What auditors actually ask for: the aquaculture evidence checklist

What makes a record 'evidence'

An auditor is not looking for beautiful paperwork. They are looking for records that are contemporaneous (written when the event happened, not reconstructed later), attributable (who recorded it), consistent (the same event tells the same story across documents), and retrievable (you can find it in minutes, not days).

• Date and time the event actually happened
• Who recorded it (a name, not just initials nobody can decode)
• The specific unit — which tank, pond, cage or batch
• Source documents attached where they exist: lab sheets, delivery notes, product labels, photos
• A visible correction trail — crossed out and re-entered, never erased

The core daily records

• Mortality — count per batch per day, with suspected cause and what you did about spikes
• Water quality — the parameters your species and system require, with readings outside range flagged and the corrective response noted
• Feed — what was fed, how much, to which batch; feed deliveries with supplier documentation
• Stocking and movements — where every batch came from, when, how many, and every transfer between units

Treatments and withholding periods — the record that gets farms in trouble

Any veterinary treatment or chemical use needs the product, active ingredient, dose, the batch treated, who administered it, and — critically — the withholding period from the product label and the date the batch is clear to harvest. Auditors cross-check treatment dates against harvest dates. A harvest inside a withholding window, or a treatment with no recorded withholding decision, is a major non-conformity almost everywhere.

The management-system layer

• Corrective actions (CAPA) — problems found, root cause, action taken, verified closed
• SOPs — current versions, with evidence staff have seen them
• Biosecurity — visitor and vehicle log, disinfection points
• Supplier records — approved suppliers for feed, fry/juveniles and chemicals
• Training records and welfare observations where your standard requires them

The gap most farms find on audit day

The classic failure is not a missing logbook — it's the missing link between records: a treatment with no withholding decision, a mortality spike with no corrective action, a feed invoice that never became an inventory record. Before an audit, walk one batch from stocking to harvest and check the story is complete. If a stranger can follow it, an auditor can.