ASC is the acronym for Aquaculture Stewardship Council, an independent not for profit organisation. The ASC was founded in 2009 by WWF and IDH (Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative) to manage the global standards for responsible aquaculture, which are developed by the Aquaculture Dialogues, a program of roundtables initiated and coordinated by WWF.

The ASC will be the world's leading certification and labelling programme for responsibly farmed seafood.  The ASC will be a global organisation working with aquaculture producers, seafood processors, retail and foodservice companies, scientists, conservation groups and the public to promote the best environmental and social choice in seafood.

The ASC's aquaculture certification programme and seafood label will recognise and reward responsible aquaculture. The standards cover 12 species groups: salmon, shrimp, tilapia, pangasius, trout, abalone, bivalves (oysters, mussels, clams and scallops) and seriola/cobia.

Working with partners, the ASC will run an exciting and ambitious programme to transform the world's seafood markets and promote the best environmental and social aquaculture performance. Our standards seek to increase the availability of certified sustainable seafood. The ASC will launch a credible consumer label that assures compliance and will make it easy for everyone to take part.

On september 2010 (ASC) has appointed Accreditation Services International (ASI) as their independent accreditation body.