Appendix 4 – Allowance for siting in PAs

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Appendix 4 – Allowance for siting in PAs

by Contact on 30 October 2026

This Appendix details the conditions under which siting in various types of Protected Areas (PAs) are allowed (Indicator 2.2.1).

Section

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Conditional allowances

4.1 Introduction

As part of the development of the ASC Farm Standard, research has been initiated to better understand which types of aquaculture production systems are conditionally allowed in the various types of PAs.

At the time of publication of ASC Farm Standard v1.1, this work is still ongoing and not yet available for implementation.

Therefore, the conditional allowances listed below are taken from the ASC species standards and will be replaced with aligned conditional allowances in a future version of the ASC Farm Standard.

4.2 Conditional allowances (Indicator 2.2.1)

Species group

Conditional allowances

Salmonids – marine

Salmo spp. Oncorhynchus spp. Salvelinus spp.

Seabass, Seabream, Meagre

Dicentrarchus spp. Sparus spp. Pagrus spp. Argyrosomus spp.

Flatfish

Paralichthys spp. Pseudopleuronectes spp. Hippoglossus spp. Scophthalmus spp.

Tropical Marine Finfish

Epinephelus spp. Cromileptes spp. Plectropomus spp. Cephalopholis spp. Lutjanus spp. Ocyurus spp. Trachinotus spp. Lates spp. Larimichthys spp.

Cod

Gadus morhua

Siting in PAs is not allowed. An exception applies if sites are:

  • Located in areas classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Category V or VI128128Dudley, N. (Editor) (2008). Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN; or

  • Located in High Conservation Value Areas (HCVA), if the site can demonstrate that its environmental impacts are compatible with the conservation objectives of the HCVA designation; or

  • Located in any category of PA if:

    • The PA was designated after the site was already in operation; and

    • The site can demonstrate that its environmental impacts are compatible with the objectives of the PA designation; and

    • The site complies with any applicable conditions or regulations placed on the site as a result of the formation/designation of the PA.

Salmonids – freshwater

Salmo spp. Oncorhynchus spp. Salvelinus spp. Thymallus spp. Coregonus spp.

Pike-perch

Sander lucioperca

Siting in PAs is not allowed. An exception applies if sites are:

  • Located in areas classified by International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Category V or VI128128Dudley, N. (Editor) (2008). Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN; or

  • Located in any Category of PA if:

    • The PA was designated after the site was already in operation; and

    • The site can demonstrate that its environmental impacts are compatible with the objectives of the PA designation; and

    • The site complies with any applicable conditions or regulations placed on the site as a result of the formation/designation of the PA.

Seriola and Cobia

Seriola spp. Rachycentron canadum

Siting in PAs is not allowed. An exception applies if sites are:

Crustaceans

Penaeus spp. P. vannamei Cherax spp. Procambarus spp. Astacus spp. Macrobrachium spp:

Siting in PAs is not allowed. An exception applies if sites are:

For both allowances, the following conditions apply:

  1. The site shall conform to the management objectives and plan of the PA; and

  2. Crustacean farming is no more than 25% of the total PA.