Go directly to content
Getting certified: Producers
Do you want to demonstrate that you produce your seafood or feed with care? Learn how you can apply for certification below.
Get certified!
We apply a third-party certification system, meaning that certification of feed mills and farms is done by independent Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs). Auditors visit farms and feed mills on-site to check whether they are complying with the Requirements of the relevant ASC Standard and are therefore eligible for certification. See the steps in the journey towards certification:
Familiarise yourself with the relevant ASC standard and the Requirements for Unit of Certification (RUoC), a step-by-step guide of the process Requirements to obtain certification.
Contact ASC-accredited CABs to get more information and quotes. We strongly recommend asking more than one certifier to quote.
Once you have chosen a certifier, they will inform ASC and the accreditation body ASI about the planned audit. This needs to happen at least 42 calendar days before the audit.
ASC publishes the audit date of your operation on the Find a Farm page.
The CAB will send you all audit information, collect and list relevant stakeholders and conduct the audit preparation and planning. The CAB will then conduct the audit at your site(s), process the findings and send a draft report to ASC.
We publish the draft report online to provide stakeholders with the opportunity to submit comments directly to the CAB.
The CAB takes the certification decision, uploads the final audit report and – if decision is positive – the certificate to the ASC database. We publish all documents online.
Once the certificate is online, you can start selling your seafood as ASC-certified and your feed as ASC-compliant!
For a full list of steps and requirements, please download our quick-start guide:
What are CABs?
Certification companies, also referred to as Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs), are independent of the ASC.
They must demonstrate to another independent organisation, Assurance Services International (ASI), that they have the skills to undertake assessments of our standards. Auditors are also required to participate in standard specific training, including a mandatory exam that they must pass.
Following accreditation, the Conformity Assessment Body is monitored by ASI to ensure they continue to operate in line with our Certification and Accreditation Requirements (CAR).
To start your certification journey, please compare independent certifiers (CABs) on the ASI website:
Our 4 types of certification
Single-site certification
Any seafood producer farming one of the many species certifiable by ASC can apply for ASC single-site certification. To find out if the ASC has a standard available for the species you produce, have a look at our farm standards. Our farm standards can be applied to all locations and scales of aquaculture production systems around the world.
Eligibility for single-site certification:
- The site produces a species for which an ASC Farm Standard is available
- The site is in operation no less than 18 months or one harvest cycle, whichever is less
- Performance data is available covering the period of time specified in the ASC Farm Standard against which the audit is conducted
Not eligible:
- A site that has a withdrawn ASC certificate or a failed ASC certification audit within the previous 12 months.
Multi-site certification with an internal management system
This type of multi-site certification is for producers seeking ASC certification for multiple sites. It requires your organisation to have a fully functional internal management system, which is responsible for internal audits against all relevant ASC requirements. The benefits of this type of certification:
• You can get more than one site certified in one go
• The audit time will be reduced compared to single site certification for all sites
• Once your sites are ASC certified, the audit team will only audit a sample of sites during the rest of your certified status
Eligibility for multi-site certification:
- Your organisation is one legal entity with a designated central office
- All sites are owned or subcontracted by the applying client
- All sites are certifiable against the same ASC Farm Standard
- All sites are in operation no less than 18 months or one harvest cycle, whichever is less
- All sites are in production (at least for the initial audit)
- All sites are located in the same jurisdiction or a neighbouring jurisdiction with the same applicable regulations
- Performance data is available covering the period of time specified in the ASC Farm Standard against which the audit is conducted
Not eligible:
- Sites that have had a previous ASC certificate withdrawn in the past 12 months
- Sites seeking partial certification
Multi-site certification without an internal management system
This type of multi-site certification does not require review of a fully functional internal management system or internal audits. The benefits of this type of certification:
• You can get more than one site certified in one go
• The audit time will be reduced compared to single site certification for all sites
Eligibility for multi-site certification:
- Your organisation is one legal entity with a designated central office
- All sites are owned or subcontracted by the applying client
- All sites are certifiable against the same ASC Farm Standard
- All sites are in operation no less than 18 months or one harvest cycle, whichever is less
- All sites are in production (at least for the initial audit)
- All sites are located in the same jurisdiction or a neighbouring jurisdiction with the same applicable regulations
- Performance data is available covering the period of time specified in the ASC Farm Standard against which the audit is conducted
Not eligible:
- Sites that have had a previous ASC certificate withdrawn in the past 12 months
- Sites seeking partial certification
Group certification
The majority of seafood farming globally is done by small to medium sized operations. It is therefore key to provide possibilities for these farms to adopt the ASC standards. Group Certification enables smaller-scale producers to join together as a group to collectively implement the ASC standards requirements. This allows them to share the costs and resources involved in meeting these requirements and getting assessed. While the methodology allows smaller producers to collectively apply for certification, the applicable standard requirements remain the same, and every part of the group must meet these requirements to achieve certification.
You can find more information about Group Certification in these documents:
ASC Certification and Accreditation Requirements (CAR)
ASC Group Certification Requirements
Learn more about our ASC standards
Our farm and feed standards set strict requirements for responsible aquaculture that encourage seafood producers to minimise the key environmental and social impacts of aquaculture.
Data Submission
Farms and feed mills that must submit data to ASC can send an email to data@asc-aqua.org (more information can be found in the Standards). Please follow the instructions for producers submitting data to ASC outlined in the Checklist.
Through the ASC certification process, potential and current certificate holders submit data as evidence of conformance with ASC requirements and for the purpose of transparency under the ASC certification programme. ASC manages and utilises these non-personal data on social and environmental performance for monitoring and evaluation and review and revision of our certification and assurance programmes.
ASC adheres to strict processes in the privacy (ASC Privacy Policy) and protection (ASC GDPR Data Protection Policy) of personal data. ASC may share non-personal data in aggregate for research purposes; personal data of any kind are never shared.
All documents
Documents for farms:
- Data Submission Checklist 2020
- ASC Farm Certification Requirements for Unit of Certification (RUoC) v1.0.1
Documents for CABs:
- ASC Farm Certification and Accreditation Requirements (CAR) v2.3.1
- ASC Farm Certification and Accreditation Requirements (CAR) V2.2
- ASC Feed Certification and Accreditation Requirements (CAR) v1.0.1
Documents for feed mills:
