Focus areas
The following focus areas are within scope of the ASC Farm Standard:
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Legal compliance
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Environmental stewardship
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Human rights
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Animal health and welfare
Scope of the Standard
The ASC Farm Standard applies to aquaculture grow out farms (hereafter ‘grow out sites’). The Standard does not apply to pre-grow out sites, for example, nurseries and hatcheries.
The scope of the Standard is defined by the following elements:
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Focus Areas;
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Unit of Certification (UoC);
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Supply chain and associated activities; and
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Applicability across culture systems, water types and species.
Vocabulary use
Intentional language is used in the ASC Farm Standard to ensure clarity:
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Shall vs. Should
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‘Shall’ denotes a requirement;
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‘Should’ denotes a recommendation.
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May vs. Can
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‘May’ denotes a permitted course of action;
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‘Can’ denotes a possible course of action.
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Exceptions vs. Exemptions
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‘Exception’ an alternative requirement for a specific circumstance, referenced in the Indicator;
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‘Exemption’ an exclusion from an Indicator, referenced in a Footnote.
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Appropriate vs. Adequate
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‘Appropriate’ refers to what is suitable or proper for a particular need;
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‘Adequate’ refers to what is sufficient to meet a need.
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And vs. Or (in lists)
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‘And’ implies inclusiveness i.e. all items are required;
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‘Or’ implies exclusiveness i.e. only one of the items is required.
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Indications of time
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‘Day’ refers to calendar days unless working days are explicitly specified.
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‘Week’ refers to a period of seven consecutive calendar days unless otherwise specified.
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‘Month’ refers to a calendar month unless otherwise specified.
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‘Year’ refers to a calendar year unless otherwise specified.
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As necessary
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Refers to a situation where something shall be done if, and to the extent that, it is needed.
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Where relevant
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Refers to a situation where something shall be done if it is applicable to the specific situation or circumstances.
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Document structure
The ASC Farm Standard is structured as follows:
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Four Principles – each Principle defines a high-level outcome which, collectively, contributes to the ASC Vision.
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A Principle consists of multiple Criteria – each Criterion addresses an impact that is relevant to the aquaculture industry.
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A Criterion consists of a Rationale, Intent and multiple Indicators.
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The Rationale describes why the issue is of relevance to the aquaculture industry;
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The Intent describes the long-term outcome of the Criteria;
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Each Indicator describes a requirement. Audits are conducted to determine conformity to Indicators, including any referenced appendices, footnotes or terms.
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The ASC Farm Standard also contains:
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Appendices – included to provide detail on acronyms, performance metrics, methodologies, formulas or requirements.
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Footnotes – used to detail exemptions to an Indicator and for references.
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Terms – defined terms are highlighted in bold when used for the first time. Definitions are listed in the ASC Vocabulary Portal.
Document structure and Vocabulary
ASC Data Submission Requirements
ASC collects data as part of the ASC Certification Programme and related services. These data are essential for demonstrating ASC’s impacts, supporting assurance and programme development, transparency, delivering client and partner services, and meeting research needs. ASC establishes data submission requirements based on clear, justified needs and adheres to a strict data sharing policy. The data to be submitted are specified in the ASC Data Submission Procedure.
Question for Interpretation Process
UoCs, CABs, ASI and stakeholders may encounter circumstances in which the language or intent of an Indicator or requirement requires interpretation or clarification. To address this need, ASC has developed the Question for Interpretation (QA) process. In contrast to VRs, QAs provide temporary additional guidance, interpretation and information between revisions of ASC standards.
The ASC Question for Interpretation (QA) Procedure sets out the steps for submitting, processing, and publishing QAs. The procedure ensures that QAs are processed consistently and that the outcomes are clear and replicable.
All QAs are evaluated for inclusion during the development or revision of ASC standards. To ensure transparency, all QAs and related procedural documents are publicly available on the ASC Variance Request and Interpretation Platform.
Variance Request Process
UoCs may encounter circumstances in which ASC standards’ requirements need to be adapted to the local context while maintaining their original intent. To address this need, ASC has developed a Variance Request (VR) Process.
The ASC Variance Request (VR) Procedure sets out the steps for submitting, processing and publishing VRs, including stakeholder engagement. The procedure ensures that VRs are processed consistently and that outcomes are clear and replicable.
All VRs are evaluated for inclusion during the development or revision of ASC standards. To ensure transparency, all VRs and related procedural documents are publicly available on the ASC’s Variance Request and Interpretation Platform.
Group Certification
ASC Group certification provides a more efficient option to certify multiple sites where there is a centralised internal management system in place which assures conformity across all sites. The internal management system requirements are described in the ASC Group Requirements for Farms document.
One of the key benefits of this type of certification is that a sample of sites is selected for the CAB audits, thereby reducing the audit time compared to auditing and certifying each site individually. The CABs also assess the robustness of the internal management system and can increase or decrease the sample size based on risk.
ASC Assurance Net
The independent actors and processes described above are interlinked to provide the most robust and reliable assurance system, supported by ASC’s transparent processes and stakeholder participation. CABs conduct strict audits to verify conformity against the ASC standards. ASI assesses CABs to confirm that certification was granted following the requirements and with integrity. Both CABs and ASI may conduct these activities unannounced, and all the evaluation results are publicly available for interested stakeholders who may provide additional information to the certification process.
Working closely with assurance partners, ASC monitors conformance across the supply chain.
ASC adds another layer of assurance by designing tailored tools that support additional verification of conformity. These tools evaluate the conformance of ASC products in different stages, for example, antibiotic residues and provenance (TestASC), verification of production cycles and remote sensing (MapASC), and complete tracking of products in the supply chain (TraceASC).