Seafood Transformation from Feed to Farm: ASC 2024 Impacts Report Captures a Year of Global Progress

Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has published its 2024 Impacts Report, revealing the bold progress and global growth of ASC programmes, which deliver a wide range of environmental and social improvements across feed ingredient sourcing, farm operations, habitat protections, fish health and welfare, and workers’ rights, among others.

Key 2024 highlights include:

• 2,265 ASC-certified farms across 52 countries – up nearly 10% year-on-year – delivering:
  • 3,981 improvements driving environmental sustainability and 3,250 improvements driving social responsibility
  • 2.69 million metric tonnes of ASC-certified seafood – 32% increase from 2023 – sold across 121 countries
  • 28,426 ASC labelled products available to consumers – 12% increase from 2023
• 22 feed mills certified against the ASC Feed Standard across 9 countries, with an additional 24 in assessment, delivering responsible feed for seven species groups under ASC standards
• 14 active Aquaculture Improvement Projects (AIPs) with 139 sites, supporting farms that are not ready or eligible for ASC certification but are committed to improving their farming practices
• 660 stakeholder responses to consultations to drive programme improvements

Read the full report here

With aquaculture now supplying more of the world’s seafood than wild capture, ensuring the industry grows responsibly has never been more critical. In 2024, ASC accelerated its mission with increased uptake of farm certification, milestone achievements in feed certification and the finalisation of the pioneering ASC Farm Standard—laying the groundwork for an even more impactful 2025, and beyond.

ASC Chief Technical Officer Ally Dingwall said, “2024 was a pivotal year for ASC as we brought feed to the forefront of responsible aquaculture. With the ASC Feed Standard in its first full year of adoption, we saw commitment across the value chain—from feed mills to retailers—driving meaningful change far beyond the farm gates.

“ASC-certified sites displayed strong improvements in their performance, taking steps to reduce their impact through conserving biodiversity, addressing climate change, fostering fish health and welfare and improving lives, livelihoods and communities.”

As ASC celebrates 15 years of driving transformation in the seafood industry, we made our boldest step forward yet: the launch of the ASC Farm Standard, uniting 11 species standards into a single, rigorous and impactful framework that strengthens requirements, ensures consistency and drives continuous improvement.

Our commitment is clear: to support ASC-certified producers with enhanced tools, training and pathways for progress; to deepen collaboration with international organisations, industry experts, retailers and NGOs; and to continue driving global awareness and demand for responsibly farmed seafood.

Dive into our 2024 Impacts Report to learn how we are advancing change through our programmes and assurance and championing change through collaborations to innovate, accelerate and drive demand.