Friend of the Sea opened the revision process for its Sustainable Aquaculture Standard and Fish Welfare standards. The standards were established to minimize the negative effects of aquaculture operations on the marine environment and take in consideration the fish welfare in aquaculture production. As part of Friend of the Sea’s alignment process, the organization periodically revises its standards, seeking input from stakeholders from around the world. Stakeholders are invited to contribute insights and knowledge for review and discussion by Friend of the Sea.

“To achieve sustainability in aquaculture, we need to hear from everyone who has something useful to add,” said Paolo Bray, director of Friend of the Sea. “Our revision process begins with an open-ended submission period, where we welcome ideas and documents from all relevant stakeholders.”

Friend of Sea follows a four-step revision process. After receiving input, the organization’s leadership, along with its Technical and Scientific Department and Technical Committee, will aggregate the feedback into a draft of the proposed new standards. This draft is subject to a vote. Once the revision process is finalized, a summary of the process with all comments received will be made publicly available without attribution or any identifier.

Stakeholders should check the ToR of the revision process to see the scope and objectives of this revision process, justification of the need for the standard, guidance on comments and suggestions, timelines and decision-making procedure.

The revision process applies to new “FOS – Aqua Inland-Marine Standard v.4”, “FOS – Audit Guidance for Aqua Inland-Marine Standard” and to all the 24 species-specific brand-new Fish Welfare Standards and their related Audit Guidance.

For more information, visit friendofthesea.org.