The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) eco-label is growing rapidly for such a “young organization,” as CEO Chris Ninnes said on Wednesday during its annual update at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, Belgium.
Since the first aquaculture operations were certified against the ASC standard in 2012, there are now 1,053 certified products being produced in 37 countries, with 336 companies having earned chain-of-custody certification.
The majority of those products, a robust 62 percent, are Vietnam pangasius (24 percent are salmon and 14 percent are tilapia).
“Certainly the ASC standard for pangasius is the target that’s being recognized by the industry in Vietnam,” said Ninnes. “The work that’s being done on the ground by ASC partners — [The World Wildlife Fund], the Dutch International Sustainable Trade Initiative, VASEP and other NGOs — that’s what has been driving the improvement on the ground.”
There are currently 43 pangasius farms, with another six in the assessment phase, producing 191,242 metric tons (MT) of product annually. A total of 24 tilapia farms, with two more in assessment, are producing 101,738 MT while six salmon farms (13 in assessment) produce 18,600 MT.
Standards for shrimp and abalone were recently completed in March, while bivalves, trout and seriola/cobia standards are also in the works.
Ninnes added that a new group certification option will soon be available to increase cost efficiency in compliance with the standards. “Our hope is that certification will become the Norm,” said Ninnes.
