The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has announced its first Terms of Reference (ToR) for the development of new marine finfish standards.
It advocates the development of standards for new marine finfish species based on the soon to be released standard for seriola and cobia.
“The increasing demand for healthy protein has led to a steep rise in aquaculture production around the world,” said Chris Ninnes, CEO of ASC.
He added: “With fish increasingly becoming essential to global food supply, concerns about the effects of fish farming on people and the ecosystem have escalated.”
The ToR is a direct result of the many requests ASC has received to create a standard for barramundi, European seabass and seabream. If it is determined that using the seriola and cobia standard is feasible this will provide a quicker route to the creation of standards for new species.
It aims to find ways to respond to the needs of the growing community of farms and retail partners seeking certification for an increasing range of species. The process could be an innovative way to leverage efficiencies across the organisation in order to respond more quickly to calls for new standards that will help farmers, workers, local communities and improve environmental protection.
Mr Ninnes, said: “Ensuring people —those who work on the farm and those living in the surrounding community— are protected from harmful practices is paramount for businesses; and a key feature of the ASC standards.”
“It is therefore important that the ASC establishes standards for fish types not currently covered by the programme to further protect the aquatic environment and make sure that farms operate to the best social standard.”
The standard addresses the negative impacts of fish farming and mandates that all workers have freedom of association, employment contracts in line with ILO regulations, no child-labour and that the communities in which farms are situated be consulted on farm operations.
