MarinTrust

What is it? 

Note that Version 3 replaces Version 2.0 and becomes mandatory for new applicants from May 2024. By May 2025 it is expected that all companies will be certified against Version 3.

More information about the transition to Version 3.0 can be found here.

What is it?

The Standard covers the sourcing and production of marine ingredients. The Standard ensures that: 

• Marine ingredients are produced to high standards of safety and quality, with sufficient care for the environment, workforce, and local community; and,
• The raw materials used to produce marine ingredients are not sourced from IUU fishing activity, do not stem from an endangered species, for whole fish, and are from responsibly managed fisheries aligned to the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

The standard has 3 key pillars.

• Responsible sourcing – Raw materials are not sourced from IUU fishing activity; do not stem from an endangered species; and for whole fish, are from responsibly managed fisheries aligned to the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.
• Responsible traceability – Marine ingredients can be traced back to raw materials that conform to the requirements of this standard.
• Responsible production – Safe marine ingredients are produced in a safe workplace; Worker welfare and employment conditions are in place; Consideration of the local community; and Environmental accountability is in place.

The standard includes criteria for the use of byproducts from fisheries and aquaculture. 

Certified sites under the standard are available here

What is it? 

The MarinTrust Improver Programme (IP) was developed to encourage factories not yet meeting the criteria for the Standard, due for example, to a lack of fisheries management or factory infrastructure and operational issues, to implement timely improvements, fulfill the criteria, and gain certification to the Standard. 

This is done through the development of a Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) by interested marine ingredient producers and stakeholders, followed by a rigorous development process and action plan. Through improvements, such as in fisheries management, factory infrastructure, or operational issues, the aim is to meet the MarinTrust Standard requirements within a maximum of 5 years. 

Once accepted onto the IP, applicants have a structured improvement journey for the fishery mapped out with agreed milestones and a timeframe that must be met to become MarinTrust certified.

For the production site to maintain compliance with the IP, they must comply with the following:

• The Accepted Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) they are sourcing from must comply with the Fishery Action Plan (FAP) and pass annual reporting and peer reviews of this reporting. This is checked each year via the peer review process outlined in the diagrams below.
• The production site must continue to comply with the MarinTrust audit requirements following the 3-year audit cycle.

There are annual peer reviews by the certification body (CB) to ensure:

• Sufficient evidence is provided to demonstrate actions as part of the FAP.
• Identify any areas where the evidence is insufficient.
• Identify any milestones which have not been addressed.
• Determine as to whether the FIP has demonstrated appropriate improvements to maintain acceptance of the IP.

Accepted sites under the IP are available here. 

Accepted Fishery Improvement Projects under the IP are available here.

What is it? 

The objective of the MarinTrust Chain of Custody (CoC) standard is to demonstrate full traceability of compliant products, from approved raw material sourced from responsibly managed fisheries to the manufacture and delivery of safe and pure products. 

This requires full separation and traceability of any certified fishery material from start to finish of the supply chain. If ownership of a CoC-certified product is passed to a trader to sell to an approved buyer, that trader must also gain CoC certification to maintain product integrity and an unbroken supply chain.

A potential applicant could be a:

•  Primary Processor/Packer
• Storage Provider
• Oil Refiner
• Secondary Processor
• Trader 

Certified sites under the Chain of Custody standard are available here. 

What is it? 

The objective of the multispecies criteria is to enable the assessment of highly complex fisheries in which as many as 300 species are regularly caught. The criteria have been developed by experts and are based on ‘best practice’ fisheries management as specified in international norms and guidance.

The multispecies pilot project is enabling MarinTrust to test the methodology in active fisheries so it can be fine-tuned, and ultimately, constitute a fully tested, robust, and realistic set of criteria that can be included within the full MarinTrust fishery assessment. 

The aim is to incorporate the multispecies assessment into the MarinTrust Standard as a credible and recognized assessment framework with which to evaluate multispecies fisheries. 

There are currently two fisheries that have applied the MarinTrust multispecies fishery assessment and have used its structure to develop Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs): the Gulf of Thailand mixed-trawl fishery (Thailand) and the Vung Tau multispecies fishery (Vietnam). Both FIPs are accepted on the MarinTrust Improver Programme as part of the multispecies pilot project. 

There will be opportunities for stakeholder engagement in this process as it develops including workshops, public consultation, and meetings. 

You can find more information about the pilot project in their Q&A here, including the next steps and how to get involved.