TRIALING THE GDST’S ANIMAL WELFARE EXPANSION FRAMEWORK

Trialing the GDST’s Animal Welfare Expansion Framework and a newly-developed Aquatic Animal Welfare Roadmap for companies.

Aquatic Life Institute (ALI), a GDST partner, has led the Animal Welfare Expansion Framework with a broad group of stakeholders since December 2024. The framework is currently undergoing review by the GDST Technical Council with an expected launch date of Q1 2027. Ahead of its launch, GDST and ALI are seeking seafood supply chain partners interested in helping test the proposed framework in practice.

Trials could involve reviewing the relevance and clarity of the proposed data fields, mapping them against information already collected, testing the collection or exchange of selected data, and identifying practical challenges or gaps. The scope would be tailored to each participant’s operations. Organizations involved in fisheries, aquaculture, processing, retail, food service, certification or traceability solutions are welcome to express an interest.

Additionally, ALI recently shared the Aquatic Animal Welfare Roadmap, which is championed and supported by 180 organisations within Aquatic Animal Alliance (AAA). The Roadmap is a practical framework designed to help companies progressively strengthen aquatic animal welfare across their operations and seafood supply chains.

The Roadmap guides companies through moving from understanding where their supply chain is currently at with regard to aquatic animal welfare, identifying risks, and incorporating measurable welfare expectations into sourcing and corporate governance. In fact, many of the steps outlined in the Roadmap align with GDST’s Animal Welfare Expansion Framework. ALI will present the framework at CASS this year and do a wider public release next year (before SENA Boston).

If you are interested in discussing possible trials or how the Roadmap could benefit your work, please contact Christine Xu, Head of Global Seafood Systems Transformation at Aquatic Life Institute christine@ali.fish

Main Image by joakant from Pixabay

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