Three farming sites operated by Bakkafrost in the Faroe Islands have become the first salmon operations in the world to secure Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification under its new Farm Standard.
“This is an important milestone for Bakkafrost and our farming organization," Bakkafrost Group QESH Director Anna Johansen said in a release. "Our long experience with ASC certification and established management systems gave us a strong foundation for meeting the requirements. The transition has also helped us strengthen our systems, improve transparency, and establish a clearer basis for measuring performance and driving continuous improvement."
Bakkafrost further explained that it has secured ASC certifications for over a decade, with the Gøtuvík farm first earning certification in 2015. By April 2026, all of the company's salmon-farming operations in the Faroe Islands and Scotland became ASC-certified.
“Bakkafrost becoming the first salmon producer to have farms certified against the ASC Farm Standard is an important milestone for ASC and demonstrates Bakkafrost’s leading role in the salmon sector," ASC CEO Chris Ninnes said. "As an early adopter, Bakkafrost has invested significant time and effort in working through the transition, and we recognize the commitment this has required. Their experience has also been invaluable for ASC, giving us practical insights into how the Farm Standard is implemented within an established salmon-farming operation and where we can continue to improve the transition process."
According to ASC, the process for certification under its new Farm Standard strengthens the requirements on fish health and welfare such as handling, disease prevention, and treatment use. It also analyzes farms' restrictions on protected areas and uses a tiered approach for seabed-impact monitoring while tightening requirements on sensitive water bodies and data sharing. The standard also aims to strengthen worker rights.
“Certification plays an important role in the Nordic salmon sector, where producers are operating in a market with high expectations for environmental performance, fish health and welfare, and social responsibility," ASC Producer Outreach and Regional Manager of Nordics Laetitia Rosing said. "Bakkafrost’s early transition to the ASC Farm Standard shows how established producers can use certification as a framework to demonstrate performance against these expectations."
Earlier this year, the ASC extended the deadline for the mandatory transition to its new standard, pushing it back from 1 May 2027 to 1 May 2028. It also said official publication of the new standard is planned for November of this year, with the standard currently following an interim version, V1.0.1A, which has been effective since July.
