February 24, 2025 - 2025 marks a pivotal year for Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) with three major updates to its programme. The updates reinforce ASC leadership in setting the standard for seafood and accelerating global progress in seafood farming through environmentally sustainable and socially responsible farms and feed mills.
The summary report from the final stakeholder consultation on the new ASC Farm Standard has now been published, alongside summary reports on consultations on the Feed Standard and the new Certification and Accreditation Requirements (CAR).
The Farm Standard consultation summary report highlights the comprehensive consultation process, stakeholder feedback and, crucially, how ASC is responding to suggestions and opinions expressed. Between March and June 2024, ASC conducted a range of consultation activities on the ASC Farm Standard, attracting 220 responses from various organisations around the world, including producers, CABs and auditors, NGOs and retailers. In addition, a total of 34 in-depth direct interviews with producers were held across the globe. A stakeholder survey was also conducted and received 622 responses.
ASC CEO Chris Ninnes expressed his gratitude, saying, "The overwhelming response we received to our consultations over the years reflects the dedication and commitment of our partners to driving meaningful change in the seafood farming industry. The new Farm Standard is the result of extensive consultation, brining together diverse stakeholder perspectives from around the world.
"The development of the ASC Farm Standard spanned more than five years and has been a monumental effort made possible by the collaboration and hard work of ASC staff, auditors, NGOs, farmers, retailers and many other partners. Their collective input has helped shape a standard that provides greater consistency across the species we certify, embraces the innovation that has become established in seafood farming and addresses shortcomings inherent in the legacy standards.
"With the addition of dedicated coverage of animal welfare and recognising advances in how to address social and environmental impacts, the Farm Standard will support the industry's transformation toward greater sustainability and accountability. The ASC Farm Standard is truly a testament to the power of collaboration and industry-wide effort."
The ASC Farm Standard: a product of industry collaboration
The new ASC Farm Standard unifies previous species-specific standards into a single, streamlined framework built around four core principles: legal compliance and effective business management; environment stewardship; respecting and promoting human rights; and responsible animal health and welfare practices.
ASC is committed to actively listening to stakeholder feedback and ensuring that the Farm Standard is practical and supportive of producers. Since 2019, ASC received 1111 responses from stakeholders to numerous consultations on proposed ASC Farm Standard content.
To refine the Standard, ASC focused the 2024 consultation on key areas requiring further input such as greenhouse gas emissions, animal health and welfare and human rights, using a range of interactive consultation methods including:
- online surveys;
- one-to-one interviews with products;
- a desk-based auditability evaluation;
- interactive workshops;
- and an open email feedback system.
Stakeholders provided significant feedback on both the benefits and challenges of the new Standard which have been carefully considered. Thy praised the content, usability and marketability of the ASC Farm Standard especially towards sustainability-conscious buyers. The ASC Farm Standard was also rated highly for clarity and addressing human rights issues.
To support the transition to the ASC Farm Standard, stakeholders emphasised the need for more tools, training, guidance and greater regional flexibility. Additionally, producers called for simplified requirements, clearer language and more precise indicators in certain areas to enhance accessibility and ease of implementation.
To support producers, there is a two-year transition period in place before the Farm Standard becomes mandatory in May 2027. In response to the feedback, ASC is also providing additional support and training and has simplified a number of key requirements. The new Standard also offers greater flexibility, recognising the importance of local contexts.
Aligning Feed Standard v1.1 to the new ASC Farm Standard
To align feed to farm reporting data with the upcoming ASC Farm Standard and EU legislative requirements, ASC launched a stakeholder consultation on proposed updates to the Feed Standard between September and November 2024. The consultation received 44 survey responses, including feedback from 18 feed mills.
stakeholders broadly supported the proposals for improving environmental accountability, including species-specific GHG reporting and expanded deforestation-free standard. Key discussions focused on feasibility, flexibility and alignment. Clear guidance, transparency and phased implementation were highlighted as crucial for practical and effective adoption.
The Feed Standard v1.1 includes post-consultation changes to greenhouse gas reporting requirements in recognition of data limitations. Other changes include enhancements to the ASC Greenhouse Gas Calculator, adding additional clarity on its methods and data sources, along with added flexibility to deforestation/conversion cutoffs for lower-risk ingredients.
CAR: assurance requirements supporting the ASC Farm Standard
The CAR outlines the assurance requirements and processes that will support the ASC Farm Standard and the ASC Feed Standard certification programmes. In a stakeholder consultation that was opened between September to October 2024, ASC received 22 responses, including feedback from nine Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) and auditors.
The new version of the CAR includes a number of improvements including streamlining the audit process from application to certification, simplification of Group Requirements, updates to critical non-conformity actions, amendments to auditor and CAB personnel competency, and an amended unannounced audit programme based on number of clients.
2025: a landmark year for ASC and our stakeholders
All three programmes will be launched in 2025: The ASC Farm Standard will launch in Q2 with a two-year transition period, the ASC Feed Standard v1.1 will be published in Q2 and take effect in November, and the new CAR version will also become effective within the year to be available to use alongside the new Standards.
ASC Director of Policy and Programme Management Suzi Keshavarz said, "We are very grateful to our stakeholders for taking the time to share feedback. Through our collaborative and rigorous consultation efforts, ASC has been able to ensure that our stakeholders' insights have been fully considered in finalising the new ASC Farm Standard and the CAR>
"We look forward to further insights from the pilot audits as we move forward."
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The Aquaculturists
