ASC and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership agree to work together
Marine conservation organisation the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, setting out an agreement to work together to help promote sustainable seafood practices.
The memorandum was signed in Barcelona at the Seafood Expo Global trade show. Under the agreement, ASC and SFP have pledged to build on work already carried out on data sharing and aligning information systems. ASC and SFP are currently building a work plan for the next steps of the collaboration.
Chris Ninnes, ASC CEO, said: “We are excited to explore new ways of collaborating with SFP who we have a longstanding and successful history of partnership for many years. By working together on scaling our efforts in the aquaculture improvement space, enhancing the sustainability of the reduction fisheries sector based on ASC Feed Standard requirements and coordinating our market engagement efforts, we aim to leverage our shared work with farmers, feed suppliers and other stakeholders.”
SFP founder and Chief Executive Jim Cannon said: “Our collaboration is a powerful opportunity to increase sustainable aquaculture production. With the ASC, we can innovate and enhance the scope of aquaculture improvement projects so that more producers can improve practices, more government regulators can strengthen governance, and more buyers can find meaningful ways to engage and support improvements.”
ASC runs one of the world’s leading certification schemes for farmed seafood. A key project for the near future is ASC’s Improver Programme to help producers who cannot currently achieve certification improve their farming practices and performance and reach a level that meets certification requirements. ASC and SFP plan to develop a process designating stepwise improvements across at least four impact area modules (water quality, disease management, feed and effluent). Together, the organisations will also look into developing a framework to monitor and track progress.
ASC and SFP also intend to work together on increasing sustainability and reducing the ecological footprint of aquaculture feed ingredients and production. In collaboration with a broader suite of partners, the ASC and SFP aim to deliver an improvement framework for South American fisheries based on ASC Feed Standard requirements and aligned to the goals of the Global Roundtable on Marine Ingredients.
