BioMar's facility in Ecuador is dedicated to producing high-quality shrimp feed.
Photo: BioMar.
BioMar's Ecuador site has achieved ASC Feed Certification, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) announced this week. In the joint statement from the company and the organization, both emphasized that this is a significant milestone in the journey towards ensuring more responsible production of feed. "A key component of responsible seafood farming globally," they stated.
Dedicated to producing high-quality shrimp feed, BioMar's plant in Ecuador is located in Durán, in the province of Guayas, one of the most important shrimp farming areas in the country, and one of those affected by the unplanned power outages that recently jeopardized the Ecuadorian shrimp industry.
In fact, this is one of the areas categorized as industrial for which Ecuador's National Chamber of Aquaculture insisted on requesting a differentiated approach to electricity rationing since industries such as shrimp feed manufacturing require minimum times to turn on their equipment.
For BioMar, obtaining this certification also represents an important milestone in its broader strategy of sustainable innovation and strengthens its role as a reliable supplier of ASC-compliant feed. With it, Ecuadorian shrimp producers who wish to use it as a competitive advantage in global markets - increasingly committed to transparency, responsibility, and traceability - can now obtain ASC-compatible feed from the Danish company.
"Our goal is to provide shrimp farmers with the tools they need to succeed in a rapidly evolving industry," said Henrik Aarestrup, Vice President for Latin America, Shrimp & Hatchery at BioMar Group. "With this certification, our customers can be confident that they are using feed that meets the highest global standards for sustainability, helping them to secure their position in a fast-growing market."
"For us, this certification goes beyond meeting a standard," Aarestrup continued. "It's part of our broader commitment to supporting the entire shrimp aquaculture value chain. By investing in innovation, sustainability, and collaboration, we aim to help farmers achieve long-term success while ensuring that seafood production is ethical, transparent, and sustainable."
For his part, the CEO of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, Chris Ninnes, congratulated BioMar on this achievement and its ongoing commitment to more responsible feed. "Our ASC Feed Standard establishes an essential and unique benchmark for feed production and BioMar's certification in Ecuador is a welcome development towards greater transparency, traceability and impact measurement in the feed industry," he said.
"With the first feed factories celebrating ASC certification in January 2024, we started a journey to drive positive change in the feed industry," Ninnes continued. "There is still much more progress to be made, but with the commitment of the seafood farming sector and the entire value chain, we now have over 30 feed production sites either certified or in assessment. That collaborative effort will truly transform global aquatic feed production towards greater responsibility," he concluded.
The latest ASC annual impact report launched in August 2024 showcased a significant expansion of its environmental and social impact across the global seafood farming sector in 2023. However, an earlier survey, in April, indicated that while demand for seafood remains high in all countries surveyed, and ASC certification is considered trustworthy, consumers still need "a prompt in the supermarket to bring sustainability to the front of their minds."