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"Transition to Version 3 of our Factory Standard is now well underway and although this is at the core of our work, so much more has been achieved since our last report was published. This report covers the last 18 months of our work to bring us neatly to the end of 2024 and make future reports more streamlined. Explore how MarinTrust has engaged the value chain, driven progress and ensured business can demonstrate their responsible practices."
The data presented here are from December 2024
See previous Annual Reports here
Contents
- Who we are
- Areas of growth
- The Factory Standard Version 3
- MarinTrust Chain of Custody (CoC)
- Assurance
- The Improver Programme
- Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL)
- Outreach
- Partnerships
- Press and social media
- Governance
- The team
Who we are
A new vision and value proposition was launched in 2024 to ensure MarinTrust continues to evolve with the industry and value chain.
Advancing best practice in the responsible sourcing, traceability and production of marine ingredients
Areas of growth
In the last 18 months MarinTrust has been pleased to welcome 16 new factories across Denmark, Ecuador, Faroe Islands, Indonesia, Latvia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Poland, UK, USA and Vietnam to the MarinTrust Standard.
In this period, 16 companies with facilities in Chile, China, Ecuador, France, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Peru, Poland and Spain joined the MarinTrust Chain of Custody Standard.
Also in this period, 8 new sites in Ecuador, Faroe Islands, India and UK have been accepted as MarinTrust Improver Programme factory sites. Finally, there are 7 on-going Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) accepted under the MarinTrust Improver Programme.
Find out more key figures here.
The Factory Standard Version 3
Following a 6 month process of stakeholder engagement, Version 3 of the MarinTrust Factory Standard came into force on 1st May 2024, after which all new applicants will apply for audits under the new version. A transition period of one year was implement to allow for existing certificate holders to prepare for audits.
This new version lays the foundations towards fully traceable marine ingredients and progresses the Standard's focus on environmental and social impacts, both at the factory and on the vessels supplying whole fish. It also aims to increase accessibility for responsibly sourced and produced marine ingredients and encourage the use of by-products. The approval of V3 comes at the end of a rigorous development process, including pilot assessments across the world and feedback from auditors, certified companies, and other key marine ingredient stakeholders to enhance the consistency and efficiency of audits.
MarinTrust has published a range of supporting documents to support stakeholders. There is also guidance for transition of the recognition of Standards and the transition periods and criteria changes for both by-product assessments and whole fish fishery assessments.
Click on the blocks below to find out more about the Standard's developments.
Guidance on transition to V3
MarinTrust has held 8 workshops in the last 18 months to support Certificate Holders, auditors and assessors with the transition to Version 3, all the recordings are available here. More detailed guidance on the step-by-step process on how to get certified was also published here.
By-product assessment
Guidance has been given for new applicants and existing certificate holders to help navigate the newly revised by-product requirements and assessment process. Information was provided on which version of the criteria applies to applications and assessments, with additional clarity on the transition from the current by-product assessment to Version 3. Find out more
Recognition of standards
Guidance was provided on the recognition status for Standards during the transition to Version 3, covering who will be affected and key dates in the process. To help improve efficiency with audits and assessments, while also reducing duplications, MarinTrust recognises other Standards or Benchmark Tools, assessed against its own requirements as being credible, robust, and relevant:
- Programa de Aseguramiento de la Calidad (PAC) - is a Programme that offers licensing and approval for export to seafood businesses in Chile.
- The GMP+ Feed Safety Standard - is a standard for feed safety management systems for feed products and services.
- The Feed Materials Assurance Scheme (FEMAS) - is a standard for all feed ingredients intended for direct feeding to animals or for inclusion in compound feeds and blends.
All three Programmes have been assessed by an appointed third party who demonstrated an extremely high level of equivalency to MarinTrust’s Factory Standard Version 3 (Good Manufacturing Practices, subsection 5.2-5.4) and clear justification for partial recognition status of each Programme.
Traceability
MarinTrust is working to make the different activities in marine ingredient production explicit within the GDST standards and facilitate data transfer between different actors in our supply chain. The inclusion of KDE’s in the MT standard will help the industry identify and share data to their buyers in a consistent way. It will empower marine ingredient producers and users to understand data transfer and digitalization and this is why we are working with the GDST. The circularity of products is vital for the future, that is why by-products are so important to tackle in the MarinTrust standards with an aim of making them easier to be recognized for marine ingredient production. MarinTrust has hosted workshops with GDST in Cape Town (October 2023) and Lisbon (2024), along with presentations as part of the GDST dialogues events, for more information see our partner profile.
MarinTrust Chain of Custody (CoC)
MarinTrust Chain of Custody (CoC) accreditation review
To ensure the integrity of the MarinTrust programme, Certification Bodies (CBs) who undertake MarinTrust audits and assessment are required to be accredited under ISO/IEC 17065. CBs have to apply to national accreditation bodies to extend the scope of this accreditation to include the relevant MarinTrust Standard.
Before this can happen, each of the standards have to be independently assessed by a national accreditation body. This happens with each version of each standard.
Assurance
Assurance is the backbone of our work and includes different elements of the MarinTrust Programme, such as the Governance System, the Oversight System, and the Quality Management System. These elements provide confidence that marine ingredients are responsibly sourced and fully traceable and enables the MarinTrust Programme to be properly implemented, ensuring that the certification process is robust, consistent and impartial. To protect the ongoing credibility, transparency and independence of the Programme, our Assurance System has been developed in line with international requirements and guidelines (such as ISO/IEC 17067, 17065, 17021-1, 17011). The Assurance System is also independently checked against the ISEAL Assurance Code as part of MarinTrust’s ISEAL Code Compliant membership.
The MarinTrust Assurance System
The Improver Programme
The MarinTrust IP is dedicated to marine ingredient production factories involved in a Fishery Improvement Project (FIP). Through a structured, timebound process, they can develop and gain recognition for their sourcing of marine ingredients, while working towards certification. There are seven on-going Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) accepted under the MarinTrust Improver Programme.
Click on the blocks below to explore the Improver Programme's developments.
A new interactive resource page was been launched by MarinTrust to provide an accessible and transparent centre for the completed and on-going Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) under MarinTrust’s Improver Programme (IP). There are currently 7 active FIPs accepted on the MarinTrust IP. To ensure the FIP information can be easily accessed, and progress reviewed, MarinTrust has improved the profiles on the website.
To maintain compliance, all Accepted FIPs must demonstrate improvements in line with a Fishery Action Plan including the associated evidence. All this information must be transparent and made public on the MarinTrust website to ensure the FIPs are credible and can be scrutinised by external stakeholders. In addition, to provide a simple and internationally recognised measure of the FIPs progress, we have worked with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) to incorporate the FIP ratings Evaluation Tool.. Read more…
Mauritania Small Pelagics Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) extended until December 2028 onto the MarinTrust Improver Programme
Following a robust process publicly available, the Mauritania Small pelagics Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) has been extended onto the MarinTrust Improver Programme until December 2028. This results from an application submitted by the FIP coordinators.
This application was peer reviewed by a third party Certification Body fishery assessor and then thoroughly examined by MarinTrust’s Improver Programme Application Committee (IPAC) in a meeting held on the 24th September 2024. The IPAC is an objective‐based multi‐stakeholder group, representative of fishery science, fishmeal manufacturing, the food supply chain and environment. Read more...
North East Atlantic Blue Whiting Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) extended by two years onto the MarinTrust Improver Programme
Following a robust publicly available process, the North East Atlantic Blue Whiting Fishery Improvement Project (FIP), which started in 2021, has been extended by two years onto the MarinTrust Improver Programme. This results from an application submitted by the North Atlantic Pelagic Advocacy (NAPA) group, which acts as the FIP coordinator.
This application was peer reviewed by a third party Certification Body fishery assessor and then thoroughly examined by MarinTrust’s Improver Programme Application Committee (IPAC) in a meeting held on the 24th September 2024. Read more…
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL)
MarinTrust monitors different activities within the company in line with the Theory of Change, a visualisation of how the programme operates (both day-to-day and over the longer term). The aim of this Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) system is to identify key areas of success as well as areas that require improvements or additional scrutiny, with the overall aim of improving the sourcing and production of Marine Ingredients. Each year a report is produced outlining the key findings of the MEL system, including whether targets have been met or not, what may have influenced these results and how we can improve on these in the following year.
MarinTrust has initiated a long-term impact evaluation programme to investigate the attributable impacts of the MarinTrust standard system. Starting with the MarinTrust Factory Standard, we worked with a third-party consultancy to conduct an initial environmental impact evaluation in 2023 to 2024.
Key findings
The evaluation examined the extent to which MarinTrust activities lead to improved or protected environmental parameters. It investigated both MarinTrust Certification and the Improver Programme and involved surveys, interviews, market research, and legal reviews. The findings indicate that these activities have led to the most pronounced improvements in responsible traceability and responsible sourcing of fishery materials. This included the addition of formal policies and procedures for relevant activities in the factory.
The evaluation also found that customers play a significant role in driving engagement with MarinTrust activities, with 71% of customers asking for MarinTrust-certified materials. Other stakeholders, such as shareholders and direct competitors, also influence the decision to engage with MarinTrust. The evaluation did not identify significant barriers to participation in MarinTrust activities, but further research is needed to understand the motivations and drivers of non-engaged sites.
Overall, the findings suggest that MarinTrust activities contribute to improved environmental parameters in marine ingredient production.
The report concludes with recommendations to capture improvements, build a feedback loop, understand legal requirements, work with multiple languages, and be proactive with customers.
Outreach
MarinTrust's stakeholders reach across the value chain and engagement is therefore happening globally through a variety of platforms and events. Over the last 18 months MarinTrust has taken part in events and workshops across the world, carried out visits to factories and stakeholders, and engaged directly with stakeholders on Twitter and LinkedIn. Our press engagement also continues to increase through all our projects.
Events
The MarinTrust team is constantly engaging stakeholders and companies global in person and online, through events, workshops and site visits.
| 12th Conxemar - FAO Congress (Vigo) |
| EFFOP Conference (Estonia) |
| Fish Waste For Profit (Reykjavik) |
| Fishmongers' Hall - Aquaculture for a Thriving Future (London) |
| Global GAP Summit (Warsaw) |
| Global Seafood Alliance Conference (St Andrews) |
| Global Shrimp Forum (Utrecht) |
| IFFO Annual Conference (Cape Town) |
| IFFO Annual Conference (Lisbon) |
| IFFO InFocus By-Products (Webinar) |
| IFFO InFocus Southeast Asia Fishery Projects (Webinar) |
| IFFO Members Meeting (Miami) |
| ISEAL Symposium (Baden) |
| MarinTrust Auditor Training (Europe, Asia and Latin America webinars) |
| MarinTrust By-Product Assessment Version 3 (Webinars) |
| MarinTrust Fishery Assessor Training (webinar) |
| Marintrust V3 - Certificate Holders (3 webinar series) |
| MarinTrust V3 Workshop (Chile) |
| Namibia Ocean Cluster Working Group (Namibia) |
| North Atlantic Seafood Forum (Bergen) |
| Seafish SECLG meeting (London) |
| Seafood Expo Asia – GDST traceability panel (Singapore) |
| Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global - GDST Traceability panel (Barcelona) |
| Seafood Expo North America (Boston) |
| Shrimp Summit (Chennai) |
| The Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Summit (Tokyo) |
| World Fisheries Progress (Seattle) |
| WWF and SASSI team presentation (Cape Town) |
Partnerships
MarinTrust and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sign MoU to strengthen collaboration in the marine ingredient supply chain
MarinTrust and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation within the marine ingredient supply chain. The agreement aims to improve understanding of both programmes, reduce duplication, and create efficiencies for marine ingredient producers. Both organisations will explore opportunities for mutual recognition and alignment of Standards.
Libby Woodhatch, Executive Chair at MarinTrust notes: “This collaboration reflects both organisations' shared commitment to improving fisheries management and addressing the increasing demand for responsible marine ingredients. This MoU aims to clarify and recognise that both programmes are complementary yet different. The complementarity enables efficiencies to be designed and offered to seafood supply chain actors”. Read more
Global Roundtable on Marine Ingredients
MarinTrust continues to play a central role in two workstreams within the roundtable. The West Africa workstream aims to better understand the region through evidence-based information, gathered on the ground, contribute to public discussions, with a focus on food security, and assess the impacts of the industry in Mauritania and Senegal. MarinTrust's work with the Improver Programme accepted sites in Mauritania has greatly assisted the project, as well as inputs into the Mauritania FIP management plan and meetings.
MarinTrust has also assisted with the South / Southeast Asia workstream, led by Global Seafood Alliance and is currently focusing on India, supporting projects to establish whether the market will help support the further development of Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) and encourage the development of processing by-product marine ingredient sources in regions where processing waste is underutilised. Find out more about the Roundtable's work.
Press and social media
Through engagement on multiple press and social media platforms, MarinTrust contributes to and leads in discussions around marine ingredients and the role of the Standards. Over the past year, MarinTrust has received 89 pieces of media coverage through press releases, interviews, and opinion editorials. Wider stakeholders were also engaged on LinkedIn and Twitter, with followers increasing by 600 to 2,500 (as of January 2025) and over 2,300 reactions on LinkedIn.
Links to MarinTrust opinion editorials:
- Shrimp customers demand sustainable products, but where will they come from?
- Navigating Growth: The Seafood Industry’s Demand for Responsible Marine Ingredients
- MarinTrust updates standard for ‘world that has changed’
- Traceability will play critical role in future of marine ingredients
- Shrimp customers demand sustainable products, but where will they come from?
Governance
* - Marine Ingredients Certifications Ltd (09357209) operates the MarinTrust Programme, the leading independent business to
business certification programme for the marine ingredient value chain.
To find out who sits on the MarinTrust Board and committees, click on the following
The MarinTrust Board acts as the owner of the MarinTrust programme and ensures that it complies with all UK company law. The duty of the Board of Directors includes the financial viability of the company. This includes the setting of all registration fees which is done in consultation with the MarinTrust Governing Body Committee (GBC). Members are:
- Libby Woodhatch (Chair)
- Petter Martin Johannessen
- Gonzalo de Romaña
- Brett Glencross
- Johannes Palsson
- Francisco Aldon (Company Secretary)
Responsible for overseeing the direction of the MarinTrust Programme, the Governing Body Committee (GBC) is a multi-stakeholder committee made up of marine ingredients producers, traders, fish feed producers, fish farmers, fish processors, retailers, marine conservation NGOs, related standards representatives, and the IFFO Technical Director. It is responsible for overseeing the direction of the Members are:
Estelle Brennan (Labeyrie Fine Foods)
Clarus Chu (WWF)
Michiel Fransen (Aquaculture Stewardship Council)
Dr Brett Glencross (IFFO)
Eduardo Goycoolea (IFFO)
Tor Eirik Homme (Grieg Seafood)
Daniel Lee (Global Seafood Alliance)
Dave Martin (Sustainable Fisheries Partnership)
Dawn Purchase (Marine Conservation Society)
Jorge Risi (IFFO)
Dave Robb (Cargill)
Stelios Stambolis (Distral)
Frank Trearty (IFFO)
Libby Woodhatch (MarinTrust) - Executive Chair
The Standard Steering Committee (SSC) was established to support the GBC by utilising its technical expertise to assist with the development and revision of the certification requirements and technical guidance used during the audit for the MarinTrust Certification Standards. Members are:
- Francisco Aldon (MarinTrust) - Chair
- Ken Corpron (Best Aquaculture Practices)
- Geraldine Fox (Pelagia)
- Andreas Nordgreen (TripleNine)
- Mike Platt (Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability)
- Lindsay Pollock (Biomar)
- Didier Saplana (Austral)
- Alex Warrington (Aquaculture Stewardship Council)
The function of the Fisheries Development Oversight Committee (FDOC) is to develop the Fishery Peer Review process and fishery approval mechanism for certification, manage technical matters relating to the development, revision and implementation of the fisheries assessment criteria of the MarinTrust Standard, including the technical relevance and appropriateness of the programme for use as a Third Party, Accredited Certification Programme. Members are:
- Sophie des Clers (fisheries consultant) - Chair
- Stella Bartolini Cavicchi (OceanMind)
- Francisco Aldon (MarinTrust)
- Jose Peiro Crespo (Naunet, fisheries consultant)
- Pedro Veiga (Sustainable Fisheries Partnership)
- Polly Burns (Marine Stewardship Council)
- James Hinchcliffe (European Fishmeal and Fish Oil Producers)
- Caitlin Gilmour (Global Fishing Watch)
The MarinTrust GBC and Improver Programme Application Committee (IPAC) work together to develop and implement the MarinTrust Improver Programme (MarinTrust IP). The IPAC is an objective‐based multi‐stakeholder group, representative of fishery science, fishmeal manufacturing, the food supply chain and environment. Members are:
- Daniel Lee (Global Seafood Alliance)
- Francisco Aldon (MarinTrust) - Chair
- Indrani Lutchman (Sustainable Fisheries Partnership)
- Pham Viet Anh (Global G.A.P)
- Jorge Diaz Salinas (Skretting)
- Marcelo Hidalgo (Seafood Matter)
The MarinTrust Technical Assurance Committee (TAC) helps with the development, revision, and implementation of the MarinTrust Assurance System as part of the Quality Management System (QMS), including the technical relevance and appropriateness as a third-party, accredited certification programme. Members are:
- Francisco Aldon (MarinTrust) - Chair
- Jose Llorente (NSF)
- Emma Matheson (BioMar)
- Kevin Edwards (Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability)
- James Andrew Hart (Global G.A.P/FoodPLUS GmbH)
- Niall O'Rahelley (Sea Fisheries Protection Authority)
The MarinTrust Social and Ethical Committee (SEC) was established to support the SSC with the development and implementation of credible, robust and realistic criteria focusing on human rights and social welfare within the MarinTrust Programme. Members are:
- Birgitte Krogh-Poulsen (Independent social development consultant)
- Daniel Lee (Global Seafood Alliance)
- Dave Martin (Sustainable Fisheries Partnership)
- Estelle Brennan (Labeyrie Fine Foods)
- Gonzalo de Romaña (TASA)
- Libby Woodhatch (MarinTrust) - Chair
- Michiel Fransen (Aquaculture Stewardship Council)
- Amy McGann (Global Seafood Alliance)
The team
With headquarters based in London, the MarinTrust team has continued to thrive and grow with the work of the Standard.
New team members
Fisheries Manager (Maternity Cover)
Robert Lefébure, PhD
Robert joined the MarinTrust team in September 2024 as maternity cover for Fisheries Manager Emily McGregor. Robert is a Marine Researcher and Data Leader with over 15 years of experience in marine ecology, sustainable development, and digital transformation. Holding a PhD in Marine Ecology from Umeå University, he specializes in fisheries policy, sustainability standards, and M&E system design. He has worked with global organisations such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the FAO, driving international policies and projects that promote marine sustainability.