GSA certification programs grew 5% in 2024, with 88% retention rate

Of a total 4,168 certified facilities, 150 are feed mills, 3,132 are farms (including fallow) and 346 are hatcheries.

Credits: GSA

Feb. 27, 2025

Global Seafood Alliance’s (GSA) third-party certification programs, Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) and Best Seafood Practices (BSP) grew 5% in 2024, ending the year with a total of 4,168 facilities in 45 countries. The overall retention rate was 88 percent.

Producers made more than 8,200 improvements to their operations to attain certification in 2024.

Of the total 4,168 facilities, 540 are processing plants (including farmed and wild capture), 3,132 are farms (including fallow), 346 are hatcheries and 150 are feed mills. Certified plants reported more than 3.2 million metric tons of annual production. In addition, GSA ended the year with 9 certified vessels.

Certified producers made many improvements to their operations in 2024 to attain certification to GSA standards. Any non-conformities found during the audit must be addressed by the producer to attain certification. During 2024, processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills made a total of 8,212 improvements, including 2,602 addressing food safety, 2,566 addressing social accountability, 2,229 addressing environmental responsibility, 495 addressing animal welfare and 320 addressing traceability.

“These results reflect the seafood industry’s commitment to responsible practices and continuous improvement, as well as the dedication of the entire GSA team and our partners,” said Mike Kocsis, CEO. “With more than 8,200 improvements made by certified producers to their operations, we see firsthand the real-world impact of GSA’s standards and the commitment of producers to driving positive change across the global seafood supply chain.”

2024 had a number of firsts for GSA, including the first four-star BAP-certified producer in the Faroe Islands, the first BAP-certified farm and hatchery in southern Africa, and the first BAP-certified mangrove shrimp farms. Also in 2024, the organization named Mike Kocsis as its CEO in April, launched consumer websites in France and German in May, hosted a successful Responsible Seafood Summit in Scotland in October, and launched a new assurances platform, Prism, in partnership with Wholechain in December.