing farms and feed mills that are making Change.”
A Testament to the Power of Collaboration
According to them, the ASC Farm Standard is a testament to the power of collaboration and industry-wide effort which involved public consultations, interviews and surveys. Since 2019, ASC received over 1,100 responses from stakeholders to numerous consultations on proposed ASC Farm Standard content.
ASC Director of Standards and Science Michiel Fransen said: “Built on four pillars — fish, farm, people and planet — the Standard empowers producers to meet regulatory and market demands, enhance farming practices and fish health, prioritize worker and community wellbeing, and protects biodiversity.”
For her part, Sophie Ryan, CEO of the Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) which unites 40% of the global farmed salmon sector described the new standard as both “ambitious yet practical.”
“We see the Standard playing a critical role in guiding our sustainability journey but also being a key marker to our stakeholders of our responsible practices. It is ambitious in its scope and its requirements – continuing to demonstrate its leadership in assessing impact across a holistic spectrum of impacts. Yet it is practical in that it follows a risk-based approach to focus on topics where there is the highest risk and reduce the administrative and cost burden where there is low risk. This is something that is key if we are to focus efforts where it is really needed and not overburden to limit progress,” Ryan added.
Transition Period to Implement Change
Understanding that change takes time and effort, ASC will implement a two-year transition period. While some early adopters are ready to change now, this will allow others the time they need to adapt their practices to fully implement the new standard. The existing ASC species standards will remain operational during this time.
ASC explained that they will work together with producers to with full support in place to ensure a smooth transition and gain their insights into the standard’s practical application and areas for evolution. “Support on offer includes producer training, self-assessment tools, FAQs and targeted, feedback-driven support – as well as the ASC Program Centre to host all program documentation online and increase accessibility,” they explained.
The ASC Program Centre is an all-in-one digital hub for ASC Certification Programs with Farm and Feed core Program documents online in an interactive, user-friendly format. Documents can also be filtered based on exact specification.
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