ASC continues to grow worldwide
Last year saw the number of farms certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council pass the 2,000 mark, with a steady increase in the volume of certified products marketed around the world.
The organisation’s latest Impacts report shows that there were 2,062 ASC-certified farms in 2023, producing 2.04 million tonnes of responsibly produced seafood up 8.6% on the previous year.
The volume of ASC-certified products was up 6.4% and they were available in 116 countries, an increase of 17%.
The ASC led more than 3,000 improvements aimed at improving social responsibility and more than 4,300 environmental sustainability improvements.
Three Aquaculture Improvement Projects (AIP) across 129 sites meant more farms who were not yet ready to become certified got access to guidance and support through the Improver Programme by ASC.
Since the ASC Feed Standard launch in January 2023, nine feed mills have been certified and more mills continue to join the programme, the ASC said.
1,367 audits of farm performances were conducted by 12 accredited independent Conformity Bodies (CABs) year-round across 51 countries.
A year of milestones
ASC CEO Chris Ninnes said, “2023 was a year of milestones for ASC as we formally launched the ASC Feed Standard, the Improver Programme by ASC and the ASC Chain of Custody Module.
“I am extremely proud of our work to drive transformation and our impact not just in the wider seafood farming sector, but also in offering improvement and learning opportunities to smaller scale farms where change is not always easily accessible and to those at the very beginning of their improvement journey.
“According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, farmed seafood surpassed wild-caught fish for the first time in 2022. The continual growth of aquaculture emphasises the need to drive improvements and reward responsible practices.
Chris Ninnes, Chief Executive, ASC
He added: “Now is the time to play a more active role in driving transformation in seafood farming. We do this by having a clear goal and vision, reinforced by measurable and meaningful impact which is reflected in this latest report.
“We plan to continue setting the standard for seafood and grow the programme further with ongoing investment in dedicated ASC campaigns and more valuable new services for our partners.”
Over 300 stakeholders participated in a public consultation on the ASC Farm Standard. The new Farm Standard, the ASC said, will align all ASC species-specific standards into a single global, robust standard. ASC plans to finalise the Farm Standard in 2024, for it to take effect in 2025.
The report is available on the ASC website asc-aqua.org.
