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The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) is an independent non-profit organisation and labelling organization that establishes protocol on seafood while ensuring sustainable aquaculture. The ASC provides sustainable aquaculture producers with labelling to show consumers that the seafood they are purchasing is sustainable for the environment. The Aquaculture Stewardship Council was founded in 2010 by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). According to their website, the ASC's Vision is "[a] world where aquaculture plays a major role in supplying food and social benefits for mankind whilst minimizing negative impacts on the environment". Their mission is "[to] transform aquaculture towards environmental sustainability and social responsibility using efficient market mechanisms that create value across the chain."

Personnel
The ASC's CEO is Chris Ninnes. He was appointed in October, 2011. In February 2016, Aldin Hilbrands, Meghan Jeans, Scott Nichols, and Ling Cao joined the ASC Supervisory Board.

Accreditation Process
The standards of the ASC have been set by the Aquaculture Dialogues, an organization under the WWF that has over 2,000 members. Their members include farmers, processors and retailers along with Non-governmental organizations and government agencies. In order for something to be certified by the ASC a series of criteria must be completed including pre-assessment, on-site farm audit and an audit report. Any aquaculture farmer is eligible to be certified by the ASC as long as they farm a species that the ASC inspects. Species verified by the ASC include abalone, bivalves, pangasius, and salmon. There are organizations that work under the banner of the ASC on a more regional basis, such as the Sustainable Shrimp Partnership (SSP) who operate in Ecuador and use the ASC's standards for their members. While the ASC is not directly involved, the SSP incorporates their policies of water quality, traceability and anti-biotic usage.

Criticism
Despite policies by the ASC baring child labour there have been many reported cases of child labour in the processing of tiger shrimp. The ASC reportedly have continued to certify shrimp which has been know to have been harvested illegally by children. Issues have also arisen regarding labelling provided by the ASC. The ASC has in the past ignored health code violations and provided labels such as ethical and organic despite controversy with the harvesting of the food.

The ASC had originally planned to reward sustainable and responsible fish farmers, such as the Marine Stewardship Council has for open ocean fishing. However, the ASC's standards were seen as "strict" to some major corporations.

Certification
The ASC covers certifies different species groups which includes Tilapia, Salmon, Pangasius, Bivalves, Cobia and Shrimp. Certified ASC products are now available around the world, mostly notable in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.