Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Archives

Five-year initiative targets overfishing in six countries

October 15, 2026 — Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) has launched a five-year initiative aimed at strengthening fisheries management and seafood supply chains across six countries in Northwest Africa and Latin America.

The Global Marine Commodities 2 (GMC2) Project brings together government agencies, seafood industry participants, and other public and private partners in Mauritania, Morocco, Senegal, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Panama. The initiative is implemented by the United Nations Development Program, funded by the Global Environment Facility, and executed by SFP.

The project will combine market-based approaches with fisheries governance efforts to address overfishing and improve the sustainability of seafood supply chains in the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem off Northwest Africa and the Pacific Central American Coastal Large Marine Ecosystem.

Representatives from authorities in the six participating countries met remotely Oct. 7 for the project’s first Steering Committee meeting, marking the official global launch of GMC2.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Global squid supply chain leaders call for stronger governance, scientific cooperation and improved traceability

October 9, 2026 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:

Representatives from fishing fleets, regional advisory councils and processing industries gathered at CONXEMAR 2026 this week to highlight opportunities for stronger coordination and engagement among industry players to ensure the long-term sustainability of squid resources. During a panel at the international trade fair, participants highlighted the need for stronger coordination across international waters, enhanced scientific cooperation and compliance with new destination-market regulations – and emphasized the important role that industry can, and must, play in advancing these efforts.

Global squid fisheries are vital resources for international markets and processing industries, particularly in Europe. However, they face challenges related to ocean governance; a lack of stock assessments; illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and uncontrolled fishing effort in areas adjacent to Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). Because all actors across the squid value chain are interconnected, progress in governance, science, traceability and market regulations are all critical to ensuring sustainable squid production and trade.

In recent months, the international debate, focused on finding solutions and space for collaboration, has reached important milestones, with implications for the international commercialization of squid products derived from these fisheries. However, at the recent South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO) scientific meeting, member states stopped short of finalizing a complete stock-assessment framework or hard catch limits for the jumbo flying squid fishery.

In response, Alfonso Miranda, president of CALAMASUR, said “In the South Pacific, advancing the scientific foundation for jumbo flying squid management remains a priority. While SPRFMO has worked to improve stock evaluation models, closing the data gap requires unified international commitment. Coastal states, flag states and market states must work side by side to ensure management decisions keep pace with fishing activity and market expectations.”

Focus on European industry engagement in southern squid fisheries

To help ensure industry input, Conxemar (the Spanish Association of Wholesalers, Importers, Exporters and Manufacturers of Fish and Aquaculture Products) has joined the SPRFMO as an observer. Luis Garcia, sustainability manager at Conxemar, emphasized that markets must be part of the conversation and that strengthening science based management is essential for the future sustainability of the jumbo flying squid and trade. Without a fleet in the South Pacific, the commodity is key for the European and Spanish processing sector; thus Europe must take action in support of strong conservation measures.

Alexandre Rodriguez, executive secretary and general director of the Long Distance Advisory Council echoed this sentiment, noting that this “global fishery has grown immensely, but its governance framework has failed to keep pace. The Long Distance Advisory Council calls for a level playing field for all products entering the EU market, backed by risk-based import controls, stronger enforcement of existing rules—such as CATCH / IT catch tools—and full transparency throughout the entire value chain.”

Robust science-based management is equally critical for the southern Atlantic Argentine shortfin squid (Illex argentinus) squid fishery. A recent scientific workshop in Vigo highlighted the role of the Spanish fleet and international partners in collecting data and sharing historical series as indispensable for building a trustworthy regional stock assessment. Representatives attending the workshop agreed to create a common database to help define a regional stock assessment.

A call to action

Concluding the Conxemar 2026 panel, David Comesaña, chair of SFP’s Global Squid Supply Chain Roundtable and purchasing director at Congalsa Corporation, called for individual and collective industry action: “Seafood companies invest in and implement tools to ensure legality, but industry action alone is not enough. Administrations must play their essential role in supporting monitoring, control, and compliance through robust import controls, alongside a shared commitment to scientific cooperation and transparency across every step of the supply chain.” His words reflected the content of the Public Statement on Science-based Management, recently signed by participants of the Global Squid SR.

Coming out of these international events, and looking forward to upcoming meetings and opportunities for progress, the panel participants proposed three key priorities for the squid sector over the next 1-2 years:

Strengthening regional fisheries management by accelerating data sharing and developing scientific assessment models through SPRFMO and in FAO Area 41
Expanding traceability and control by implementing standardized digital documentation and leveraging Port State Measures (PSMA) to combat IUU fishing
Enhancing pre-competitive collaboration by promoting ongoing dialogue between producing fleets, coastal states and importing markets to align sustainability standards.

Carmen González-Vallés, SFP Supply Chain Roundtables director, noted “The panel at Conxemar, and other recent progress in the global squid sector, has highlighted the common willingness among industry actors to cooperate on ensuring the long-term sustainability of squid resources. I hope that these discussions can continue in the future to foster robust collaboration between stakeholders.”

ASC and SFP lead Aquaculture Action Alliance into new phase

September 15, 2026 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:

Utrecht, the Netherlands – Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) are driving the next phase of the Aquaculture Action Alliance, with the organisations jointly taking on the role of interim secretariat to support the next chapter in the Alliance’s growth.

The Alliance was formerly hosted by IDH – the Sustainable Trade Initiative, as the Aquaculture Working Group. This move marks a new chapter for the coalition, with a stronger focus on coordinated action, broader participation and measurable actions to reduce aquaculture’s environmental footprint.

The Alliance met in advance of the recent Global Shrimp Forum in Utrecht to bring together members to discuss ongoing efforts and progress for credibly measuring and reducing emissions and strengthening the sustainability of aquaculture.

A Call to the Aquaculture Sector

The Alliance is now seeking additional participation from like-minded companies from feed production to retail who share a commitment to drive long-term progress in aquaculture through improvement and sustainability solutions across the supply chain.

Jill Swasey, Director of Impacts, Monitoring & Evaluation at ASC, said, “Aquaculture has tremendous potential to be part of the solution to global food and environmental challenges. The Aquaculture Action Alliance provides an important space for companies to align approaches, share knowledge and identify where collective action can have the greatest impact.”

Braddock Spear, SFP Prospecting and Outreach Director, said, “By working together, leading seafood companies can increase their impact and support for best practices and state-of-the-art solutions. For aquaculture companies looking to compete on reducing carbon footprints, there is no better option than being part of the Aquaculture Action Alliance.”

Established in 2021, the Alliance has developed tools and approaches to help companies measure carbon, water, nitrogen and phosphorus footprints across aquaculture supply chains. In 2026, the focus is shifting from measurement towards coordinated action, supported by three working groups focused on carbon foot printing, priority actions and establishing the Alliance as an independent entity.

Dominique Gautier, Alliance Chair and Director of Sustainability at Seafresh Group, said, “The Alliance achieved a major milestone in 2026. Underpinned by stronger governance and wider ambitions, we are expanding our focus on what actions we, as leading companies, need to take to reduce aquaculture’s carbon footprint.”

Elena Piana, Steering Committee member and Group Sustainability Manager at Regal Springs, said, “Many of the current Alliance members are focused on farmed shrimp and feed supply chains. To clearly establish the aquaculture sector as the leading low-carbon protein provider, we also need more participation from companies producing and trading in other commodities such as salmon and tilapia.”

Feed companies are critical members in the Alliance, given the central role feed plays in the environmental footprint of farmed seafood and its relevance across multiple aquaculture species and supply chains.

Björn Kok, Steering Committee member and Technical Lead Sustainability Metrics at Skretting, said, “Feed companies can play an essential role at improving the sustainability of aquaculture supply chains. The Alliance needs more of these companies at the table to align sustainability metrics and methodology to facilitate implementation of lasting solutions.”

This re-launch of the Alliance is focused on growth and establishing new priorities for turning sustainability commitment into action. ASC and SFP welcome companies across the aquaculture supply chain and interested organisations to join the Alliance and contribute to practical, sector-wide solutions for lower-carbon aquaculture.

For more information or to explore membership of the Aquaculture Action Alliance, contact AquaAlliance@asc-aqua.org for ASC or aquaalliance@sustainablefish.org for SFP.

SFP and Hilborn Lab launch 8th edition of the Fishery Improvement Projects Database

April 20, 2026 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) and the Hilborn Lab at the University of Washington have released the 8th version of the Fishery Improvement Projects Database (FIP-DB), marking another major step forward in providing structured data to help track the evolution, scale, and performance of fishery improvement projects (FIPs) worldwide.

The FIP-DB is a comprehensive, publicly available resource that compiles and standardizes data from leading platforms, including SFP’s Improvement Projects Tracker and FisheryProgress.org. With records spanning more than two decades, the database provides a unique historical and real-time view of how FIPs have grown and evolved across the globe.

This latest update highlights the continued expansion of the FIP landscape. Over time, FIPs have increased not only in number, but also in geographic reach, diversity of species covered, and range of fisheries engaged. This growth reflects the rising importance of collaborative management and market-driven approaches to improving fisheries sustainability worldwide.

“FIPs have emerged as one of the leading market-based approaches for delivering improvements in fisheries supplying global seafood markets, with more than 350 projects initiated to date,” said Indrani Lutchman, Program Director of FIP Evaluation and External Relations at SFP. “With each new version of the database, we are better able to capture the scale, diversity, and progress of these efforts, and provide the structured data needed for scientific and robust analyses of their impact.”

A key highlight of this year’s release is the continued evolution of the database itself. The FIP-DB has expanded significantly in both depth and amount of information over successive versions, and the 2026 update introduces two major additions:

FIP stage indicators, enabling more detailed analysis of how projects are progressing in implementing workplans and delivering measurable improvements
FAO Global Record of Stocks and Fisheries (GRSF) Universal Identifiers, allowing stronger alignment with global fisheries datasets and improving the ability to map FIPs to specific fisheries and stocks.

Together, these improvements will open new opportunities for researchers and analysts to better understand FIP performance and link it to effective changes in policy and governance and, ultimately, improvements in fisheries and ecosystems.

The FIP-DB has helped advance scientific research, providing a key reference for peer-reviewed studies, global assessments, and FIP landscape reports. Beyond the research community, the database serves a wide range of stakeholders, including:

Nonprofit organizations, supporting conservation strategies and evaluation of FIP effectiveness
Seafood industry actors, informing responsible sourcing decisions and supply chain risk assessments
Government agencies, providing consistent, data-driven insights to guide fisheries management and policy.

“Research investigating the emergence and effect of sustainability-related actions requires knowledge of what has been done, where, how, by whom, and with what results,” said Dianty Ningrum, researcher in sustainability science at the Anthropocene Laboratory of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. “Such knowledge can facilitate learning across regions and between sectors, and allow for transfer of knowledge, expertise, and mimicking of strategies. Datasets like the FIP-DB are an important for building such knowledge. The experts developing this platform have been helpful in our work to conduct a cross-sectoral global assessment of actions for sustainability.”

Similar to previous editions, the new version includes an updated interactive Tableau dashboard, with selected visualizations of trends in FIP growth, geographic expansion, species coverage, and performance indicators. The dashboard enables users to explore how the FIP landscape has developed over time and to identify key patterns and trends.

For more information and access to the database and dashboard, visit:
https://sustainablefisheries-uw.org/databases/fishery-improvement-projects-database/

Markets Call for Regional Coordination in Pacific Jumbo Squid Fishery

October 22, 2025 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:

At the international CONXEMAR 2025 fair, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) and Pesca Sustentable brought together industry leaders, European market representatives, and delegates from jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) producing countries to analyze the status of the resource and its market impacts.

The panel, “Jumbo Squid: Science, Management, and Markets,” emphasized three key points: the need for regional cooperation, growing market uncertainty from fluctuating supply, and increased demand for traceability and responsible production across the value chain.

A Resource Under Pressure

Jumbo squid, the world’s largest cephalopod fishery by volume, is facing environmental variability, limited regional stock data, and a lack of coordinated management among producing countries. These issues create commercial uncertainty, particularly in Europe—the main destination market—where declining yields and recent fishing bans have raised concerns.

Science-Based Regional Management Needed

Panelists agreed that stabilizing supply requires stronger cooperation within the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO), harmonized measures, and improved scientific data.

Alfonso Miranda, President of CALAMASUR, said:

“Chile and Peru have made significant progress, but without a stronger regional response within SPRFMO, the risk remains. Coordination among countries to improve stock assessment and adopt compatible management rules is indispensable. The market should drive these improvements by conditioning access on traceability and the fight against IUU fishing.”

Yobana Bermúdez, General Director of CONXEMAR, added:

“Jumbo flying squid is a key resource for Spain and Europe. The EU’s new traceability requirements aim to ensure a stable supply and better management. Coastal States must coordinate to guarantee transparency and supply stability, facilitating access to European markets under strict HACCP standards.”

Sindy Parraguez of Matsuoka Co., Ltd. noted:

“Instability in Peru directly affected our planning. Reliable information—like Chile’s catch data—is vital for strategy and client communication. Traceability and consistent reporting are now competitive advantages.”

Traceability and Responsibility as Market Conditions

Participants stressed that international buyers expect greater traceability, compliance, and environmental and social accountability across the supply chain. Expanding digital traceability, legal origin controls, and standardized reporting will help reduce uncertainty and maintain market confidence.

Organizers urged immediate action to:

Strengthen coordination within SPRFMO with regionally aligned stock assessments and management measures.
Promote public-private traceability and transparency initiatives.
Improve real-time data sharing to support business planning and adaptive management..
Adopt an ecosystem-based management approach that considers trophic interactions, habits and impact mitigation.

Maintaining stable jumbo squid supply will depend on swift progress in management, traceability, and cooperation. Without firm commitment, the fishery risks decline that could affect the entire value chain.

Report highlights problem of Mexican shrimp laundering, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership says more work needed

October 7, 2025 — The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership has welcomed a new international report highlighting the issue of Mexican shrimp laundering, although the organization – which has been working on the issue since 2018 – notes that there is much work to be done to tackle the ongoing problem.

“I was very hopeful that when the report came out it would really push things forward, but you know, it made the news the first couple of days and then it all died down,” SFP Director of Supply Chain Roundtables Megan Westmeyer told SeafoodSource. “This sort of thing needs continuous pressure from buyers who are using this product.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Walmart Foundation-funded partnership aims to give tuna buyers more complete transparency information

October 3, 2025 — Three fishery monitoring organizations – the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), Global Fishing Watch (GFW), and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) – are collaborating to combine their databases to improve transparency in the tuna supply chain. The goal, the organizations said, is to give tuna buyers access to information, including vessel by vessel bycatch data and observer reports, in one place.

The project, which will draw on SFP’s buyer transparency databases, FishSource and Seafood Metrics, ISSF’s Proactive Vessel Register (PVR) and Vessels in Other Sustainability Initiatives (VOSI), and GFW’s Vessel Viewer and Marine Manager, is funded by grants from the Walmart Foundation.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

SFP, ISSF, and GFW join forces to enhance supply chain transparency in tuna

October 1, 2025 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), Global Fishing Watch (GFW), and International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) are collaborating to improve transparency in global tuna fisheries. The groups will leverage their extensive databases to help buyers more holistically assess the environmental impacts and compliance of their tuna supply chains. This collaboration was made possible through grant funding from the Walmart Foundation.

The collaboration will utilize SFP’s FishSource and Seafood Metrics platforms, which buyers widely use to monitor sourcing. It will also integrate information from ISSF’s Proactive Vessel Register (PVR) and Vessels in Other Sustainability Initiatives (VOSI), as well as GFW’s Vessel Viewer and Marine Manager. These databases include sustainability indicators beyond the health of fish stocks and management practices, to reflect market needs and ensure responsible tuna sourcing.

“We aren’t reinventing the wheel. We’re making it easier for tuna buyers to utilize all of the valuable, existing data and resources by putting them together on a platform they’re already familiar with and connecting it with their sourcing,” said Kathryn Novak, Biodiversity and Nature Director at SFP. “By combining existing resources, we can equip buyers with the information they need to make more informed decisions.”

A major challenge in effectively managing tuna fisheries and protecting ocean wildlife is the lack of transparency and inadequate monitoring and data collection of activities at sea. For example, in many longline tuna fisheries, which are known for their significant impact on marine life, observer coverage is below the required five percent. Additionally, vessel-level data on bycatch mitigation practices and the risk of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing remains limited and fragmented.

Strengthening transparency through improved vessel-level monitoring and open data sharing is essential to close these knowledge gaps. By revealing what is actually happening on the water, stakeholders can prioritize action areas, inform coordinated responses, design evidence-based policies and promote sustainable, accountable fisheries management that protects both marine biodiversity and the livelihoods that depend on it.

Buyers will be able to utilize the combined data and platforms to recognize proactive vessels that are reporting their use of sustainable practices and complying with other international regulations at sea.

“Verified transparency is the cornerstone of credible, science-based sustainability,” said Susan Jackson, President of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). “By contributing vessel-level insights to this collaboration, we’re helping to close information gaps that have long challenged stakeholders seeking to evaluate seafood sustainability. We value our partnership with SFP, whose retailer-facing platforms and policy engagement are instrumental in ensuring that sustainability commitments are rooted in science, transparency, and measurable progress.”

Charles Kilgour, Director of Program Initiatives at Global Fishing Watch, said: “We’re excited to contribute to a collaboration that empowers tuna buyers with the information they need to make responsible sourcing decisions. By integrating key data sources into a platform already familiar with industry, we’re helping build a broader and more inclusive understanding of vessel-level activity – including data gaps and key risk indicators. This enables industry to better target risk mitigation efforts and strengthens accountability and cooperation between government and industry, in a way that is driving a shift to more sustainable and transparent policies.”

SFP and Hilborn Lab launch the latest version of the FIP database

February 13, 2025 — The following was released by Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) and the Hilborn Lab at the University of Washington have launched the latest update of their Fishery Improvement Projects Database (FIP-DB). The database is a comprehensive resource for tracking the scope, attributes, and progress of fishery improvement projects (FIPs) worldwide, along with the fisheries they aim to improve.

The FIP-DB compiles and standardizes data from publicly available platforms, including SFP’s Improvement Projects Tracker and FisheryProgress.org, to provide a historical, real-time perspective on FIPs and the FIP landscape. With records dating back to 2003, this update covers the more than 340 FIPs that have existed since then, monitoring over 400 fish stocks across more than 1,000 fisheries globally.

“Robust research relies on structured, systematically collected data to support better-informed fisheries management. This database does exactly that for fishery improvement projects,” said Pedro Veiga, senior scientist at SFP. “As the database continues to expand, so does its contribution to research, with several peer-reviewed studies already relying on FIP-DB data.”

Beyond research purposes, the FIP-DB is also a valuable tool for other stakeholders and audiences, including:

nonprofit organizations, providing insights into FIP progress and effectiveness for conservation and advocacy efforts
the seafood industry, helping businesses evaluate sustainability initiatives, supply chain risks, and responsible sourcing commitments
government agencies, offering reliable and consistently collected information and providing a data-driven perspective on fisheries improvement efforts to inform policy and regulatory decisions.

“The 2025 edition of CEA’s Global Review of Fishery Improvement Projects could not proceed without the robust data provided by FIP-DB. Our exploration of the global FIP landscape and our quantitative analyses rely extensively on the database,” said Max Levine, managing director, and Aaron Saliman, associate, CEA Consulting.

An updated Tableau dashboard is available alongside the database, offering useful visualizations and performance indicators on the FIP landscape. The FIP-DB website also provides details on the database structure, including its variables, data fields, and sources.

For more information and access to the FIP-DB, visit https://sustainablefisheries-uw.org/databases/fishery-improvement-projects-database/.

About Sustainable Fisheries Partnership
Founded in 2006, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) is a marine conservation organization working toward a world where the oceans are healthy, all seafood is produced sustainably, and everyone has access to sustainable seafood. We leverage the power of seafood buyers and retailers in every part of the seafood supply chain to rebuild depleted fish stocks, reduce the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming, address social issues in fishing, and advance economic opportunities for fishers and their communities. Our Supply Chain Roundtables (SRs) allow seafood suppliers to work together in a pre-competitive environment to promote and support improvements in fishery and aquaculture practices, management, and policy. Visit us at www.sustainablefish.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership: Private sector investments will be key to global fisheries management

November 15, 2024 — Increased debt loads carried by governments around the world are resulting in the need for private sector investments to fund better management of global fish stocks, according to Jim Cannon.

Speaking at the IFFO – The Marine Ingredients Organization’s 2024 annual conference in Lisbon, Portugal, Cannon – who is the head of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, a Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A.-based nonprofit that aims to ensure healthy marine ecosystems – said most countries can’t afford better management of their stocks through government funds alone.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource