Saving Seafood

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership makes its seafood metrics system free to use

October 13, 2021 — Sustainable Fisheries Partnership’s Seafood Metrics system is now available as an open-access subscription service to retailers, foodservice operators, and supply-chain companies. The system was previously only available to SFP partners.

SFP’s Seafood Metrics is a global system that tracks and monitors seafood sourcing and evaluates a company’s sourcing performance. The expansion of the program is a response to an increased interest across the supply chain in better tracking and management of key data elements (KDEs) that increases the transparency of their seafood sourcing.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

The Town Dock Makes Domestic Squid Sourcing Public on Ocean Disclosure Project

September 28, 2021 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership’s Ocean Disclosure Project:

Rhode Island-based seafood company The Town Dock is become the latest company to participate in the Ocean Disclosure Project (ODP).

The Town Dock is a family-owned calamari supplier based in Point Judith, Rhode Island in the US. The company published an ODP profile containing a list of its domestically sourced wild-caught calamari, alongside information on the environmental sustainability of those sources. Listed are The Town Dock’s Longfin Inshore Squid (Doryteuthis peallei) and Northern Shortfin Squid (Illex illecebrosus), the only two squid species in the world to be MSC-certified sustainable.

“We are participating in the Ocean Disclosure Project because we continue to seek ways to demonstrate and underscore the importance of sustainably caught seafood. As a provider of the only two certified sustainable squid species, we saw this as an opportunity to become a resource for those interested in supporting sustainable fishing practices,” said Ryan Clark, president and CEO of The Town Dock.

“We’re pleased to have The Town Dock join ODP. We hope this partnership inspires others and showcases the importance of practicing sustainable fishing and transparency of sourcing,” said Tania Woodcock, project manager for the Ocean Disclosure Project.

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) started the ODP in 2015 to provide a valuable resource for responsible investors, seafood consumers, and others interested in sustainable seafood. To date, 38 other companies, including major retailers and suppliers from around the world, have participated.

The Town Dock’s full ODP profile can be viewed at: https://oceandisclosureproject.org/companies/the-town-dock 

Updated Sustainable Fisheries Partnership tool will improve tracking of fishery improvement efforts

August 20, 2021 — With the intention of increasing accountability and transparency in reporting on fisheries improvement projects (FIPs), Sustainable Fisheries Partnership has published an update to its FIP Evaluation Tool. This revision, the fourth since the tool launched in 2007, clarifies guidelines for use, addresses the need for improved accountability, and more explicitly identifies connections between FIP actions and fishery improvements.

“These changes were driven by requests from seafood buyers and stakeholders to see increased verification of progress and a clearer linkage between FIP activity and impact on the water,” SFP Global Policy Director Brad Spear said. “More and better information can help us all do a better job.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

U.S. squid producers ally with others to fight illegal fishing

July 21, 2021 — Several prominent U.S squid producers and suppliers have joined with European, Canadian and Australian counterparts in creating a new international working group to fight illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing through their global supply chains.

Working with technical support from the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, the new IUU working group includes:

  • Aqua Star, Seattle
  • Beaver Street Fisheries, Jacksonville, Fla.
  • Crocker & Winsor Seafoods, Needham, Mass.
  • Lund’s Fisheries, Cape May, N.J.
  • Netuno, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
  • Panapesca, Pembroke, Mass.
  • Sun Coast Calamari, Oxnard, Calif.
  • The Town Dock, Narragansett, R.I.

The Squid IUU Prevention Working Group was formed by members of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership’s Global Squid Supply Chain Roundtable (Global Squid SR), which brings together squid producers and suppliers to work together in a pre-competitive environment to drive improvement efforts in squid fisheries practices, management and policy.

“As importers and distributors of processed squid products, the Working Group members are united in their desire to clearly prohibit IUU-sourced squid product and labor and human rights abuses in their supply chains,” according to a statement from the partnership, an international marine conservation group founded in 2006.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Gulf of Saint Lawrence snow crab fishery withdraws from MSC, launches new FIP

June 16, 2021 — A new comprehensive fishery improvement project (FIP) has been launched by New Brunswick and Quebec seafood processors and fishermen associations, which they hope will lead to reduced entanglements with North Atlantic right whales.

The main objective of the new FIP is to regain Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for the fishery, which was suspended for Area 12 and Sub-Areas 12 E and 12 F in 2018 due to incidents resulting in right whale deaths. As part of the launch of the new FIP, the fishery has “decided to withdraw” from the MSC program to focus its efforts on the improvements needed to regain certification – in part because the FIP would run past the expiration date of the suspended certification – according to a release by the recently launched “snow crab zone 12.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Walton Family Foundation grants USD 6.7 million to Sustainable Fisheries Partnership

June 9, 2021 — The Walton Family Foundation has pledged USD 6.7 million (EUR 5.5 million) to support the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, renewing its foundational grant to the seafood sustainability-focused nonprofit.

The Walton Family Foundation support of SFP is aimed at advancing sustainability initiatives covering octopus, tuna, shrimp, squid, mahi, whitefish, reduction fisheries, blue swimming crab, and snapper and grouper. SFP is in the midst of its Target 75 campaign, which seeks to move 75 percent of the global production of crucial seafood sectors into fisheries certified as sustainable (Marine Stewardship Council-certified or equivalent) or classified as improving under a credible fishery improvement project.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

University of Washington and SFP release comprehensive new FIP database

February 25, 2021 — The Hilborn Lab at the University of Washington and the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) have released an updated version of their Fishery Improvement Projects Database (FIP-DB). UW and SFP, which released the update on Wednesday, 24 February, are calling the database the “world’s most comprehensive resource for current and historical information on fishery improvement projects (FIPs),” with data from all the globe’s 249 FIPs.

Nicole Baker, a research scientist for the Hilborn Lab, said the database will function as a guide to help analyze and implement new FIP measures.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

SFP report: Global reduction fishery sustainability continues to slip

October 16, 2020 — The latest report by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) on the state of the planet’s reduction fisheries has found that the sector has continued to see a decrease in sustainability since 2018.

The report found that overall the sustainability of reduction fisheries – fisheries which go primarily to producing fish meals and oil – has remained relatively steady, with a few key fisheries showing drops in sustainability. In addition, the share of the catch from the “poorly managed” category of reduction fisheries jumped, and accounts for 22 percent of the global catch of reduction fisheries.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Walmart, Major Retailers Call for Governments to Ensure Sustainably Produced Tuna during COVID-19

May 7, 2020 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:

The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership and more than 50 retailers, brands, and seafood companies,* including Walmart, Publix, Nestle, Carrefour, and Tesco, today called on the United States, European Union, and approximately 45 governments to implement electronic monitoring in tuna fisheries to protect workers and ensure fishing continues to be sustainable.

“We are key stakeholders in these fisheries and strongly wish to see the environmental impact of these fisheries managed in a manner consistent with our procurement specifications for sustainable sourcing,” the companies wrote.

In a letter issued today, the companies urged the governments to move rapidly and urgently through the Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) to make electronic monitoring an accepted alternative to human observer coverage in tuna fisheries. This technology already exists, but the governments and RFMOs have been slow to adopt its use.

In April, at-sea observer programs in tuna fisheries were suspended by the RFMOs, the international governmental bodies responsible for their management, due to COVID-19. Observers document activities and collect data essential to conservation.

The companies also called for greater transparency to advance the fully effective implementation of electronic monitoring on all fleets and regular review of the COVID-19 situation and risks of restoring human at-sea observers at the earliest safe and practical date.

*Afritex Ventures Limited, Aldi North, Aldi South, Asda, Beaver Street Fisheries, BirdLife International, Carrefour France, Congalsa, Culinary Collaborations LLC, D&E Import LLC, Direct Ocean, Earthworm, Euclid Fish Company, Fish Is Life, Fishwise, Fortune Fish Co., Frinsa, Giant Eagle, IncredibleFish, Inland Seafoods, Ipswich Shellfish Group, Jealsa/We Sea, Maguro Foods, Mercadona, Metro France, Morrisons, Nestle, New England Seafood International, North Atlantic Inc., Profand, Publix, Rema Foods, Sainsburys, Santa Monica Seafood, Sea Delight, Seacore Seafood Inc., Seafood Imports, Sea Pact, Seattle Fish Co., Stavis Seafoods, Sysco France, Tesco, The Fishin Co., True Worlds Food, True Worlds Group, TUPA, Walmart

More FIPs impacting sustainable fisheries for the better, new report finds

March 25, 2020 — The seafood industry continues to show its commitment to improving the sustainability of fisheries worldwide, as evidenced by a new report from environmental research and advisory firm CEA Consulting.

In 2019, 136 fishery improvement projects (FIPs) existed worldwide, a 64 percent increase over 2014’s tally of 83, according to CEA Consulting’s “2020 Global Landscape Review of FIPs” report. What’s more, seafood businesses are now increasingly leading the charge where FIPs are concerned, filling the spots that NGOs once did. Currently, seafood businesses are guiding the implementation of 70 FIPS, up from 49 in 2015, while NGOs are assuming more technical support and advisory roles in the space, the report found.

Read the full story at Seafood Source