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Living Wage: The Missing Piece in Sustainable Seafood
June 17, 2025
Seafood sustainability has achieved remarkable progress over the past few decades. Industry-wide efforts to drive change have improved environmental protection, championed responsible sourcing, and brought unprecedented transparency to seafood supply chains. These achievements are important and worth celebrating. Yet, a crucial piece of the puzzle remains strikingly underdeveloped: the livelihoods of the millions of people who work in aquaculture.
Globally, over 22 million people are employed on seafood farms. These workers are the backbone of a thriving global industry. However, many of them live in low-income, rural areas where working poverty – earning too little to afford a decent standard of living – is widespread. Despite being central to the production of sustainable seafood, too many aquaculture workers still earn wages that do not enable them to sustain themselves and their families.
The conversation about sustainability in seafood has often focused on the environment, but true sustainability must also account for the social dimension. Fair compensation and decent livelihoods are foundational to ethical and resilient supply chains. As long as wages are not sufficient to afford a decent life, sustainability efforts will fall short of their promise.
It’s time for the industry to close this gap and bring worker wellbeing into full view by focusing on ensuring workers receive a living wage.
To shed light on both the importance and complexity of living wages in aquaculture, we are launching a three-part blog series. In this first blog, we explain what constitutes a living wage and explore why it is particularly vital for the seafood farming sector. Blogs two and three will delve into how ASC is embedding these principles into certification and the practical steps needed for implementation.
What is a Living Wage?
A living wage is more than a number — it’s about dignity and opportunity. It represents the amount of money a worker needs to afford a decent standard of living for themselves and their family. This includes nutritious food, safe housing, healthcare, education, transport, and a small amount of savings for unforeseen events. A living wage enables not just survival, but a life with security, hope, and self-respect.
Crucially, a living wage is not the same as a minimum wage. In many countries, legal minimum wages fall far below what is required to meet basic needs. Workers can be paid what the law prescribes and still live in poverty. This is why the global conversation must shift from compliance with minimum standards to alignment with fair, evidence-based benchmarks.
A living wage offers a practical and moral framework for addressing working poverty — one that is grounded in human rights and increasingly recognised by businesses, investors, and governments alike.
Why Paying a Living Wage Matters in Aquaculture
Aquaculture is labour-intensive, often based in remote areas, and highly dependent on large workforces. In these settings, ensuring living wages can be a powerful lever for change. Small improvements in wages can ripple out to have big effects — not just for individual workers, but for families, communities, and entire local economies.
For workers, earning a living wage means more than higher income, it brings:
- Stability,
- Better health, and
- Opportunities for their children.
It reduces vulnerability to exploitation and offers a pathway out of poverty.
For producers, paying fair wages can:
- Boost staff retention,
- Reduce absenteeism, and
- Improve overall productivity.
Workers who feel respected and secure are more likely to stay, contribute, and grow with the company.
For buyers and retailers, supporting living wages:
- Enhances supply chain resilience,
- Reduces social risk, and
- Strengthens alignment with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments.
It can also help to meet customer demands in an era where consumers are becoming more conscious of the human impact of their food choices.
Rising Global Momentum
Living wage is no longer a fringe concern — it’s rapidly becoming a mainstream priority across sectors. In industries such garments and bananas, living wage is already broadly recognised as a priority. Now, aquaculture must rise to the occasion.
Several factors are driving an increasing focus to change living wage in seafood farming:
- New legislation, such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), is requiring companies to identify and address human rights risks, including low wages.
- Investors and consumers are demanding greater transparency and ethical practices from supply chains. As public awareness of labour exploitation grows, consumers increasingly scrutinise how their products are made. Meanwhile, investors are increasingly engaging companies on their living wage efforts, including through collaborative initiatives.
- Worker advocates and NGOs are raising awareness of wage injustices across sectors, amplifying worker voices and pressuring companies to adopt fair pay practices.
- Tools and methodologies — like those from the Global Living Wage Coalition (GLWC), Anker Research Institute, and IDH — are making it easier to assess, benchmark, and address wage gaps in a credible, consistent manner.
Together, these forces are reshaping what it means to be a responsible business. Aquaculture cannot afford to be left behind and those who embrace this shift will be better positioned to manage risks, meet stakeholder expectations, and drive lasting positive impact.
Our Commitment to Progress
At the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), we believe that living wage is an essential part of a truly sustainable seafood system. That’s why we have embedded living wage principles into our certification standards and implementation framework.
This is not about adding another box to check. It’s about creating meaningful, lasting improvements in the lives of workers — and supporting farms and supply chains to achieve them. We know that real change is complex. It requires partnership, patience, and shared responsibility across the entire value chain.
ASC is committed to providing practical tools, guidance, and space for continuous improvement. We aim to enable farms to assess where they stand, develop wage improvement plans, and make measurable progress over time. We also recognize the role of buyers, NGOs, and other stakeholders in supporting this journey.
Our vision is clear: a future where everyone working on ASC certified farms earns enough to live a decent, dignified life.
Stay tuned for our next blog in this series, where we’ll dive into how ASC is turning living wage principles into tangible actions within the ASC Farm Standard. You’ll discover how we’re equipping farms with practical tools and partnerships designed for phased, realistic progress—recognising there is no overnight solution, but that consistent, incremental steps can bring fair pay within reach for producers, buyers, and the wider aquaculture community.
Interested in partnering with us on living wage? Get in touch to be part of building a fairer, more sustainable future for aquaculture.