Saving Seafood

New RISE website helps seafood companies “turn concern into action on labor rights”

March 21, 2019 — Sustainable seafood consultancy and non-profit FishWise launched the Roadmap for Improving Seafood Ethics (RISE) website during Seafood Expo North America 2019, with the goal of creating a resource to streamline guidance and actionable steps seafood companies can take to understand the labor conditions throughout their supply chains.

The platform, which was developed in partnership with the seafood industry and leading conservation and human rights experts, also aids companies in making improvements to protect workers and to mitigate their own regulatory and reputational risks, according to FishWise.

“Seafood companies understand that their success depends on the well-being of the people who catch, raise, process, and transport the fish they sell, and they want to do the right thing,” Aurora Alifano, director of the social responsibility division at FishWise, said in a press release. “RISE offers the help many need to turn concern into action on labor rights.”

Conversations with seafood industry leaders revealed the high-priority status of labor rights and social issues for many companies, however, “capacity constraints and an abundance of information served as obstacles to getting started,” FishWise said.

“FishWise has worked on social issues in seafood for many years, even prior to revelations of forced labor in shrimp supply chains,” FishWise CEO Tobias Aguirre told SeafoodSource. “So, we pulled together and shared relevant information, allowing seafood companies and NGOs to better understand the issues. In 2017, we heard from companies that this was a hot-button issue, there were too many resources, they felt paralyzed, and didn’t know where to start. Last year, we set out to solve that problem by building RISE.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. Joins GSSI

March 19, 2019 — The following was released by Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative and BJ’s Wholesale:

The Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative is pleased to announce that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (BJ’s) has joined the GSSI Global Partnership as a Funding Partner.

BJ’s Wholesale Club is a leading operator of membership warehouse clubs in the Eastern United States. By joining GSSI’s Global Partnership, BJ’s joins more than 90 stakeholders industry-wide in addressing the seafood sector’s sustainability challenges.

“BJ’s Wholesale Club is committed to providing sustainably sourced seafood to our members,” said Scott Williams, Vice President, Own Brands and Quality at BJ’s Wholesale Club. “We’re excited to join The Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative to deepen our commitment to responsible sourcing and helping the industry find solutions.”

Seafood importers backing groups in protecting vaquita

March 18, 2019 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) is pleased to announce eight US importers of Mexican seafood—Aquastar, Artisan Catch (Orca Foods LLC), Del Pacifico, Inland Seafood, Meridian Products, Ocean Garden Products, Santa Monica Seafood, and Seattle Fish Company—have joined together to donate $12,000 to VaquitaCPR to fund removal of illegal fishing gear from the upper Gulf of California.

All eight companies participate in a Mexican Seafood Supply Chain Roundtable (SR) facilitated by SFP for managing ongoing sustainability improvement efforts.

The vaquita porpoise in the upper Gulf of California is critically endangered. The most recent population estimate (2018) indicates, at most, only 22 individuals. Though gillnets were banned from the upper Gulf of California throughout the vaquita’s native range in 2017, illegal use of gillnets by totoaba poachers and shrimp fishermen has continued and is threatening the existence of the vaquita.

“Unless this decline can be stopped by eliminating mortality in illegal gillnets, the vaquita will be extinct in a few years,” said the authors of a 2017 report from the 10th meeting of the Comité Internacional para la Recuperación de la Vaquita.

Through VaquitaCPR, conservation organizations such as Museo de la Ballena and the World Wildlife Fund are working with the Mexican Ministry of Environment and Mexican Navy as well as local fishermen to remove the illegal gillnets from the water on a continuing basis. This gear removal program is critical to the survival of the remaining vaquita.

“The seafood community has a long history of supporting the environmental and social needs of our community. None of these needs have been more important than the conservation, protection, and recovery needs of the vaquita porpoise,” said Lance Leonard, President/CEO of Ocean Garden Products, Inc. “The industry stands united in working with government, NGOs, and environmental groups to identify ways to save this unique mammal. We support the activity of VaquitaCPR and hope to bring attention to the cause with our customers and consumers.”

These companies, along with a number of other Mexican Seafood SR participants, have also sent a letter of support for alternative gear development to the Mexican government and upper Gulf of California shrimp fishermen. In this letter, they request that the Mexican government improve enforcement of the gillnet ban, but also expedite the processes necessary to develop and approve a viable alternative gear for small-scale shrimp fishermen.

“We would like to further express our willingness to collaborate in this important effort through the purchase, distribution, and marketing of the shrimp captures resulting from the adoption of fishing gears other than gillnets and or entanglement nets, which do not represent risk of bycatch to the vaquita marina,” participants wrote in the letter.

The importers are pledging future support to develop a market in the U.S. for “vaquita-safe” shrimp, once it becomes available. The letter was sent to the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, National Commissioner of Aquaculture and Fisheries, and the National Commissioner of Natural Protected Areas, as well as shrimp producer cooperatives in the upper Gulf region.

According to Megan Westmeyer, SFP Senior Improvements and Strategy Manager, “When the permanent gillnet ban went into effect without a viable alternative gear for the artisanal shrimp fishery, the supply chain lost the ability to use its purchasing power to affect change. Fortunately, these suppliers are determined to see that the upper Gulf of California can be home to both the vaquita porpoise and a sustainable artisanal shrimp fishery, and are taking action to ensure this vision becomes reality.”

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

Cooke, Martha Stewart partner on value-added seafood range

February 26, 2019 — Diversified seafood group Cooke is partnering with US retail and lifestyle entrepreneur Martha Stewart on a new range of value-added seafood products using raw material from its global farmed and wild supply companies.

Cooke, under its True North Seafood sales arm, is teaming up on the range with Sequential Brands Group, which licenses a range of consumer brands, including Martha Stewart’s, the seafood company told Undercurrent News. The range will launch next month and will be on show at the upcoming Boston seafood show, held in the East Coast US city from March 17-19.

The product line offers a range of True North products accompanied by a Martha Stewart signature butter flavor or spice blend. Packaging will also include an easy to follow recipe created by Stewart’s “test kitchen” team, the company said. These include Atlantic salmon with lemon herb butter; sockeye salmon with miso butter; pollock with a southwest spice blend, and a seafood medley – using pollock, salmon, and bay scallops — with a herb spice blend.

“Knowing where my seafood comes from is very important to me, and I’ve enjoyed and served True North Seafood to family and friends for years,” said Stewart, in a statement.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

FishChoice, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership to cross-list companies disclosing sourcing info

February 8, 2019 — A new collaboration between the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership and the environmental nonprofit FishChoice will result in members of its supplier program becoming Ocean Disclosure Project participants.

FishChoice, which encourages seafood suppliers to publicly share information – including product sources, certifications, and sustainability ratings – has named the Ocean Disclosure Project (ODP) as its newest Sustainable Seafood Affiliate. The designation will result in data-sharing between the two programs, with suppliers that list their full source list for wild-caught seafood on the FishChoice website being recognized as ODP participants, with their listings in the ODP portal linking to their FishChoice profile.

FishChoice supplier members Albion Farms and Fisheries, North Atlantic Inc., and Tradex Foods are already listed on both websites, with their profiles containing product pages for each species sold, “giving seafood buyers instant access to up-to-date product sustainability information,” SFP said in a press release.

“We are very happy to be collaborating with FishChoice on the Ocean Disclosure Project, to help one another work with the seafood industry to deliver more sustainable seafood production,” ODP Project Manager Tania Woodcock said. “Companies that report their full list of wild-caught seafood products into FishChoice’s supplier directory meet with the ODP’s requirements for transparency in seafood sourcing.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Marine Stewardship Council aims to “improve confidence that the MSC Fisheries Standard is being applied consistently”

February 5, 2019 — The Marine Stewardship Council, one of the largest seafood-focused eco-labeling schemes in the world, is reviewing its standards and processes with the dual aims of increasing its effectiveness and addressing perceptions of inadequacies in how its system works.

The London, United Kingdom-based organization currently certifies more than 300 fisheries with a combined annual seafood production of 12 million metric tons, representing 15 percent of global marine catch. Its formal Fisheries Standard Review takes place every five years; the most recent review began in 2018 and will run through 2021. The MSC reviews its standards to “improve confidence that the MSC Fisheries Standard is being applied consistently,” according to the organization.

Last week, the MSC Board of Directors released a list of 16 topics it will include it’s the second stage of the review. Those topics include MSC’s requirements for ghost gear, low trophic species, shark-finning, endangered threatened and protected species, and the accessibility of the MSC program to small-scale, squid, crab, and octopus fisheries.

“The next stage in the MSC Fisheries Standard Review will be an in-depth analysis of all topics agreed for review,” MSC CEO Rupert Howes said. “Over the next year, the MSC will work alongside stakeholders to harness their expertise and experience to identify potential updates to the standard.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Japan Whalers Discuss Plan to Resume Commercial Hunt July 1

January 24, 2019 — Japanese whalers discussed plans Thursday to resume their commercial hunting along the northeastern coast on July 1, for the first time in three decades.

Their preparation follows Japan’s decision in December to leave the International Whaling Commission, abandoning decades-long campaigning in hopes of gaining support within the organization that has largely become a home for conservationists.

The Fisheries Agency said whalers in six Pacific coast towns, including Taiji, which is known for dolphin hunts, were expected to bring five vessels to form a joint fleet beginning July 1, one day after Japan formally withdraws from the IWC.

Taiji is leading the effort as a traditional whale town and will contribute one vessel to the fleet that will catch minke whales. Exact locations and hunting plans will be decided based on results of research operations planned by the end of June, said Shigeki Takaya, a Fisheries Agency official in charge of whaling.

Catch quota and hunting schedule are yet to be decided. Japan’s national broadcaster NHK said the coastal whaling will start from Hachinohe in northern Japan, or Kushiro, a main whaling hub farther north, on the island of Hokkaido. Each vessel would then head southward to Chiba, near Tokyo, while making several stops along the coast before heading back to Kushiro for more hunts later in the year, NHK said. Experts are deciding the sustainable catch quota using the IWC method. Japan plans to remain as observer of the IWC.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

National Science Foundation grant to continue work on key fishery management issues

January 24, 2019 — A cooperative research center that brings together seafood industry leaders and academic experts has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to continue its work on a number of issues that impact sustainable fisheries.

The Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) will use the federal money to study four issues, including how climate change affects fisheries and how to settle differences between offshore energy producers and the fishing community.

Other research the center will perform as part of the grant will focus on management practices that keep catch limits below levels that reduce jobs and inhibit economic growth. According to a press release from the center, the key focus will be to reduce uncertainty for the commercial industry.

According to the NSF, the grant is worth USD 100,000 (EUR 88,021). Work is expected to start on 1 March and last for five years.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Maine Fisherman Says ‘Sea-To-Table’ Is Path To Sustainability — For Oceans And His Business

January 22, 2019 — It’s tough to be an independent commercial fisherman, and regulations designed to manage fish populations are part of the reason why.

The government has imposed a quota system: fishermen have to pay to catch certain kinds of fish, like cod. Cod is deemed to be in low supply. So, fishermen are only allowed to catch a limited amount of it. They can pay to lease someone else’s quotas, so they can catch more. But that’s expensive, and makes it harder to turn a profit.

One fisherman in Maine is trying to fish more sustainably — and make a living doing it.

“The average fish that you go and eat at an average seafood restaurant has been around for 10 days and traveled 7,000 miles. We beat that by about 99.9 percent,” says Tim Rider, who’s adopted a sea-to-table method that means consumers get fresh seafood just a few days — or even hours — after it was caught.

Instead of selling fish through wholesalers who control the price, Rider’s company New England Fishmongers sells fish directly to local restaurants and consumers.

Considering the strict regulations and fishing quotas that commercial fishermen face, Rider focuses on quality over quantity in order to compete with larger fishing companies. The fish are bled and gutted on the boat, which Rider says yields a higher quality product. This approach also proves to be less wasteful, he says.

Read the full story at WBUR