Assurance of Marine Ingredients within the Aquaculture Value Chain

with Francisco Aldon

Francisco Aldon has been with MarinTrust from its early development within IFFO (the marine ingredients organisation), to becoming the CEO of MarinTrust in 2020. With over 15 years of experience in the food sector, specialising in marine ingredients, Francisco has unique expertise in responsible sourcing, sustainable production practices, and digital traceability in the marine ingredient supply chain.

MarinTrust

MarinTrust is a programme dedicated to marine ingredient production factories, allowing them to gain recognition for their responsible sourcing, traceability and production of marine ingredients. With MarinTrust, marine ingredients producers and users are able to meet the growing demand for responsible products, benefit from industry-driven guidance for a complex sector, demonstrate continuous improvement and substantiate their claims, and cultivate responsible practices within your company and drive positive change. Marine ingredients producers benefit from a recognised, robust and trusted process of third-party audits and assessments; marine ingredients users benefit by supporting their suppliers who are engaged in an ongoing and trusted process of third-party audits and assessments.

As an Affiliated Partner of GSSI, MarinTrust works alongside the global benchmarking platform to strengthen sustainability, transparency, and credibility across the marine ingredients value chain. By recognising fisheries certified under GSSI benchmarked schemes, the collaboration reduces duplication in certification processes and simplifies pathways for responsible sourcing. Together, the two organisations bring complementary expertise from fisheries, marine ingredient production, and aquaculture to support a more coherent and accessible approach to credible standards worldwide.

Francisco, how important is the assurance of marine ingredients for sustainability within the aquaculture value chain?

It is essential. Marine ingredients such as fishmeal and fish oil are key components of aquaculture and animal feed, and they are also used in the health supplement sector. Because these products are traded globally and move through complex supply chains, assurance is critical to maintaining trust.

When sourcing and production are independently verified, companies can demonstrate that their practices meet recognised standards. This strengthens transparency and gives buyers, investors, and consumers confidence in sustainability claims. Without credible assurance, it becomes difficult to ensure consistency and accountability across the value chain.

Today, around 45 percent of global marine ingredients are certified against MarinTrust standards. That level of uptake shows both the sector’s commitment and the importance of having a trusted framework in place.

How does MarinTrust support the responsible sourcing, production, and traceability of marine ingredients?

MarinTrust provides two international third-party certification standards. The Factory Standard focuses on responsible sourcing, responsible production and responsible traceability at the factory level. The Chain of Custody Standard ensures full traceability and protects the integrity of certified products as they move through the supply chain.

We also run the MarinTrust Improver Programme, which supports marine ingredient factories working toward certification and engaged in a MarinTrust Fishery Improvement Project.

Our role is to provide producers and users of marine ingredients with a credible framework to demonstrate responsible sourcing, production, and traceability. Producers go through a recognised and robust audit process. Buyers gain confidence that their suppliers are part of a structured and transparent system that encourages continuous improvement.

What are the main challenges with assurance across the marine ingredients value chain?

One of the main challenges is the complexity of global supply chains. Marine ingredients are sourced from a wide range of fisheries and regions, each with different regulatory contexts and levels of development.

Access to certification resources can also be a barrier, particularly in emerging markets. That is why improvement pathways and recognition of credible benchmarking frameworks are so important. They help reduce duplication, lower costs, and create a more accessible route toward responsible practices.

Strengthening assurance requires collaboration across fisheries, processors, feed producers, and certification bodies. Alignment and transparency are key to making sustainability practical and scalable.

How would you say that MarinTrust’s collaboration with GSSI helps simplify the journey toward responsible sourcing and traceability?

The recognition of GSSI by MarinTrust reduces duplication in the certification process. We now recognise fisheries certified to standards benchmarked against GSSI’s Global Benchmark Tool Version 2.0, Section D, however, this is only for fisheries destined for the production of marine ingredients. These fisheries are therefore recognised as meeting MarinTrust’s fishery assessment prerequisite under our Whole Fish Fisheries Criteria Version 3.

This removes the need for two separate fishery-level assessments. It saves time and resources for reduction fisheries and marine ingredient producers, and it makes certification more accessible. Simplifying these pathways is important if we want responsible sourcing to become the norm rather than the exception.

What role does benchmarking play in streamlining certification pathways?

Benchmarking creates alignment. It ensures that certification schemes meet consistent and internationally recognised criteria. By recognising GSSI’s benchmark tool, MarinTrust is acknowledging a credible and rigorous framework.

This approach helps avoid discrepancies between systems while maintaining high assurance standards. For companies operating across multiple markets, it reduces complexity and increases clarity. Ultimately, benchmarking supports both efficiency and integrity.

How is MarinTrust supporting feed ingredient and feed producers in navigating complex certification requirements?

By eliminating duplicative fishery assessments, we reduce administrative and financial burdens. This is particularly important in emerging markets where access to certification resources may be limited.

Fisheries already certified under a GSSI recognised programme, such as the Marine Stewardship Council, Marine Eco-Label Japan, Iceland Responsible Fisheries, or Responsible Fisheries Management, no longer need to go through a separate recognition process for MarinTrust.

This expands the pool of approved raw material sources and improves availability of responsibly sourced marine ingredients. For feed producers, it simplifies sourcing decisions and supports stronger sustainability reporting.

Looking ahead, what opportunities do you see for deeper collaboration between MarinTrust and GSSI?

As an Affiliated Partner of GSSI, MarinTrust now has a formal platform to deepen technical collaboration and industry engagement. Together, we can connect expertise across fisheries, feed, and marine ingredient production.

MarinTrust already acts as a bridge between the fishing and aquaculture sectors, and we also engage with the health supplement and pet food markets. This broader perspective adds value to GSSI stakeholders who are looking at sustainability across interconnected supply chains.

There is clear potential to further align assurance frameworks and encourage uptake of credible standards in regions where certification is still developing. By working together, we can accelerate global adoption of robust and transparent standards and strengthen sustainability across the aquaculture value chain.