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Get ASC Certified: Farms
Connect with more global buyers and protect your reputation by farming responsibly, verified by the ASC Assurance Net—all driving business growth and positive impact.
Why producers and farms choose ASC
Credibility
Leverage the most recognised and trusted farmed seafood certification
Demand
Connect with buyers to meet growing demand for responsible seafood
Relevance
Certify against the broadest, most robust and scientifically endorsed standards
Reliability
Mitigate risks with the ASC Assurance Net
Recognition
Be recognised for responsible seafood farming
Congratulations to Change Champion Lubimar: the first farm certified against the ASC Farm Standard
“The certification process was demanding, but it has strengthened our farm and our team. We are extremely proud to be the first to achieve this certification and to help set a benchmark for the sector.”
Gontran de Ceballos, Sales Manager at Lubimar
Familiarise yourself with the ASC Farm Standard and Certification and Accreditation Requirements (CAR).
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!
Extended Transition Period
The mandatory date for transitioning to the ASC Farm Standard has been extended to 1 May 2028. All audits starting on or after this date shall be conducted against this version, and the ASC Species Standards will become inactive.
Interim Version Released
Ahead of the release of ASC Farm Standard V1.1 on 1 November 2026, ASC has issued an interim version (ASC Farm Standard V1.0.1A2). In this version, a number of indicators and appendix sections are marked as “not in use”.
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:
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:
Learn more about our ASC standards
Our feed, farm and Chain of Custody standards set strict requirements for responsible practices, taking into account key environmental and social impacts across the entire farmed seafood supply chain.
Data Submission
- Data submitted under the ASC Salmon and Cod Standard v1.5 (Appendix VI) shall be submitted using the provided templates and forms and uploaded to MyASC data submission portal.
- Data submitted under other current species standards (e.g., Shrimp, Tilapia, Bivalves, etc), shall be submitted via email to data@asc-aqua.org as indicated in the standard. Please follow the instructions for producers submitting data to ASC outlined in the Checklist.
- Data submitted under the ASC Farm Standard and ASC Feed Standard shall follow the Data Submission Procedure v1.0 (May 2025), using the applicable templates and forms and uploaded to MyASC data submission portal.
All documents
Documents for farms:
- Data Submission Checklist 2020
- ASC Farm Certification Requirements for Unit of Certification (RUoC) v1.0.1
Documents for CABs: