Interested in going organic?
If you're looking to become organic certified in the UK or Canada, contact us to talk to a member of our certification team.
Aquaculture certification
Soil Association Certification is the leading organic aquaculture certification body in the UK.
Organic aquaculture
We inspect to:
Canadian Organic Regime
BioSuisse
Naturland standards
Why organic aquaculture?
Fish, shellfish, crustaceans and seaweed from our oceans and rivers are a vital source of food and nutrients for millions of people around the globe. Increasingly they are being used in products, from cosmetics to packaging. The current pressure on our marine environment is unsustainable, in part due to overfishing and damaging intensive fish farming practices.
Organic aquaculture standards are designed to ensure farmed aquatic foods are produced in a way that protects the welfare of the animals and the environment, provides a high-quality product, and ensures full traceability across the supply chain.
Our organic aquaculture certification scheme
Soil Association Certification pioneered the development of organic aquaculture standards over 20 years ago with the first organic Atlantic Salmon produced in 1998. These standards are now written into law and we are working hard to drive change and further develop standards.
Underpinning this work, Soil Association Certification delivers organic certification across the UK for finfish, bivalve and seaweed production. We offer expert certification to different organic standards to help you reach new markets.
We inspect and certify to the following aquaculture standards:
Sell as organic in the UK and EU
The Soil Association organic standards are integral to the work of Soil Association Certification. First developed as private standards, the aquaculture standards are now written into UK and EU law. Soil Association organic aquaculture products comply with the requirement of retained regulations (EC) 834/2007, (EC) 889/2008, (EC) 1235/2008 in Great Britain and regulation (EU) 2018/848 in Northern Ireland.
Aquaculture products must also meet the additional higher standards – as shown by the Soil Association logo. Higher Standards put the Soil Association's principles into practice and are at the heart of Soil Association Certification's work in supporting the farmers who are driving positive change.
Sell as organic in Canada
Soil Association Certification is the only UK certifier accredited by IOAS to certify to the Canadian Organic Regime (COR), enabling fish produced in the UK to be sold as organic in Canada.
How to apply for COR certification
In most cases you'll need to apply for COR certification 15 months before you intend placing organic fish on the Canadian market. You will also need to demonstrate that your production meets the COR aquaculture standard as well as any published interpretation.
We require payment of certification fees (when you apply, and every year thereafter) so that we can perform the inspection and certification tasks required by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before you can make product claims.
If you own the fish: we will issue your organic product certificate.
If you process the fish on behalf of someone else who holds a COR organic product certificate: we will issue an attestation of compliance.
You can check your supplier’s current COR status on our COR certificate checker.
Organic standards for UK and Northern Ireland
Download the organic standards for aquaculture organic certification in the UK and Northern Ireland to understand what you need to get certified.
If you’re certified with us, we can also inspect to the BioSuisse and Naturland standards, allowing your product to reach more markets.
The application process
Here’s how to get your fish farm certified to the Soil Association standard:
contact us to speak to a member of our certification team who will help you to start the application process
submit a completed application with your review fee payment and signed copy of contract, as well as Environmental Impact Assessment, Sustainability Plan, Veterinary Health and Welfare Plan (if applicable) and labels if available at this point
you'll be assigned a designated Certification Officer, who will review your application and act as a guide through the application process
once approved you will be invoiced the annual fee
initial audit carried out, verifying that the processes and procedures declared are in place and sufficient to ensure organic integrity
if the auditor identifies any areas where the standards are not being met, this is raised via an action summary form or portal
use this to provide details of the actions you will take and provide supporting evidence that the standards are now being met
Certification Officer reviews corrective actions, audit findings and products/labels submitted
if no further information is required, these are approved
your licence is issued, and you will be sent a copy of your certificate and product schedule
Inspection guidance
Everything you need to know about renewing your Soil Association aquaculture certification, including preparing for inspection, timelines, what to expect and how to prepare.
Learn more about organic certification
Find out all you need to know about certification for aquaculture.