Fisheries certified to standards benchmarked against the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative’s (GSSI) Global Benchmark Tool Version 2.0, Section D will now automatically meet the fishery assessment pre-requisite under MarinTrust’s Whole Fish Fisheries Criteria Version 3.
The change will come into force from August 2025, and follows a third-party review of both the clause content and assurance systems.
Once in place, fisheries already certified under GSSI-recognised standards will no longer need to undergo a separate MarinTrust fishery assessment.
Laura Courage, assurance and risk manager at MarinTrust, said that GSSI is the first benchmark tool MarinTrust recognises in this way. “This fruitful collaboration will help reduce duplication, increase availability of approved raw material sources and ultimately increase the availability of certified marine ingredients,” she said.
This update applies to small pelagic fisheries within MarinTrust’s scope. Standards recognised by GSSI will now automatically fulfill MarinTrust’s fishery requirements, eliminating duplication and promoting wider access to certified marine ingredients.
“Given that our frameworks are aligned, we’re making life easier for fisheries and supply chains -helping them maintain the highest standards of assurance while reducing duplication and complexity,” said GSSI’s chief executive, Øyvind Ihle.
