The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) ’s CEO Chris Ninnes announced an initiative to consolidate feed requirements across all of the existing ASC standards into a single ‘ask’ of the farming and feed manufacturing sectors.

“Feed represents a significant part of the environmental impact of fish farming, reflected in the use of fish meal and fish oil mainly sourced from wild catch. But also the use of soy and palm oil in feed is a growing concern. ASC’s approach will look to also invite other certification platforms to participate in the development of these requirements and ultimately use them so that we can collectively promote responsible feed use. This initiative will be managed by the ASC, will follow ISEAL protocols and will encourage broad stakeholder participation. We expect to have this work concluded by the end of 2015,” Ninnes said.

Speaking in the run up to the European Seafood Exhibition, Ninnes said that when it came to aquaculture, their research showed that consumers in their two most important markets, the Netherlands and Germany, were most concerned about water pollution, mis-use of antibiotics and the working conditions for the staff and animal welfare. Just 20 per cent of  consumers knew that the fish they bought was farmed.