The Aquaculture Stewardship Council is an international standard setting body for responsible aquaculture production. Now over ten years old the ASC has grown enormously in terms of certified farms, species included and labeled products in the marketplace. The first ten years’ development was devoted to the creation of standards and systems. For the past year the organization has been investing in communications and marketing such that it will rapidly become a market led organization.
The ASC was developed as a market oriented driver of responsible aquaculture production. Its standards are rooted in international norms (such as the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries) and elaborated via multistakeholder teams comprising industry, scientists and NGOs.
In March of 2023 there were just under 2100 certified farms globally, covering 49 species with Atlantic salmon and white-legged shrimp dominating. The certified volume was 1.9mmt and there were just under 25 000 ASC labeled products in the market place.
The move into marketing has been carefully planned and supported by surveys of consumer attitudes, reviews of available literature and supplemented by observations from outreach staff in the field.
Community misunderstanding of aquaculture, especially in some western markets, is a significant entry level issue, that is shaping the communications strategy, especially here in Australia. Whereas the ASC is keen to promote its purpose to consumers, if consumers are hesitant about purchasing farmed products then the opportunity to further engage on environmental and social best practices is difficult.
There are several elements to the new market led approach, one of which is positioning the ASC as a source of independent information on the role of aquaculture as a source of food and employment. The ASC is committed to transparency as a mechanism for trust building and it proactively seeks inputs from all stakeholders as it moves to build a support base for its mission of taking care of seafood.