Our commitment to ASC certification

As GSI members, we have chosen to benchmark our performance by committing to achieving 100% of our production becoming Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certified.

Developed through stakeholder dialogue, and with over 150 indicators covering environmental, economic and social performance, ASC is regarded as the most challenging and all-encompassing certification available. To achieve ASC certification, farms must complete a rigorous performance assessment and meet over 500 compliance points. After achieving ASC certification, farms undergo regular audits to ensure that they continue to meet the rigorous performance requirements.

Choosing ASC-certified farmed salmon

We believe that choosing ASC certification as our benchmark offers the opportunity to provide our customers and wider society with the assurance that we are operating in a responsible manner while also providing a high-quality product.

ASC-certified farmed salmon is recommended by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program as a “Good Alternative”, and is therefore on the recommended list of seafood for seafood buyers and consumers to buy. When consumers purchase ASC-certified salmon, they can feel confident they are selecting seafood certified to the highest social and environmental standards.

Sustainable reporting based on the ASC Standard

We also use the ASC standard as a reference point for tracking our progress towards improved sustainability, and transparently share all of this data via our annual Sustainability Report.

Our report is an industry first for showcasing data across different companies and different regions in one location online. The report covers data on:

• Antibiotic use
• ASC production
• Carbon footprint
• Certifications
• Community engagement
• Direct labor
• Edible yield
• Energy retention
• Feed conversion ratio
• Fish escapes
• Fish mortality
• Global production
• Non-medicinal treatments
• Occupation health and safety
• Protein retention
• R&D investment
• Sea lice counts
• Social compliance
• Use of marine ingredients in feed

Looking to the future

As members of the GSI, we also continue to work with a number of additional standards including Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP), and GlobalGAP (Good Agricultural Practices).

While 100% ASC certification will be difficult to achieve, we hope that through collaboration, and the commitment to sharing best practices, we can use the standard as our reference point in making measurable and significant progress. We hope that by sharing such extensive data in this way, we can involve our stakeholders in our journey towards a more sustainable future for salmon farming.