MarinTrust, GSA to Collaborate on Marine Ingredients Certification, Digitalization, Assurance

The Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) and MarinTrust have signed a memorandum of understanding whereby the two organizations will work together to meet the goal of 75 percent of the world’s marine ingredients supplies being either certified, in assessment, in application or in the MarinTrust Improver Programme by 2025.

Both GSA and MarinTrust are standards holders. MarinTrust is the world’s leading certification program for the marine ingredient value chain, owning the MarinTrust Standard for Responsible Supply, MarinTrust Chain of Custody for Responsible Supply and MarinTrust Improver Programme, while GSA (formerly the Global Aquaculture Alliance) owns the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) and Best Seafood Practices (BSP) certification programs as well as the Responsible Fishing Vessel Standard.

Inked at the East India Club in London on Nov. 2, the MoU formalizes a long-standing relationship between GSA and MarinTrust and directly benefits the global seafood value chain by providing end-to-end assurances through third-party auditing and certification.

To meet the goal of 75 percent of the world’s marine ingredients supplies being either certified, in assessment, in application or in the MarinTrust Improver Programme by 2025, GSA and MarinTrust have identified seven areas of collaboration. These areas include:

• GSA has agreed to contribute to the development and expansion of the MarinTrust multispecies criteria, which is designed to enable the assessment of highly complex fisheries in which multiple species are caught at the same time. There is currently one fishery improvement project (FIP), the Gulf of Thailand mixed-trawl fishery, that has been accepted into the Improver Programme as part of the multispecies pilot project.
• GSA has agreed to continue to provide representation on the MarinTrust Governing Body Committee, Standards Steering Committee and Social and Ethical Committee, while MarinTrust has agreed to provide representation on the GSA Feed Mill Standard Technical Group.
• GSA and MarinTrust have agreed to collaborate on the development and implementation of a digital system to allow interoperability between both organizations.

Present at the MoU signing were GSA Standards Coordinator Dan Lee; Iain Shone, GSA’s director of market development for Europe; Melanie Siggs, GSA’s director of strategic engagements; MarinTrust CEO Francisco Aldon; Laura Courage, MarinTrust’s compliance and integrity manager; and Astrid Velandia, MarinTrust’s operations manager. Participating by video conference were GSA CEO Wally Stevens, GSA COO Brian Perkins and Libby Woodhatch, executive chair of MarinTrust.

“Collaboration in areas that are common to all standards, including digitalization and assurance, is a fantastic way to provide assurances to the full aquaculture value chain, from the origin of feed ingredients to the end consumer,” said CEO of MarinTrust, Francisco Aldon.

About the Global Seafood Alliance
The Global Seafood Alliance is an international, nonprofit trade association dedicated to advancing responsible seafood practices through education, advocacy and third-party assurances. Through the development of its Best Aquaculture Practices and Best Seafood Practices certification programs, GSA has become the leading provider of assurances for seafood globally. The organization’s work addresses the full spectrum of responsibility, from environmental responsibility and social accountability to food safety. Established in 1997 as the Global Aquaculture Alliance, GSA is headquartered in Portsmouth, N.H., USA. To learn more, visit www.globalseafood.org.

About MarinTrust
MarinTrust (formerly IFFO RS), is the leading independent business to business certification programme for the marine ingredient value chain, consisting of the MarinTrust for Responsible Supply, the MarinTrust Chain of Custody for Responsible Supply and the MarinTrust Improver Programme. Since opening for application in October 2009, over 150 plants in 27 different countries have gained MarinTrust certification and over 50 percent of the world’s combined production of marine ingredients is MarinTrust compliant. To learn more, visit www.marin-trust.com.