December 15, 2016 — Eight of the world’s largest seafood companies have promised for the first time to improve transparency and the traceability of their catches to stop illegal fishing and protect the oceans, they said on Wednesday.
After a meeting organized by the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC) between seafood companies’ chief executives and scientists, the CEOs signed an agreement on ocean stewardship.
“The seafood industry cannot thrive on an unsustainable planet, and we will not have a thriving planet with an unsustainable seafood industry,” the eight companies said in a joint statement.
The companies promised to help reduce illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) and seek to ensure that such products and endangered species are not present in their supply chains.
The companies also promised to eliminate any form of modern slavery including forced and child labor in their supply chains, and to reduce the use of antibiotics in aquaculture.
The seafood companies include the two largest by revenues, Maruha Nichiro and Nippon Suisan Kaisha; two of the largest tuna companies, Thai Union and Dongwon Industries; the two largest salmon farmers, Marine Harvest ASA and Cermaq; and the two largest aquafeed companies, Nutreco unit Skretting and Cargill Aqua Nutrition.