Traceability and Human Rights: Some Insights and Ways Forward for Japan’s Seafood Supply Chains
IUU (illegal, unreported, unregulated) fishing
Procurement of feed is essential to support the rapid growth of the global aquaculture industry. Marine Trust Certification, which sets standards for fishmeal factories and other facilities, guarantees the sustainability of the marine raw materials industry that produces fishmeal and fish oil, the raw materials for feed.
We spoke with Francisco Aldon, CEO of Marine Ingredients Certifications Limited (commonly known as MarineTrust, hereafter referred to as MarineTrust), the company that manages MarineTrust certification, about the strategic importance of marine ingredients in aquaculture feed and the role that MarineTrust certification plays.
Francisco Aldon
With over 15 years of experience in the marine ingredients sector, Mr. Ito has been CEO of Marine Trust since 2020. As a researcher at IFFO (Marine Ingredients Organisation), he was involved in the early development of IFFO RS (now Marine Trust), where he was responsible for the organization's management and scientific affairs. As an expert on responsible sourcing, sustainable production practices and digital traceability in the marine ingredient supply chain, he serves on the supervisory board of the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) and the steering committee of the Global Seafood Sustainability Initiative (GSSI). He holds a degree in Fisheries Engineering from La Molina National Agrarian University in Peru and a Master's degree in Marine Ecology and Environmental Management from Queen Mary University of London.
--You have consistently worked with marine ingredients, but what first sparked your interest in the fishing industry?
I'm from Callao, Peru, the country's largest port city, located west of the capital, Lima. I grew up near the sea and my interest in marine science stemmed from my curiosity about the ocean, and my love for nature and animals.
Callao is Peru's largest port city, handling most of its imports and exports.--Studying fisheries engineering at university was an extension of that, wasn't it?
Yes. I love fish. I want to protect them. But I also want to continue eating them. That's why I studied. I want to ensure that fish continue to exist for future generations. I love animals, but I also love eating them (laughs).
-Why did you decide to study in the UK after graduating from university in Peru?
Going abroad gives you a different frame of mind. Cultural awareness and understanding other people's ways of life is important for your professional and personal growth.
I also wanted to go with my future wife, who is from the UK. After graduating from university, I worked in the tourism industry in my hometown of Peru, which was the best way to learn and practice English. That's where I met her.
After graduating from graduate school in the UK and looking for a job, someone saw my resume and said, "Your resume is interesting. I'll get in touch with you," and they introduced me to the International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organization (IFFO).
At the time, IFFO was looking for a researcher who had studied marine biology and fisheries, had an understanding of the actual situation of marine ingredients, could speak Spanish, and was particularly familiar with the situation in Peru.
--He was exactly the right person for the job.
Yes, it was like the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, and that's how I started working with marine ingredients.
-First of all, what are marine ingredients?
Marine ingredients are nutritious natural products obtained from marine organisms, such as fishmeal and fish oil. For example, Peruvian anchovies and krill are all caught for the purpose of producing fishmeal and fish oil.
Another major source of marine ingredients are fish by-products. Unused parts of fish, such as heads, organs, skin and fins, that are left over from processing fish for human consumption are used to produce fishmeal and fish oil. These can come from wild-caught fisheries, such as tuna, or from aquaculture, such as salmon, tilapia and pangasius.
--Could you tell us more about fish meal and fish oil?
Fish meal is a powder and is one of the best proteins because it is highly digestible. Fish grow faster and better when fed fish meal.
Fish oil is an extract: when the fish is cooked in the production plant, it is pressed to extract the liquid containing the fish oil from the solids. The solids are used to produce fish meal, and the extracted liquid is centrifuged to separate the water and fish oil.
Why are marine ingredients important?
It is a strategic ingredient: about 75% of fishmeal and fish oil production is used in aquaculture, but it is also used in pet food, supplements and cosmetics.
Many people think that fish can be used directly as feed for salmon and shrimp, but to make feed, fish meal and fish oil are produced, and then the process goes on to packaging, storage, and trading. All of these processes require management.
--What percentage of aquaculture feed is made up of marine ingredients?
In fact, each pellet contains about 2-3% fishmeal, with the rest being mainly vegetable protein and grains like wheat and corn. The amount of marine ingredients is very small, but that's strategic. Marine ingredients are more expensive and a limited resource. Fishmeal and fish oil production has remained stable. In the case of anchovies, production drops periodically, mainly due to the El Niño phenomenon (*1), which occurs every four to seven years. This is why fishmeal and fish oil are so valuable for aquaculture.
Meanwhile, aquaculture is expanding, which is why the proportion of fishmeal and fish oil in feed is declining: from about 20% in 2000 to about 8% today.
--I hear that recently, aquaculture feed manufacturers are using not only marine ingredients but also plant-based ingredients such as Brazilian soybeans..
To be honest, I don't understand why people say that using plants is more sustainable than fish. Take the environmental impact of soybeans, for example: how much land do they use? How much water do they use to grow them? How many living things are killed by using chemical fertilizers? How many toxins end up on the land as a result?
Fish doesn't have the same environmental impact as soy, and many governments now have many regulations on fishing, closed periods, and the technology to understand, manage, and sustain fish stocks.
Are there any other alternative ingredients?
Yes. For example, algae oil and insect meal are currently attracting attention. However, we call them complementary ingredients, not alternative ingredients. Their production volume has not yet reached the level required by feed manufacturers. Therefore, they cannot completely replace marine ingredients. When insect meal and fish meal are available, feed manufacturers will buy fish meal. When fish meal and fish oil are unavailable or very scarce, they increase their purchases of these ingredients.
-How did Marine Trust Certification get started?
Around 15 years ago, several NGOs began to raise concerns about salmon farming as a threat to marine biodiversity and ecosystems, and efforts were made to improve practices targeting farmed salmon producers and producers of the fishmeal used in feed. Separately, a scandal broke in China in which melamine (*2) was mixed into fishmeal, damaging the reputation of the marine ingredients industry. However, many fishmeal producers who are IFFO members insisted, "No, we're doing things right, and we need to prove it." This led to the development of standards for marine ingredients, and Marine Trust Certification (formerly IFFO RS) was founded.
How did you create the standards?
IFFO took the lead in bringing together various stakeholders in the supply chain, including fishmeal producers, trading companies, feed manufacturers, retailers, aquaculture farmers, and NGOs. Through discussions, about 16 people came together to create the IFFO RS standard.
IFFO is a membership organization for fishmeal and fish oil producers, but because it did not want to appear to be running an internal certification program, in 2014 it changed its name to Marine Trust and became an independent certification organization.
-And then you became CEO of the company that runs Marine Trust Certification?
That's right. The official name of the operating company is Marine Ingredients Certifications Limited, but they commonly refer to it as Marine Trust.
--There are many other certifications such as MSC and ASC. What is the relationship between Marine Trust and these certifications?
It's easy to understand by looking at what each certification program certifies in the aquaculture value chain. For example, MSC certifies fisheries. Marine Trust certifies marine raw material factories and trade, which are stages before feed manufacturers. ASC, BAP, and GLOBAL GAP certify feed manufacturers and aquaculture farms, and they all recognize Marine Trust certification.
--So you two acknowledge each other.
Yes, collaboration is important because we all have the same goal, and one standard cannot cover everything, so we have to collaborate where we can.
-Marine TrustGSSI (Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative)I'm also participating in this.
There are many standards under the GSSI, but Marine Trust recognizes GSSI because it is more convenient to have them recognized through one organization rather than certifying each individually.
I sit on the GSSI Steering Committee because, since Marine Trust endorses the GSSI and its underlying standards, it is our responsibility to ensure that they are continually improved.
--I thought GSSI endorsed Marine Trust, but it's actually the other way around.
GSSI cannot recognise Marine Trust because GSSI covers fisheries and aquaculture, and Marine Trust certifies neither, but fishmeal mills. We already recognise MSC, but we strategically recognise GSSI in order to recognise all other certifications.
--You are also a member of the GDST (Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability) oversight committee.
GDSTis a business-to-business platform established to create international standards for seafood traceability, with the aim of achieving interoperability.
For example, information can be transmitted from a fishing boat in Peru to a fishmeal factory without any problems, but when selling to a feed company in Norway, a huge amount of information is required, such as the species of fish, the location of the fishing grounds, the name of the fishing boat, etc. This information is still entered manually into Excel sheets and PDFs, and can take weeks.
What GDST does is allow fishmeal factories to directly access data once their systems and feed manufacturers' systems are aligned to GDST standards. Marine Trust is joining GDST because we want to build and empower technology for fishmeal producers.
We want fishmeal factories to say, "We have Marine Trust certification. It's a good standard and it helps us sell our fishmeal because buyers want to buy Marine Trust products." It's practical. Everything in this world is commercial. Fishmeal factories spend money on sustainability, but if they can't sell the fishmeal, what's the point?
That's why we help certified fishmeal producers sell their fishmeal. We want to create a situation where feed manufacturers think, "That company has Marine Trust certification, so I want to buy their products."
Part2We will now ask about Marine Trust's strategy, which has grown to cover 48% of the world's marine raw material production in just 10 years, and its expectations for the Japanese market. We will also hear about the philosophy behind running a small team that operates globally, and his feelings for his home country of Peru.
◾️TSSS2025 Session "Pioneering the Future of Aquaculture through Responsible Aquaculture Feed Sourcing" Archived Video Here
Interviewed and written by: Chiho Iuchi
He writes articles mainly about science, technology, and culture in both Japanese and English. After working for the Japan Finance Corporation for Small and Medium Enterprises (now the Japan Finance Corporation) and the English-language newspaper The Japan Times, he has been freelance since 2016. In 2024, he completed a Master's program in Sustainability Studies at the Hosei University Graduate School of Public Policy. He is a director of the Japan Council of Science and Technology Journalists.
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Key terms and concepts to understand seafood sustainability.
