ASC celebrates 'a year of milestones'
Volume of seafood produced by accredited farmers topped 2 million tonnes
The volume of seafood produced by farms certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) increased by 8.6% to 2.04 million tonnes last year.
The number of products with the ASC label on their packaging also increased, by 6.4%.
There were over 3,000 improvements made to drive social responsibility and over 4,300 improvements to drive environmental sustainability, according to the organisation’s annual impacts report.
Smaller scale farms
“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,” said chief executive Chris Ninnes.
“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 Organisation, 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.
“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.”
