I’m Shrimp Farm 5 in Phang Nga has achieved certification to the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Farm Standard, becoming one of the first early adopters of the ASC certification in Thailand.
The certification recognises the farm’s performance across environmental and social impacts, animal health and welfare, legal compliance and farm management, while providing a framework for strengthening existing practices and identifying areas for continued improvement.
Koji Yamamoto, South-East Asia Producer Engagement Lead at ASC said,
“Congratulations to I’m Shrimp Farm 5 on achieving certification to the new ASC Farm Standard and on reaching this important milestone for Thailand’s shrimp sector. Thailand has a long history of shrimp farming and is an important producer in the region, so demonstrating what certification to the new standard looks like in practice here is particularly significant.
We hope Farm 5’s achievement will encourage more producers in Thailand to see certification as a tool for continuous improvement and help set a strong benchmark for farms across Asia as expectations around aquaculture performance continue to evolve. This is an important step not only for Farm 5, but for the wider Thai shrimp sector and the region.”
For Farm 5, the certification process provided an opportunity to examine established practices more closely, strengthen management systems and improve how information is collected, recorded and used to support day-to-day decisions.
Pornthep Limtrakoon, Sales Manager of INTEQC GLOBAL Co., Ltd. said, “Achieving certification under the new ASC Farm Standard is something our whole team is proud of. But what matters most to us is not simply being the first or receiving the certificate. It is what we learned, what we had to question and what we improved along the way.”
Farm 5 already had a closed, recirculating water-management system, routine water-quality monitoring, shrimp-health monitoring and established practices for feed, farm inputs and daily operations. The certification process encouraged the team to look more critically at how these systems were managed and documented.
“For us, certification has reinforced that saying ‘we already do this’ is not always enough. We need to know who is responsible, when something is checked, where it is recorded and what happens when results fall outside expectations. Good records are not only for an auditor – they help us manage the farm better,”
Limtrakoon said.
The process also strengthened the farm’s focus on prevention, particularly shrimp health and biosecurity. Monitoring water quality, shrimp behaviour and farm conditions helps the team identify potential risks earlier and respond before problems become more difficult to manage.
Looking beyond the farm
Certification also prompted Farm 5 to consider its relationship with surrounding communities and the environment.
The farm’s expansion area consisted of existing shrimp ponds previously operated by another farmer. Rather than clearing a natural area to develop new ponds, Farm 5 leased the existing ponds to continue aquaculture production. As part of the environmental and social assessment process, the farm engaged with the local community on farm management, water and wastewater management, sludge management, environmental policies and channels for complaints and suggestions.
The ASC Farm Standard provides a comprehensive framework for farm-level performance, with requirements covering environmental and social impacts, animal health and welfare, traceability and management systems.
For Farm 5, certification is therefore not seen as the end of the process, but as a foundation for continued improvement.
“Certification is not the day the work finishes. It is the point from which we have to prove that the systems we put in place can work in everyday farming. If they help us identify risks earlier, make better decisions from data, and take better care of shrimp, workers and the environment, that is the real value of the standard,”
Limtrakoon said.
A milestone for Thailand’s shrimp sector
Thailand has a long history and extensive experience in shrimp aquaculture. Farm 5’s certification demonstrates how farms can use internationally recognised requirements to strengthen existing management practices while responding to evolving expectations around environmental performance, animal health and welfare, working conditions and community engagement.
The farm hopes its experience will encourage other producers to view certification as a management tool that can support continuous improvement, rather than simply a market requirement.
