Verification Platform

An innovative, low-cost, digital tool for small-scale aquaculture

Monterey Bay Aquarium developed the Verification Platform to drive improvements in environmental performance of farmed shrimp and open the global sustainable seafood market to hundreds of thousands of small-scale shrimp farmers, increasing buying options and cost savings for the entire supply chain.

The challenge

Small-scale aquaculture plays an important role in meeting the increasing demand for environmentally sustainable seafood products. A majority of shrimp that lands on U.S. consumers’ plates comes from small-scale farms in South and Southeast Asia and is overwhelmingly rated red by Seafood Watch.

The issue

Until recently, small-scale farmers trying to access the global sustainable seafood market had no way to verify their approaches or identify areas for improvement. Seafood Watch ratings focus on country-level environmental impacts of aquaculture. Cost and complexity make eco-certification unattainable for most small-scale farmers. A new form of assurance that allows groups of shrimp farmers to be rewarded for their practices and access more lucrative markets is needed.

Our approach

To drive improvements in environmental performance and open the global sustainable seafood market to hundreds of thousands of small-scale shrimp farmers, Monterey Bay Aquarium developed the Verification Platform. Powered by a tablet or smartphone, the platform instantly determines a farm’s performance against the Seafood Watch Aquaculture Standard and identifies what areas of production require improvements.

Leveling the playing field for sustainably-minded small scale shrimp farmers

The Verification Platform offers a high level of assurance at a regional scale by empowering groups of small-scale farmers who are using environmentally responsible practices to collect the data needed to assess their farm’s performance against the Seafood Watch Aquaculture Standard, identify areas that need improvement, and demonstrate that they meet the criteria for a green or yellow rating. The Aquarium then verifies that the results are consistent with the Seafood Watch standard and the product is environmentally sustainable.

This innovative approach has the potential to drive improvements in environmental performance and open the global sustainable seafood market to hundreds of thousands of small-scale shrimp farmers, improving ocean health while increasing buying options and cost savings for the entire supply chain.

Industry partners throughout the supply chain are already recognizing verification as a cost-effective, scalable approach to meeting demand for environmentally sustainable shrimp.

How it works

We connect with groups of shrimp farmers who are interested in demonstrating the environmental performance of their product. Our field team trains farmers and processors on the Seafood Watch Aquaculture Standard and provides free access to the Verification Platform.

Farmers access the Verification Platform on a computer, tablet, or smartphone and input their data. The tool instantly determines a farm’s performance against the Seafood Watch Aquaculture Standard and identifies what areas of production–such as water quality, health management, or feed use–may require improvements.

The app uses evidence-based sampling strategies to represent the performance of all farms in a group or area. The fit-for-purpose approach can be scaled to verify thousands of farms throughout a region.

We conduct independent assessments of select farms in the region to verify the analysis is correct. Once we verify the environmental performance of a farm, we continue to perform routine quality checks throughout the region.

Meet our Verification Oversight Committee

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