The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has released two new updates in its shrimp standard with the goal of broadening the reach of the program.
ASC is an independent, not-for-profit organization that was co-founded in 2010 by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) to manage certification of responsible fish farming across the globe. The ASC’s shrimp standard is a certification process to ensure responsible farming that encourages seafood producers to minimize key environmental and social impacts of shrimp aquaculture, include challenges to biodiversity of neighboring ecosystems, full traceability in wild fish in feed, measurement of pollution, minimization of disease outbreaks, restricted use of antibiotics, and prohibition of forced labor or child labor.
A revised version of the shrimp standard has been released that includes new updates and requirements to recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) farms and the addition of new shrimp species. The revision adds four new genera of freshwater species – cherax, procambarus, astacus, and macrobrachium – so that 99 percent of globally farmed shrimp are covered by the scope of the standard.
The addition of these species allows freshwater crayfish and freshwater shrimp farmers to now work towards ASC’s requirements for responsible farming, according to ASC Director of Standards and Science Michiel Fransen.
“This revision spreads the potential positive impact of ASC by enabling more farmers to apply for certification, which requires both environmental and social responsibility,” Fransen said in a press release. “ASC’s shrimp standard now includes almost all global shrimp production within its scope. Given the benefits of certification – to farmers, workers, the environment, and local communities – that can only be a good thing.”