Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) – Farm Standards

What is it? 

The ASC has brought together its twelve species-specific standards into one aligned ASC Farm Standard to provide greater consistency across all species.

The standard is structured according to the following four principles. Each brings together impact-driven improvements:

• Farm – Supports meeting regulatory and evolving supply chains through measures that underpin legal compliance and ethical operations.
• Planet – Environmental Stewardship –  Conserves biodiversity at the farm and beyond by setting clear risk-informed requirements.
• People – Human rights – Puts workers and communities front and centre by addressing the broadest range of human rights topics.
• Fish – Animal welfare – Improves farming practices and fish health through a holistic approach to animal welfare.

How to use it

This standard can be used in two ways:

• As an indicator that aquaculture trimmings used to manufacture feed in your supply chain adhere to the above criteria.
• Additionally, from 31 October 2025, all ASC-certified farms must use feed from feed mills that comply with the ASC Feed Standard. This ensures that the feed used meets this standard’s environmental, legal, and social responsibility requirements, and that all aquafeed ingredients with a more than 1% inclusion are subject to due diligence.

What is it? 

ASC Chain of Custody (CoC) certificate holders are certified against the MSC CoC Standard – a traceability and segregation standard applicable to the full supply chain – and strengthened by the ASC module. This standard applies to the full supply chain from a certified farm to the product carrying the ASC label. 

Each company in the supply chain handling or selling an ASC-certified product must have a valid ASC Chain of Custody certificate. This assures consumers and seafood buyers that ASC-labeled products come from certified, responsible farms.

There are three versions of the standard:

1. Default – For companies handling ASC-certified seafood products in one or a few locations.
2. Group – For companies with a central office function and many locations that handle ASC-certified products.
3. Consumer-facing – For companies that sell directly to consumers, such as caterers or fish counters.

How to use it

This standard can be used in two ways:

• As an indicator that aquaculture trimmings used to manufacture feed in your supply chain adhere to the criteria of the above ASC farm standard.
• Additionally, from 31 October 2025, all ASC-certified farms must use feed from feed mills that comply with the ASC Feed Standard. This ensures that the feed used meets this standard’s environmental, legal, and social responsibility requirements, and that all aquafeed ingredients with a more than 1% inclusion are subject to due diligence.