Acronym List

Definition List

The definitions applicable to this Standard can be accessed through the ASC Vocabulary Portal.

Section A1 Water consumption calculation

Water and consumption shall be calculated as follows:

Section A2 Effluent discharge calculation

Effluent discharge shall be calculated as follows:

Section A3 Energy consumption calculation

Energy consumption shall be calculated as follows:

Section A4 Waste consumption calculation

Waste consumption shall be calculated as follows:

Section B GHG Emission calculation – indicator 1.21.4

For the purposes of estimating GHG emissions associated with aquafeeds, calculations shall include the following inputs within each of the emissions scopes defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol^[1]:

• Scope 1—emissions from the on-site consumption of energy carriers (diesel, petrol/gasoline, natural gas) as quantified in Section A3.
• Scope 2—emissions associated with the purchase of electricity and other off-site energy generation (e.g. district heating) as quantified in Section A3.
• Scope 3—emissions associated with the production, processing, and transport of ingredients from crop, fishery, poultry/livestock, and other raw material sources.

GHG emissions shall be calculated as follows:

1. List inputs to feed production, including those energy inputs included in Section A3 as well as any feed ingredients that make up at least 1% of the average raw material feed composition.
2. Calculate the quantity of each input used in the production of one tonne of feed in the previous calendar year (1 January – 31 December).
3. Determine and record appropriate emission factors and their sources, communicated in kg CO₂-equivalent units, for each input listed in step 1. See further details below.
4. Multiply the quantity of each input from step 2 by the respective emission factor in step 3 to calculate the total emissions from each input associated with one tonne of feed.
5. Sum the total emissions associated with one tonne of feed in kg CO₂-eq units.
6. Report results from 2, 3, 4, and 5 to ASC via data@asc-aqua.org, using the template provided on the ASC website.

Determining appropriate emission factors for inputs—Emission factors can be modelled directly, extracted from databases (e.g. Agri-footprint, ecoinvent), or calculated using ASC’s online GHG calculator. The source of emission factors should be clearly stated. If modelling emission factors directly, include all GHGs and use the most recent 100-year global warming potential characterisation factors from IPCC^[2]. Feed ingredient emission factors shall include biogenic emissions where relevant (e.g. methane emissions from rice paddies) as well as emissions from land use change (e.g. clearing of forest for agricultural crop production) if transformation occurred within the previous 20 years. Land use change calculations shall be specific to the source country and follow recognised methods as detailed in available standards^[3][4]. Carbon sequestered in plant and animal material shall not be considered in calculation of emission factors (i.e. do not subtract sequestered carbon from the emission factors of raw material in feed ingredients), as this carbon is returned to the atmosphere upon consumption. In allocating impacts between co-products from feed production systems (e.g. fish by-product meal, feather meal), the preferred method of allocation is by relative mass, in accordance with available seafood product category rules for carbon footprint specifications^[5][6][7]. If another allocation method is used instead, it shall be clearly stated along with reasoning for its use.

To facilitate ease of calculation and consistency across assessments, producers can also use the GHG calculator provided via the ASC website to provide emission factors and calculations.

DD Assessments and where they need to occur

1. Ingredient manufacturer^[193];
   1. Marine-based ingredients
   2. Plant-based ingredients
   3. Feed stuffs (e.g. land animal, algae, insects based)
2. Primary raw material^[194]:
   1. Marine-based primary raw material^[195];
   2. Plant-based primary raw material.

DD Process

In line with the concept of the Risk Management Framework in Annex 7, the Due Diligence (DD) process is carried out according to predefined risk factors and includes a series of steps, with each step adapted to the risk in the local context. These steps follow a set sequence and include the following elements:

More guidance on implementing due diligence processes can be found in the UN guiding principles^[196] and the OECD due diligence guidance^[197].

DD Risk Factors

The UoC needs to demonstrate low risk for ingredient manufacturers, marine and plant-based primary raw material production at least for the Risk Factors outlined in Table 1. Ingredient manufacturers are companies/facilities that produce the ingredient used by the feed manufacturer.

Risk Factors
Table 1: Due Diligence Risk Factors for Ingredient Manufacturers, as well as for marine and plant-based primary raw material production, and schemes to demonstrate low risk.

DD Pathways to Determine Low risk

Any of the four pathways 1) Country Score Card, 2) sectoral/fishery assessment, 3) ingredient manufacturer assessment, or 4) certification shall be used to determine the level of risk for each risk factor. Different pathways can be used to assess the different risk factors for legal, social and environment (see table 1). If a pathway does not result in low risk, another pathway shall be chosen. If none of the pathways enable the UoC to determine low risk, the UoC will not source from such supply chains until implemented mitigation measures have achieved low risk. For plant and marine-based raw material and in the case of co-mingling (i.e. mixed), material with the highest risk classifies the blend and whether or not the entire blend can be sourced. An illustration of the four different pathways which can be used for Due Diligence determination of low risk can be found in Figure 5, Annex 7.

The pathways are:

Calculation of the Majority Sustainability Level (MSL)

Step 1: Determine the whole fish Sustainability Category 

All whole fish marine ingredients must be scored according to the table below. The following table explains how to assign the Sustainability Category to whole fish marine ingredients.

Table 2: This table describes the Sustainability Category assigned to whole fish marine ingredients.

Step 2: Determine the Majority Sustainability Level

After determining the sustainability categories of whole fish marine ingredients, feed manufacturers need to calculate the Majority Sustainability Level (MSL) for the entire UoC. Majority is defined as ≥50% (i.e. 50%, or higher) of whole-fish volume.

Calculation of Mass Balance Eligible Volume

1. Determining Eligible Ingredients

Not all marine and plant ingredients which can be sourced by the UoC also count towards the mass balance eligible volume. The following ingredients count towards the mass balance eligible volume:

• Marine-based ingredients:
  • by-products from aquaculture, by-catch retained under the EU landing obligation
  • by-products from fisheries (if Due Diligence indicates low risk)
  • whole fish (if Due Diligence indicates low risk, the sustainability category is 1-4)

• Plant-based ingredients:
  • Category 1) Plant ingredients known to have global risks, i.e. soy/palm oil (if Due Diligence indicates low risk, Deforestation/Conversion (D/C)-free commitment made, low risk demonstrated for legal D/C). 
  • Category 2) Highest-volume plant ingredients (if Due Diligence indicates low risk, D/C free commitment made, low risk for legal D/C demonstrated OR an action plan is under implementation).
  • Category 3) other plant ingredients (if Due Diligence indicates low risk, D/C free commitment made).

• Feed stuffs (if Due Diligence indicates low risk)

• Feed additives

• Ingredients which represent <1% of the total annual ingredient-weight (volume) received by the UoC for use in aquafeeds

The following ingredients can be sourced but do not count towards the mass balance eligible volume:

• Marine-based ingredients:
  • whole fish (if Due Diligence indicates low risk but not scoring at sustainability category 1-4) 

• Plant-based ingredients:
  • Category 1) Plant ingredients known to have global risks, i.e. soy/palm oil (if Due Diligence indicates low risk and D/C free commitment made, low risk for legal D/C cannot be demonstrated but an action plan is under implementation).

Figure 1: Determining eligible ingredients

Figure 2: Determining eligible plant ingredients

Deforestation / conversion (D/C) risk assessment outcome and implications for the sourcing of plant-based ingredients. In this version of the standard, no distinct sourcing requirements apply to category 3) ingredients with a high risk or ingredients without demonstrated low risk in relation to deforestation or land conversion in plant-ingredient supply chains. This will be reviewed by ASC and could change in future versions of the standard.

2. Calculating the Eligible Volume

Follow these four steps to calculate the mass balance eligible volume:

1. Sum volume (tonnes) of eligible marine ingredients
2. Sum volume (tonnes) of eligible plant ingredients
3. Sum volume (tonnes) of eligible feed stuffs
4. Sum volume (tonnes) feed additives.

The sum of the volumes of eligible ingredients 1) – 4) above equals the “mass balance eligible volume”.

Figure 3: Eligible Ingredients Models

Assurance Procedure for Deforestation / Conversion free Supply Chains

Plant-based ingredients used by the UoC need to be assessed for their level of risk for the Risk Factors listed in Table 3. This additional step is focused on risk related to (legal) deforestation and land conversion.

Table 3: Risk Factors for plant-based ingredients, and schemes to demonstrate low risk.

The UoC may choose one of four pathways to assess and determine risk related to deforestation and conversion.

Different pathways can be used to assess the risk factor deforestation / conversion. If a pathway does not result in low risk, another pathway shall be chosen.  In the case of co-mingling (i.e. mixed) of ingredients, material with the highest risk classifies the blend.

The pathways are:

Flowcharts illustrating requirements for DD, D/C-free risk assessment and summary tables of permitted work types

Figure 4: General process outline for Risk Management Frameworks.

Figure 5: Illustration of the four different pathways which can be used for Due Diligence determination of low risk.

Table 4: Permitted type of work per age group. This table summarises the type of work allowed for each age group. The shaded cells indicate what is prohibited.

Table 5: Permitted working hours and rest per age group

UoC requirements on publishing information and reporting to ASC