MarinTrust revising factory standard; Audobon's GULF shrimp fishery transitioning to CSC RFM

SeafoodSource is closely following the sustainable seafood movement by compiling a regular round-up of sector updates pertaining to eco-certifications.

- The Aquaculture Stewardship Council announced on 4 May it has reached the milestone of 1,000 small-scale group farming cooperatives having received ASC certification. These include Indonesia-based PT Central Protein Prima Farm Group, which operates 560 Pacific white shrimp farms; Vietnam-based Minh Phy Mangroves Shimp Social Enterprise, with 450 giant tiger prawn farms; Japan-based Jusanhama Gyokyo Youth Association, which operates 19 seaweed farms; and Japan-based Azuma-cho Fisheries Cooperative Association, which runs seven amberjack farms.

“To succeed in our mission of transforming the aquaculture industry towards environmental sustainability and social responsibility, small-scale farms must be able to demonstrate compliance with the ASC standards through accessible certification,” ASC Program Assurance Director Efrain Calderon said in a press release. “That’s exactly why ASC designed the group certification methodology, and we’re very pleased to see that it’s working.”

- The Audubon Nature Institute’s Gulf United for Lasting Fisheries (G.U.L.F.) announced 2 May it is transitioning to the Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) certification program. It will begin with an RFM assessment for white, brown, and pink shrimp in federal waters as well as the U.S. states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The news follows on the 28 April announcement from the American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) it will pursue Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Certified Seafood Collaborative (CSC) Responsible Fisheries Management certification for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico fishery.

“When we saw the Pacific whiting fishery, covering Washington, Oregon, and California, achieve RFM certification in July 2022, we knew this was a great opportunity to transition over to the CSC beginning with the Gulf [of Mexico] shrimp fishery,” Audubon Coastal Conservation and Sustainability Initiatives Director John Fallon said in a press release. “With its growing geographic scope and global reach, we believe CSC RFM certification will help us provide validation to businesses and consumers as they make their seafood-buying choices.”

-Balaton, Minnesota-based Tru Shrimp announced on 3 May it achieved Upcycled Food Association certification, meaning it can now sell its pet food ingredients as an Upcycle Certified Ingredient.

“Our mission is to be a sustainability leader within the pet food and treat industry and becoming a certified member of Upcycled Food Association is the obvious next step in our journey to elevate our corporate social responsibility,” Tru Protein President and CEO Michael Ziebell said. “We’re excited to be Upcycled Certified and join the list of other great companies to help mitigate food waste, combat climate change, and offer customers a superior-quality pet food ingredient.”

-On 4 May, the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) adopted its 2.5 conservation measure, requiring participating companies to provide transparent reporting benchmarked against ISSF’s five-year strategic plan. The plan calls for all ISSF-aligned companies to source all their tuna from fisheries that either have Marine Stewardship Council certification or those that have “a clear roadmap and timeline in place to meet this standard that is underpinned by the best-available science.”

“We are pleased that our strategic plan includes an explicit, timebound goal for the first time in ISSF’s history,” ISSF President Susan Jackson said. “Our newest conservation measure takes that concept one step further by verifying company-by-company reporting of progress in meeting that goal.”  

- Marine ingredients certification group MarinTrust announced on 4 May a revision to its factory standard and the commencement of a 60-day public consultation for Version 3 of its standard.

“Each year, around six million tons of marine ingredients, mostly fishmeal and fish oil, are produced globally, half of which are, to-date, certified against the MarinTrust standard. Our ambition is that marine ingredients are recognized as the best and most-important source of animal and human nutrition," MarinTrust Executive Chair Libby Woodhatch said. “We want the marine ingredients value chain to be able to rely on standardized data both on environmental and social performance and to progress the use of 100 percent of fish. In order to get there, we need to strengthen the standard’s risk assessment criteria and management controls for both whole fish and byproducts. I invite everyone to share their views, so we continue to deliver a high level of assurance."

Photo courtesy of Aquaculture Stewardship Council