VeriFish at AquaFarm 2026

Verifiable indicators for communicating sustainable aquaculture

On 19 February 2026, the VeriFish project will participate in AquaFarm 2026 (Pordenone, Italy) with a dedicated workshop focused on improving how sustainability in aquaculture and seafood is measured, communicated, and understood.

The session will present the VeriFish indicator framework and its associated digital tools, designed to translate complex sustainability data into clear, credible and actionable information for producers, value-chain actors, communicators, policymakers and consumers.

Workshop information

Title
VeriFish framework of indicators and tools for communicating sustainable aquaculture

Date & time
19 February 2026 | 14:30–15:30 (CET)

Location
Arena AquaFarm, Pordenone (Italy)

Format
Presentations followed by a moderated panel discussion with producers, certification bodies, researchers and sustainability organisations.

Panel discussion: key questions

The workshop will include a moderated panel discussion addressing topics such as:

Challenges and benefits of sharing sustainability data at farm level
What consumers expect when they hear “sustainable seafood”
Which indicators are most actionable for producers and communicators
How indicators can be used to improve trust and clarity in sustainability messaging

Learn more

🔗 Full agenda and practical information
https://www.aquafarm.show/eventi/workshop-a-cura-di-verifish/

Speakers

Sara Pittonet Gaiarin
Senior Manager, Trust-IT Services
Coordinator of the VeriFish project

Sara Pittonet Gaiarin coordinates the VeriFish project and has extensive experience in managing EU-funded initiatives focused on digital tools, stakeholder engagement and science-based sustainability communication.

Andrea Fabris
Director, API – Chair, Fish Health & Welfare Commission

Andrea Fabris brings long-standing expertise in aquaculture production, animal health and welfare, and sector representation at national and European level.

Panellists

The panel discussion will include representatives from:

ENEA – Research and public policy perspectives on sustainability indicators
Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) – Certification and market-driven sustainability approaches
Friend of the Sea – Voluntary sustainability standards and communication
Aquaculture producers – Practical insights from production and value-chain operations

Together, the panel will explore how indicators can move from theory to practice, and how they can be used to improve trust, transparency and communication across the sector.

Why VeriFish is at AquaFarm

Aquaculture sustainability is increasingly scrutinised across multiple dimensions:
environmental performance, animal welfare, nutrition, social responsibility and economic viability. While a large amount of data already exists, it is often fragmented, difficult to interpret, or inconsistently communicated.

VeriFish addresses this challenge by developing a structured and verifiable indicator framework that:

Builds on internationally recognised datasets and guidelines
Prioritises indicators that are measurable, transparent and usable
Supports consistent sustainability communication across the seafood value chain

AquaFarm provides a unique opportunity to test this approach directly with aquaculture professionals and sector stakeholders.

The VeriFish indicator framework

The VeriFish framework is structured around three complementary sustainability pillars:

Environmental

Indicators related to ecosystems, biodiversity, resource use, and environmental pressures associated with seafood production.

Nutritional

Indicators describing the nutritional value of seafood products, based on recognised food composition data and public health guidelines.

Social & Economic

Indicators addressing labour conditions, governance, socio-economic context and responsible production practices.

All indicators are selected from publicly available, internationally recognised data sources, ensuring comparability, scientific robustness and transparency.

From indicators to practical tools

To make the framework operational, VeriFish has developed a set of digital and communication tools, including a web application that allows users to:

Explore sustainability parameters starting from individual species
Navigate information across the three sustainability pillars
Access verified data in a structured and user-friendly format

These tools are designed to support communication, education and informed decision-making, rather than certification or ranking.

The role of producers and value-chain actors

A core element of VeriFish is the integration of producer- and value-chain-provided data.
This information enables more granular and practice-based sustainability assessments, while requiring careful validation to ensure data integrity and trust.

During the AquaFarm workshop, VeriFish invites:

Aquaculture producers
Feed suppliers
Certification bodies
Retail and market actors

to review the framework, discuss data-sharing challenges and opportunities, and contribute directly to its refinement.

Who should attend

This workshop is designed for professionals who work with aquaculture sustainability data and need to turn information into credible, usable communication.

It is particularly relevant for:

Aquaculture producers and producer organisations
seeking to understand which sustainability indicators are realistic to provide, how production-level data can be used responsibly, and how transparency can support market positioning without adding unnecessary complexity.
Certification schemes and sustainability initiatives
interested in how verifiable indicators can complement standards, support alignment across frameworks, and respond to evolving consumer and policy expectations.
Communication professionals, retailers and market actors
who need clear, trustworthy sustainability information that can be translated into messages consumers actually understand and trust.
Public authorities and policymakers
working on food systems, aquaculture governance, sustainability reporting or consumer information, and looking for structured, evidence-based approaches.
Researchers and technical experts
involved in sustainability assessment, indicator development or data integration, who want to see how scientific information is operationalised in real-world communication tools.

Attendance is especially valuable for those who want to actively contribute feedback, challenge assumptions, and help shape practical tools for sustainability communication beyond the project itself.

David Bassett

Employed by EATiP since 2017, David is responsible for the day-to-day management and direction of this European wide multi-actor ETP.

Working in the aquaculture industry since 2005, including a decade as the executive of a UK producer association, he has been active in numerous projects from the sixth Framework Programme. Among other roles, David has served as a director of the Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum and served on the Technical Advisory Group of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC TAG) alongside being invited as a guest lecturer at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling (UK).

In addition to working on multiple Horizon Europe projects David is one of the Technical Experts assisting with the implementation of the EU Aquaculture Assistance Mechanism in addition to chairing the research focus group of the Aquaculture Advisory Council (AAC) and sitting on the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research – Fish Committee (SCAR-Fish).

For further information on EATiP please see www.eatip.eu

Paul Bulcock

Paul Bulcock is responsible for developing and maintaining aquaculture information in SFP’s systems (e.g., FishSource, AIP Directory, Metrics). He also supports development and implementation of aquaculture strategy through research and analysis.

Paul has extensive program support and aquaculture research experience (particularly in Southeast Asia), having worked for the Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Pacific (NACA) and DFID’s Aquaculture and Fish Genetics Research Programme (AFGRP) at the Institute of Aquaculture, in Stirling, UK. He has an MSc in aquaculture from the University of Stirling and a BSc in marine and fisheries zoology from the University of Aberdeen.

Paul is based in the UK, in Glasgow, Scotland.

Fabio Grati

A fishery biologist presently employed at the National Research Council, Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology (Ancona, Italy), he brings to the table more than thirty years of expertise in marine environmental conservation and sustainable resource management. Over the course of his career, he has overseen and participated in numerous international projects focused on understanding and mitigating anthropic impacts on marine ecosystems. Since 2019, he holds a membership in the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) under the European Commission. Within this role, he has chaired two STECF Expert Working Groups (EWG 22-12 and EWG 23-18), where he led efforts to establish scientifically robust yet accessible criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of fisheries products.

Andrea Fabris

Andrea Fabris born 11.08.1968, Italian, has a Veterinary Medicine full graduation achieved at the University of Parma. He has also a Specialization in “Farming, Hygiene, Pathology of Aquatic Species and Control of Derivative Products ” achieved at Udine University and a Specialization in “Animal Feeding” obtained at Bologna University.

Actually (from May 2016) he is Director of Associazione Piscicoltori Italiani (API – Italian Fish Farmers Association). At National level behalf of API he is member of some working groups at the General Direction for Fisheries and Aquaculture of Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Italian Ministry of Health regarding aquaculture EU rules and their implementation at national and regional level, and member of Exotic Species Aquaculture Committee – Italian Ministry of Agriculture. Lecturer on in training /courses organized by Ministry of Health, Universities and Local Veterinary Authorities; member of Board of Directors of SIPI (Italian Society of Fish Pathology).

He is also involved at international level with the Federation of European Aquaculture Producers (FEAP) as Chairman of FEAP Fish Health and Welfare Commission. Andrea is part of the FVE (Federation of Veterinarians Europe) Aquaculture Working Group, and of FishMedPlus Coalition, and from the beginning member of Aquaculture Advisory Council (AAC) where is actually Chair of WG1 – Finfish.

He published as an author or co-author about 30 articles on international and national scientific journals concerning Fish pathology and Aquaculture and more than 60 issues on divulgative (fishermen and aquaculture producers associations) publications

Anne Marie Cooper

Anne shapes global sustainable fisheries and aquaculture policies through her work at the science-policy interface. Driven by a commitment to improving human lives and aquatic ecosystems, she serves as the Professional Officer for Fisheries and Aquaculture Advice at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Anne leads ICES’ efforts in developing and applying methods to provide scientific advice on data-limited fish and shellfish stocks in the Northeast Atlantic, covering over 60% of ICES stocks. She also heads the development of ICES’
advisory framework for sustainable aquaculture. Before joining ICES, Anne advised on national fisheries, aquaculture, climate, and marine science policy in the US Senate, House of Representatives, and NOAA. She holds a Ph.D. in Conservation Biology and Development Studies and Social Change Theory and an M.Sc. in Fisheries Science from the University of Minnesota.

Pedro Reis Santos

Pedro Reis Santos is Secretary General of the Market Advisory Council (MAC), a stakeholder-led advisory body to the European Commission and to the Member States on matters relevant for the EU market of fishery and aquaculture products, as foreseen by the Common Fisheries Policy Regulation.

Before his appointment, in July 2019, as Secretary General, Mr Reis Santos worked as a consultant for a Brussels-based business intelligence service monitoring EU developments on fisheries, agriculture, food, animal welfare, alcohol and tobacco policy. Prior to that, he was a trainee at the Fisheries Unit of the Council of the European Union and a trainee at the Control Unit of the Portuguese Fisheries Authority.

Mr Reis Santos holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law and a Master’s degree in International Law and International Relations from the University of Lisbon with a thesis titled “Marine Protected Areas beyond National Jurisdiction”. Besides his first language, Portuguese, he speaks English and Spanish

Irene Kranendonk

Irene Kranendonk is the Impact Manager at Fish Tales and a board member of the Fish Tales Foundation. Her work focuses on developing and guiding Fish Tales’ sourcing criteria including management of the environmental and social certification schemes. With the Fish Tales Foundation and local partner organizations, she drives social and environmental improvements in small scale fisheries. Irene holds a master’s degree from Wageningen University in Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management and is specialized in the field of fisheries ecology. In a previous role, Irene was sustainable seafood assessor for the Dutch seafood rating scheme the VISwijzer.