GDST WELCOMES AQUA STAR AS THEIR 100TH PARTNER

GDST welcomes Aqua Star as their 100th Partner, marking a major milestone on the path towards seafood supply chain traceability. The Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) gathers momentum at Shrimp Summit 2025 in Bali as industry and governments signal a strong commitment to digital traceability across the entire supply chain.

Aqua Star announced it has joined the (GDST), becoming the 100th partner in a growing global coalition of companies dedicated to implementing digital interoperability and enabling full traceability through the seafood supply chain. The GDST provides a crucial standard and resources – co-designed and informed by the industry itself – that enable seafood companies to compile and coordinate this sector-wide effort.  The partnership was revealed at the Shrimp Summit in Bali, (hosted by The Centre for Responsible Seafood), alongside the launch of the Indonesian government’s GDST capable Stelina platform and the announcement that two more domestic Indonesian software solution providers have achieved GDST capability. These announcements highlight the increasing recognition of the critical value of digital interoperable traceability in securing a sustainable future for seafood, with the GDST Standard emerging as the leading framework for companies committed to this vision.

Huw Thomas, Executive Director at the GDST, commented:

“We are delighted to welcome Aqua Star as our 100th Partner at GDST, an incredibly exciting milestone for us. GDST is building significant traction, and this marks a key moment on the path to full digital interoperability. In the last year, GDST has forged several highly influential partnerships, including with the Indonesian government, who are now the first country to implement a national seafood traceability system compatible with the GDST Standard, and a strategic partnership between the GDST and the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) which is supporting wide-scale implementation of digital interoperability in the U.S. We have also recently welcomed Mars as a partner, one of the largest food manufacturers in the world.”

100th partner Aqua Star was founded in 1990 by seafood industry experts who still manage the business today, and is one of the leading suppliers of frozen seafood in North America, and one of the largest retail frozen seafood brands.

Corey Peet, Vice President of Sustainability from Aqua Star said:

“At Aqua Star, our passion for seafood is evident throughout the entire supply chain. From the moment our seafood leaves the water to the time it reaches our customers’ plates, our mission is to optimise sustainability and quality every step of the way, ensuring we provide customers with great-tasting, superior seafood, that is always sourced ethically and responsibly. Partnering with GDST underscores this dedication. Traceability across supply chains is not the future: it’s right now and we want to be part of the solutions developing across all of our supply chains. Seafood businesses, through the GDST, are leading the way in a global movement when it comes to this highly technical, but crucial, component to well-rounded and reliable sustainable sourcing.  Joining the GDST movement is made all the more exciting to find out we’re doing so as their 100th Partner.”

The rapid growth of the GDST partnership signals how important digital interoperable traceability is becoming on the global stage, both within the seafood industry and beyond. Retailers and brands are choosing to use the GDST Standard to inform their adoption and implementation of digital data exchange to demonstrate traceability throughout the whole length of the supply chain. The strength of this coalition places GDST at the forefront of a global movement pioneering supply chain transparency, and it is likely that other food industries will follow in the wake of the seafood industry as it leads the way towards global digital interoperable traceability.