Completed projects

Review: freshwater trout

Review: pangasius

Review: Salmon – Smolt

Review: Salmon 3.1.7

Review: Salmon Parasiticide treatment index (PTI)

Metrics and Methodology

Review – Shrimp

Marine Litter

Metrics and Methodology

ASC’s [new] Metrics Methodology

The ASC has embarked upon a Metrics Methodology project to create transparency and consistency into the ‘metric’ standard-setting dimension of the ASC standards. The ‘Baseline’ Methodology document published in November 2020 was issued for a 62-day public consultation period in March–May 2020 (see the documents below). It is applicable to all species-specific metrics and aims to provide minimum requirements for setting and/or revising metrics within any of the ASC standards. The ASC Metrics Methodology will also be applicable to the ASC Farm Standard once the Alignment Project is completed.

The March-May 2020 Metric Methodology public consultation was also linked to that of the Shrimp Revision ; which included documents also referring to specific ‘metrics’.

ASC particularly sought stakeholder feedback on two dimensions of the ‘Baseline’ Methodology document (listed below). Furthermore, stakeholders were encouraged to provide any general feedback which they deemed fit.

i) ‘Relevant Data’…

Data from certified farms (where applicable), non-certified farms and research studies will be consulted for revision and/or setting of new metrics.

Is there any other type of data that should be considered as relevant for this purpose or do you consider any of the mentioned types of data as irrelevant? If so, please provide an explanation as to why you think that a certain type of data should not be included in the metric setting approach

ii) Statistical Analysis

The draft ASC Metrics Methodology stated that “data will be checked for normal distribution and homogeneity of variance” although a Gauss distribution can not necessarily be expected, especially for survival rates in highly technical systems. However, homoscedasticity is assumed to determine the sample size for non-certified farms (within revision of metrics, based on data from certified farms and literature).

A revised version of the Metrics Methodology ‘Baseline’ document was published in November 2021 (see below).

For more information, contact Kathrin Steinberg, PhD, ASC Performance Data Coordinator.

[Last updated 12.11.2021]

Public Consultation, March 2 – May 2, 2020

RAS Module development

Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS)

Certification of aquatic products from open and semi-closed systems such as sea-cages, ponds or flow-through systems was the initial focus of the ASC standards. In recent years, however, the number of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) has significantly increased. Therefore ASC has developed a RAS module to adapt the ASC standards to ensure that the main impacts from RAS operations are assessed.

Contact person: Kathrin Steinberg, PhD, Head of Research, Standards and Science.

This module development is now complete. In addition to changes made following public consultation included, additional consultation with stakeholders engaged previously was undertaken to refine the definition of RAS to determine applicability of this module. Details can be reviewed here.

RAS Module – Public Consultation (Complete)

The ASC sought feedback on the proposed RAS Module, with a focus on its auditability and applicability. Suggestions for any additional considerations which should be included in RAS assessments were also welcomed.

An additional targeted consultation on the scope of the RAS Module was held in November 2021. The summary can be found here.