
The data presented here are from December 2025
See previous Annual Reports here
Contents
- Areas of growth
- The Factory Standard Version 3
- MarinTrust Chain of Custody (CoC)
- Impacts
- Outreach
- Governance
- The team
Areas of growth
By the end of 2025, there is now a majority with 111 certified factories operating under the latest version of the Standard (V3), with factories in new countries including Colombia, Ghana, Portugal, Oman, Tunisia and Turkey. The inclusion of these countries demonstrates the continued global expansion of the Programme. There is also a growing interest in adding value to by-products and the development of new ingredient streams within the MarinTrust framework, such as with fish sauce residues. For MarinTrust's Chain of Custody Standard, there were 16 new facilities and the new country added here were Australia and South Africa. The Improver Programme saw another completion of a successful MarinTrust Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) covering small pelagics in Ecuador, and a new FIP in Oman.
Find out more key figures here.
With nearly half of global fishmeal and fish oil production now MarinTrust-aligned, the Standard remains a key driver of responsible practice and market confidence. The pie chart below shows the country-level distribution of MarinTrust certified fishmeal and fish oil production in 2024.

MarinTrust Factory Standard
Transition to the latest version of MarinTrust's Factory Standard, Version 3 (V3), completed on 1st May 2025 and now a majority of companies have moved to this version, with 111 factories certified under V3 at the end of 2025, and 75 remaining under V2. This is a huge step forward for the industry, with this latest version increasing accessibility for responsibly sourced and produced marine ingredients and encouraging the growing use of by-products. The standard lays the foundation for fully traceable marine ingredients, with the collection of new data on environmental, and social impacts, both at the factory and on the vessels. Alongside the development of V3, MarinTrust has revised by-product and whole fish fishery assessment criteria.

Find out more about our Factory Standard
MarinTrust Chain of Custody Standard
MarinTrust's Chain of Custody standard is currently operated under Version 2. There are currently 120 certified facilities in 24 countries, with 16 companies under application for Chain of Custody in December 2025. Information for the Standard has been streamlined to provide more clarity for applicants and certificate holders.
A review of the Standard was started in 2025 and Version 2.1 is due to be released in 2026.
Find out more about our Chain of Custody Standard
Impacts
MarinTrust is driving improvements across the marine ingredient value chain, from marine ingredient sourcing, production and traceability to end use. Impacts are driven through our two Standards' and through our Improver Programme, which implements Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) that marine ingredient factories source from. A summary of our key areas of work and growth is below.
MarinTrust Improver Programme
The MarinTrust Improver Programme benefits the whole supply chain, providing traceability from the improving fishery to the end user, such as feed producers, through an unbroken chain. This is done through the development of a Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) by interested marine ingredient producers and stakeholders, followed by a rigorous development process and action plan. Through improvements, such as in fisheries management, factory infrastructure, or operational issues, the aim is to meet the MarinTrust Standard requirements at the end of the process. As of November 2025, there are 44 MarinTrust Improver Programme accepted sites in 11 different countries. The full list of accepted facilities is here..
Driving improvements in fisheries
While MarinTrust does not certify fisheries, it sets the standard for marine ingredient production facilities to be certified by third party-accredited certification bodies. A key demand for that approval is that the raw material comes from responsibly managed fisheries. MarinTrust recognises Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) within the Improver Programme, which identifies specific areas of improvement and builds a local stakeholder group to take ownership of the work and ensure longevity of improvements.
A key area of focus in recent years, has been on multi-species fisheries (in Thailand and Vietnam), where MarinTrust is taking a forward-thinking approach to ecosystem-based management – an area where traditional single-species models are increasingly challenged by climate variability and shifting marine dynamics. The assessment criteria in these FIPs have been designed to meet the needs of complex fisheries that do not fit the conventional approach to fishery assessments, and our priority is to develop practical solutions to complex challenges, ensuring a long-term supply of responsibly sourced marine ingredients.
A list of current and completed (in 2025) MarinTrust FIPs with their recent updates is below:
Find out more about our MarinTrust FIPs here
Highlighted below are other key areas where MarinTrust is having an impact on our industry and our systems for measuring impacts
By-products sourcing
The continuing growth of marine ingredients sourced from fish by-products offers an opportunity for the industry to innovate, reduce waste, and align with circular economy principles. However, it is essential that the use of by-products is supported by robust certification that assures the traceability and responsibly sourcing of these raw materials. V3 of the factory standard aims to increase by-product-sourced marine ingredients with comprehensive 3rd party assessments. Since the launch in May 2024, more than 125 different species of by-products have been assessed and 114 by-product factory reports generated through a clear and efficient step-by-step process that checks IUU indices, endangered species lists and fisheries management system. The link has been strengthened between the pre-requisite assessment and audit, with an IUU risk assessment, focussing on flag state risks using World Governance Indicators (WGI) from the World Bank. These new assessments have expanded the requirements for producers, providing assurance to value chain with accurate sourcing data and improved visibility...

Whole fish sourcing
Sourcing requirements have been strengthened under V3, with an evaluation of management controls and impact on the ecosystem for whole fish assessments. The audit now includes key data elements (KDEs) which require the collection of environmental and social metrics gathered at both the factory and vessel (for those supplying whole fish directly to the facility). There are now 23 Approved Whole Fish Fisheries in the MarinTrust programme.
Survey
The annual survey in 2025 had 50 respondents and showed that 96% (48) of respondents thought that being MarinTrust certified/Improver Programme accepted improved or somewhat improved their market access and/or opportunity to sell certified marine ingredients. Key drivers of applying to MarinTrust again showed market access, along with demonstrating responsibility and complying with company policies (see graph below).

Traceability
MarinTrust is providing the foundations for marine ingredients to enable interoperable traceability from source to end use. Identifying and standardising data is key to this process and V3 of the Factory Standard includes Key Data Elements (KDEs) which ensure that raw materials which are sourced, can be verified as to their origin, including fishery, supplier, and farm. These KDE's follow what was developed by the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST), who provide a framework to enhance traceability, covering the collection, usage, transfer and management of data. MarinTrust is supporting the inclusion of Marine Ingredients within GDST, helping to further build a bridge between fisheries and aquaculture.
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 year 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.
Explore our areas of outreach below:
Events
The MarinTrust team is constantly engaging stakeholders and companies global in person and online, through events, workshops and site visits. Events attended and presented at include:
- North America Seafood Expo (Boston, USA)
- Global Seafood Expo (Barcelona, Spain)
- ISEAL Sustainability Policy Forum (Brussels, Belgium)
- Certified Seafood International (CSI) committee meeting
- The Fisheries Management Innovation Group meeting - FIPs
- SeafoodSource webinar - Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management: Protecting the Future of Forage Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Marine Ecosystems
- Global Shrimp Forum (Utrecht, The Netherlands) – MarinTrust, MSC & ASC side event
- Resilient Food Futures: Charting a Journey for Sustainable Aquaculture (Oslo, Norway)
- Hellenic Aquaculture Producers Organization (HAPO) workshop, (Athens, Greece)
- ASC Nordic Seafood Summit 2025 (Gothenburg, Sweden)
- MarinTrust workshop (Lima, Peru)
- Responsible Seafood Summit (Cartagena, Columbia)
- TSSS 2025 Sustainable Seafood Summit conference (Osaka, Japan)
- 9th Pacific Tuna Forum 2025 (Nadi, Fiji)
- IFFO Annual Conference (Tokyo, Japan) - MarinTrust side event
…
Partnerships
MarinTrust and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership sign Memorandum of Understanding
The MoU was signed to formalise and strengthen collaborative efforts between the two organisations in promoting responsible practices across the marine ingredient value chain.
Recognising the complementary nature of their missions, MarinTrust and SFP have agreed to accelerate progress towards shared goals, including:
- Governance: Continued SFP representation on MarinTrust committees, including the Governing Body Committee, Improver Programme Application Committee, Fisheries Development Oversight Committee, and Social and Ethical Committee.
- Joint support for initiatives such as the FAO Gulf of Thailand (GoT) Fish Project, the MarinTrust Multispecies Pilot Project, the Global Roundtable for Marine Ingredients and others.
- FIP ratings: Integration of SFP's Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) ratings within the MarinTrust Improver Programme, with MarinTrust contributing to review and revision processes.
- Insight and information sharing: Exchange of data, networks, and expertise to promote best practices and avoid duplication. This includes the use of FishSource data for MarinTrust certificate applications and exploring the use of the FAO Global Record of Stocks and Fisheries (GRSF) identifiers.

MarinTrust recognised by FAO for technical excellence in Sustainable Aquatic Food Systems
MarinTrust, the leading certification programme for marine ingredients, is proud to announce its recognition today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) during its inaugural Technical Recognition Ceremony. This global event celebrated outstanding contributions to food systems through a combination of knowledge and cooperation. Recipients were praised for being "an engine of change".
MarinTrust was honoured in the Sustainable Aquatic Food Systems category for its Multispecies Pilot Project, a pioneering initiative that aligns with FAO's Blue Transformation strategy. The project supports two key FAO targets:
- Target F3 – Promoting effective fisheries management that balances ecological, social, and economic objectives.
- Target V3 – Enhancing access of fisheries and aquaculture products to international markets.
"We are deeply grateful to FAO and Dr. Manuel Barange for this recognition," said Libby Woodhatch, Executive Chair of MarinTrust. "This acknowledgement reflects the dedication of the MarinTrust team and our stakeholders to advancing responsible sourcing, traceability, and production in marine ingredient supply chains."
More information on MarinTrust's multispecies pilot is available at: https://www.marin-trust.com/improver-programme/multispecies-pilot-project
The Global Roundtable on Marine Ingredients
MarinTrust has been a member of the Global Roundtable on Marine Ingredients since its launch in 2021. As a member, MarinTrust contributes to exploring pathways towards an increased availability of responsibly sourced marine ingredients in Southeast and South Asia. MarinTrust also contributes to understanding the impacts of the industry in West Africa and improving the management of shared stocks of small pelagic fish. We also take part in the work stream dedicated to understanding the lifecycle assessment of marine ingredients globally.
Press & 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 60 pieces of media coverage through press releases, interviews, and opinion editorials. Wider stakeholders were also engaged on LinkedIn and Twitter, with followers increasing by 500 to 3,000 (as of January 2026) and over 2,000 reactions on LinkedIn.
…
Factory Visits
To help monitor and gather feedback from certificate holders, our team carries out factory visits each year. In 2025, the team visited the following factories:
- Pelagia UK – July 2025
- Pelagia Norway - September 2025

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)
- Aisla Jones (Aquaculture Stewardship Council)
- 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)
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)
- Patricia Bianchi (Aquaculture Stewardship Council)
- Gemma Quilez-Badia (GTC-NSF)
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)
- Billy Hynes (Marine Stewardship Council)
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)
- Ben Weis (Cargill)
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
Elizabeth Inciso Velásquez - Technical Manager
Elizabeth Inciso is a bachelor fisheries engineer and sustainability professional with over 10 years of experience in management systems and third-party certification schemes. As Technical Manager at MarinTrust, she oversees the development and implementation of standards, supports certification bodies, and drives continuous improvement across scheme operations. Her background includes leading integrated management systems at fishery companies and consulting on certifications such as ISO, GMP+, GFSI, BASC and MarinTrust. She holds a Master’s in Integrated Management and is fluent in Spanish, English, and Portuguese.
"Momentum has continued, with a growth in both of our Standards and Improver Programme, and the MarinTrust team has grown as well to meet the demand. It's been an exciting year with the transition to the latest version of the Factory Standard, with all the progress for the industry that it includes. Traceability and assurance are our backbone, and while it requires a huge support system behind it, it allows us to show the impact that MarinTrust has in driving improvements for the producers and users of marine ingredients. This report provides a snapshot of our work and highlights key areas of impacts, such as with the growth of by-products, which offer our industry a unique opportunity to innovate and reduce waste, and are encouraged in our new standard." 













