Aquaculture Working Group (secretariat by SFP and ASC)
The Aquaculture Working Group (AWG) on Environmental Footprint is a pre-competitive coalition of companies and organizations that work together to reduce the environmental impacts of aquaculture.
The AWG is currently focused on setting targets for emissions reductions, calculating greenhouse gas footprints, collecting data, and taking action to reduce emissions and the overall footprint of the aquaculture sector. Initiated in 2021 under the coordination of IDH, the AWG’s secretariat transitioned to SFP and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council in 2026.
THE AWG VISION IS:
Sustainable aquaculture delivered through collective understanding and action provides healthy, high-quality food, creating jobs and prosperity while conserving the environment.
THE AWG MISSION IS TO:
Deliver a trusted and pre-competitive environment, bringing together industry leaders to drive long-term progress in aquaculture through unified solutions. Foster collaboration across the supply chain by building a shared understanding to deliver consistent approaches for measurement of performance and to accelerate action that will scale progress towards shared ambitions and agreed goals.
- Aquastar
- Biomar
- Cargill
- Entobel Holding PTE. LTD
- FollowFood
- Grupo Almar
- Regal Springs
- Seafresh/Sea farms
- Skretting AS
- Thai Union Group
- The Fishin’ Co
- Global Salmon Initiative
- Sustainable Shrimp Partnership
- Aquaculture Stewardship Council
- Sustainable Fisheries Partnership
- The Nature Conservancy
Companies
Industry Associations
NGOs
Progress to date
AWG participants have completed initial pilots to collect data and calculate an environmental footprint for carbon, water use, and nitrogen and phosphorus use throughout their supply chains. Some of these findings and lessons on this process were shared at Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona in April 2022.
Now that these pilots have been conducted for a small number of farming systems and supply chains and it is understood what data is required, work is being undertaken to produce product baselines that represent products at retail being sourced from multiple farms – for example, 1kg of tilapia fillet from Honduras at retail in the United Kingdom.
The AWG developed an aquaculture environmental footprint tool to ensure consistent results and simplify the process, allowing data collection and results calculations to be conducted internally by the AWG participants. This gives companies the ability to now calculate the footprint of all the aquaculture products they trade and compare between them, allowing them to understand what factors are contributing to the footprint and how large they are.
Simultaneously, projects to track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions are being conducted by several AWG members, with lessons learned being shared to inform the group how to best reduce product environmental footprint.
Work with certification and ratings schemes, and owners of carbon footprint tools, on alignment of GHG methodology is still ongoing. Continuous alignment is being sought with other initiatives so that calculations, reporting, and collective action is aligned.
“Sustainability is core to our business development at the Seafresh Group, and we are committed to reducing our environmental footprint across our supply chain. We have to understand what contributes to our footprint over the products’ life cycle in order to implement our policy. The Working Group helps us to do that by providing a consistent calculator for aquaculture that didn’t exist before, and with learnings from each other on how to collect, process, and use the data.“
– Dr. Dominique Gautier, Director of Sustainability, Seafresh Group
Next steps for 2026
The AWG’s work will continue to evolve and accelerate in 2026. With the transition of the secretariat role to ASC and SFP (with SFP also serving as the interim administrative host), new opportunities and ideas are available for members to continue working toward their goals. The key areas of focus for the AWG in 2026 are:
- Recruit new member companies to expand collective action and broader positive impact. If your company is interested in joining, please reach out to your contact person at SFP or ASC, or click the “Contact SFP” button below.
- Establish the AWG as an independent entity. The AWG plans to formally register as an association, including putting in place all the necessary governance and administrative structures.
- Develop a more public profile for the AWG. The AWG members have spent years working primarily internally as a group. While the group has made significant progress and has exciting initiatives underway and planned, it is increasingly important for members to communicate about their work to stakeholders and customers, to better understand their impacts and plans.
- Make progress through three working groups:
- Carbon Footprint: Calculating supply chain footprints, developing guidelines for footprinting approaches, addressing data challenges and limitations, fostering collaborations to maximize impacts.
- Priorities Action: Recommend priority areas for coordinated/collective action, develop project ideas and opportunities, report on progress.
- Entity Development: Develop and execute a plan to transition the AWG into an independent entity, develop governance required for the new entity (e.g., bylaws, member expectations/requirements, decision making).
Related publications and resources
Join the AWG
Contact SFP for more information about how you can join the Aquaculture Working Group.