Saving Seafood

SFP notes progress, work ahead for squid sector in new report

March 5, 2019 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:

The global squid sector has made notable progress in the past year toward sustainability goals, but much work remains to be done, according to the latest Target 75 sector report from Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP).

The report is an update of the same sector report released last year, with updated data and conclusions. SFP will be updating this and other sector reports until the end of 2020, the deadline for achieving the T75 goal—to get 75 percent or more of global seafood production by volume to be classified as sustainable or improving toward sustainability.

According to the report, a confirmed 14 percent of global production is now recognized as sustainable or improving. Much of the improvements can be traced back to efforts by the Committee for the Sustainable Management of the Southern Pacific Jumbo Flying Squid (CALAMASUR). The group has been working on key projects such as the Peruvian Jumbo Flying Squid Fishery Improvement Project (FIP), and negotiations with the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) to address stock structure issues, improved data collection, and other issues.

SFP also credits the development of a preliminary stock assessment model presented to the RFMO, as well as the launching of a FIP covering Japanese flying squid. “The current FIP volume reflects a relatively small percentage of global production, but the total Japanese flying squid production across China, Japan, and Korea makes up a significant volume and is essential to the T75 goal,” said Sam Grimley, who leads the Global Squid Supply Chain Roundtable for SFP.

The report notes there is potential for much more of the sector to meet the T75 criteria.

“There are, fortunately, a number of fisheries making incremental improvements that are not yet publicly recorded under FIPs,” the report’s authors wrote. “It is possible that existing supply chain leverage and interest may be able to influence an additional 43 percent of global production.”

Management of fishing fleets in international waters will be the key. The report recommends working with Chinese and South Korean fisheries operating in waters off the coast of South America by leveraging market demand.

“SFP has always operated from the philosophy that industrial stakeholders can drive change by using the markets themselves,” said SFP CEO Jim Cannon. “Here we see a prime opportunity to demonstrate the real power the industry has to work toward more sustainable seafood production.”

Read the full report here

SFP praises improvement in global squid sustainability

January 29, 2019 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:

There has been a significant jump in the volume of squid produced globally—nearly one fifth—that can now be classified as sustainable or improving toward sustainability, and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) is crediting work done in its Global Squid Supply Chain Roundtable as playing a part.

SFP is monitoring the state of global squid production as part of its ongoing Target 75 initiative, which has set the goal to see 75 percent or more of global seafood volume produced in a manner that is either sustainable or improving toward sustainability, all by the end of 2020. SFP has maintained that Supply Chain Roundtables (SRs), while not exclusively required, are a valuable tool in driving positive change.

The Global Squid SR, which allows for squid buyers, suppliers, and other key industry stakeholders to work together in a pre-competitive fashion toward improving sustainable squid production worldwide, officially merged into a single entity in March 2017.

At the time, there was no squid production anywhere in the world that met the Target 75 criteria. Now, however, SFP analysts say 18 percent of global squid volume qualifies. In addition, work is proceeding to establish several new fishery improvement projects (FIPs) that could add as much as 19 percent more global volume, totaling 37 percent.

“Beginning at the point where we first formed the combined SR, a lot has been accomplished in a pretty short time,” said Sam Grimley, who leads the Global Squid SR for SFP. “Based on that, it’s pretty safe to say we’ll be making more announcements about progress with squid down the road.”

A significant stakeholder driving this jump in improvement is the Committee for the Sustainable Management of the Southern Pacific Jumbo Flying Squid (CALAMASUR). The new industry group has accomplished a great deal already to improve Peruvian jumbo flying squid at the critical regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) level, and its work with the newly launched Peruvian Jumbo Flying Squid FIP accounts for a great deal of the recorded improvements. SFP also notes that many other groups and stakeholders were involved, including the China Blue Sustainability Institute, which facilitated an important squid FIP that SFP announced last year. Another major player has been Ocean Outcomes, the NGO that announced the establishment of another FIP late last year, this time focusing on East China Sea and Yellow Sea squid.

SFP is also planning to release an updated version of the 2018 T75 Sector Report, with data that will reflect these and other trends in sustainable squid production worldwide.