Saving Seafood

ISSF Annual Report Focuses on Tuna Fishing Best Practices and Participating Company Conformance with Science-based Conservation Measures

May 23, 2017 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) released its 2016 annual report today, Best Practices, Better Solutions, which outlines tuna sustainability achievements and argues for continuous improvement of global tuna fisheries through collaboration and advocacy.

“ISSF marked its seventh anniversary in 2016, and I’m proud to have been part of this unique organization from the beginning,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson in her opening letter. “Through our many activities and partnerships over the years — made possible by progressive tuna companies and other funders — we have deepened our understanding about what it takes to ‘be’ sustainable, and to advance the cause.”

Best Practices, Better Solutions focuses on ISSF’s collaborations on “best practices” in tuna and ocean conservation sustainability with fishers, tuna companies, retailers, regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), and other governing bodies, working closely with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), scientific agencies, and charitable foundations.

Report Highlights

The report offers these special features:

  • Spotlights on fish aggregating device (FAD) management, electronic monitoring and reporting, and harvest control rules — including timelines that track best-practice milestones 2009-2016 as well as graphics showing RFMO proposal activity
  • Graphics documenting skipper acceptance of best practices, including bycatch mitigation techniques
  • Charts showing tuna stock status based on catch and abundance
  • Table with Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) performance indicator averages for global tuna fisheries
  • Summary of ISSF advocacy efforts, including joint letters, blogs, and RFMO side events
  • Graphic showing how RFMO proposals track with ISSF advocacy priorities
  • Reflections from outgoing ISSF Board chair Juan Corrales

It also covers these notable ISSF achievements:

  • Five new tuna companies joined as participating companies in 2016.
  • ISSF Skippers Workshops were held in China and Vietnam for the first time; a record 343 vessel crew were trained in 2016 workshops.
  • In North America, Europe, and Africa 32 retailers that purchase tuna have incorporated ISSF guidelines in their procurement policies.

Conservation Measures & Commitments Compliance Report

ISSF’s annual report also serves as the platform to share the organization’s annual Conservation Measures and Commitments Compliance Report. The report shows a conformance rate of 97.5 percent by 28 ISSF participating companies as of March 31, 2017 — up from 95.6 percent in November 2016 — across 21 ISSF conservation measures in effect in 2016. Twenty-two of 28 companies were fully compliant across all measures.  

The report tracks ISSF participating companies’ progress in conforming with measures like these:

As part of its commitment to transparency and accountability, ISSF engages third-party auditor MRAG Americas to audit ISSF participating companies — assessing their compliance with ISSF’s conservation measures. MRAG Americas conducts independent auditing based on a rigorous audit protocol.

In addition to a summary report, MRAG Americas issues individual company reports that document in detail each organization’s compliance with ISSF’s conservation measures. ISSF publishes these individual company compliance reports on its website.

ISSF Participating Companies account for about 75% of the global canned tuna market.

Eat more seafood for your health, right? Actually, it’s not that simple.

May 20, 2017 — The Dietary Guidelines for Americans strongly suggest that adults eat two servings of seafood, or a total of eight ounces, per week. Fish and shellfish are an important source of protein, vitamins and minerals, and they are low in saturated fat. But seafood’s claim to fame is its omega-3 fatty acids, including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which are beneficial to health.

Omega-3s are today’s darling of the nutrition world. Many observational studies have indeed shown them to help alleviate a range of conditions including high blood pressure, stroke, certain cancers, asthma, Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. However, there isn’t complete scientific agreement on the health benefits of omega-3s, especially when considering the lack of strong evidence from randomized clinical trials, which are the gold standard for research.

So what exactly is the evidence that seafood is good for your health?

The strongest evidence exists for a cardiovascular health benefit, and from consuming seafood (not just fish oil), which is significant because heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.

One of the things I research is Americans’ meat and protein consumption. Though many of us are concerned about getting enough protein, most Americans actually get more than enough protein.

Rather, the problem is that most of us don’t include enough variety of protein sources in our diet. We eat a lot of poultry and red meat but not as much seafood, nuts, beans, peas and seeds. For seafood in particular, consumption is estimated at about 2.7 ounces of seafood a week per person, well below the recommended eight ounces.

So the solution might seem simple: Increase public-health messaging along the lines of “Seafood is healthy. Eat more of it.” But it’s a bit more complicated than that.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Lidl commits to full sustainability for fresh and frozen seafood in the US

May 18, 2017 — Lidl supermarket locations within the United States will sell only certified sustainable fresh and frozen seafood as part of its daily fish counter assortments,  the company announced on 17 May.

The decision is supported by a partnership recently established between Lidl US, the Marine Stewardship Council, the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) program and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC).

“We are pleased to announce that our entire everyday fresh and frozen seafood assortment will be certified sustainable,” Lidl US Chief Commercial Officer Boudewijn Tiktak said. “We are proud to work closely with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) in this step to ensure suppliers meet our high-quality standards. As a company, we are always working to make better and more sustainable choices attainable to all customers and this is an important part of that promise.”

“Lidl’s commitment to certified sustainable sourcing for all fresh and frozen seafood in its core assortment will indeed set a new standard in the U.S. market,” added Brian Perkins, MSC’s regional director for the Americas. “When people purchase MSC-certified seafood, their choice supports fishermen around the world who are working hard to meet the world’s most rigorous standard for environmental sustainability of wild capture fishing.”

Chris Keller, BAP’s Director of North American Market Development, noted the broad scope that such a commitment encompasses.

“This is a tremendous step by Lidl to ensure that its entire core assortment of fresh and frozen seafood is third party certified,” Keller said. “This important commitment helps address issues such as disease, antibiotic use and social welfare in the supply chain. Lidl clearly sees how this is the next frontier in responsible and sustainable sourcing. We applaud the vision and commitment of Lidle as they join with BAP to drive true change in the market place and the industry.”

Read the full story at SeafoodSource.com

Implementation of Stronger Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Is Top ISSF “Ask” for Sustainable Indian Ocean Tuna Fisheries

May 18, 2017 —  The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has released its position statement in advance of the 21st Session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, May 22-26.

ISSF’s highest priority item is for IOTC to improve its implementation of monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) tools. This need is particularly key as the Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) continues its work to stem the overfishing of yellowfin tuna occurring in the ocean region.

ISSF urges IOTC to: strengthen the collection and reporting of catch and effort records; adopt the Scientific Committee guidelines for electronic monitoring and a 100% observer coverage requirement for large-scale purse seine vessels; and enforce the minimum 5% observer requirement for longline vessels. ISSF further urges other key steps that address the region’s information gaps, like reforming the transshipment measure to address loopholes and strengthening the IOTC’s compliance assessment process.

“The IOTC showed great leadership last year by adopting harvest control rules for the region’s skipjack tuna stock, and the Commission headed in the right direction by beginning to reduce catches of yellowfin tuna,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “But effective enforcement of agreed-upon conservation and management measures must be supported by strong monitoring, control and surveillance systems if the positive impact of such measures on Indian Ocean tuna fisheries is to be fully realized. That’s action we need to see progressed this year.”

Additional asks from ISSF this year include:

  • Stronger support of data collection, and the full implementation of harvest strategies
  • FAD management through science-based measures and full implementation of provisions for the use of non-entangling FADs
  • The adoption of a new level of longline observer coverage that would provide reasonable estimates of total bycatch, such as 20%
  • Strengthening the IOTC IUU Vessel List, including to clarify listing and delisting procedures, adding common ownership as a listing criterion, and ensuring that flag States cannot veto IUU listing decisions for their vessels
  • Developing a regional, best-practice satellite-based vessel monitoring system (VMS) 
  • Strengthening the IOTC Resolution on shark finning by requiring that all sharks be landed with fins naturally attached  

Read the full position statement.

ISSF’s goal is to improve the sustainability of global tuna stocks by developing and implementing verifiable, science-based practices, commitments and international management measures that result in tuna fisheries meeting the MSC certification standard without conditions. Therefore, ISSF’s appeal to the IOTC and RFMOs in all ocean regions align with performance indicators that comprise the principles of the Marine Stewardship Council certification standard: Principle 1, Sustainable fish stocks; Principle 2, Minimizing environmental impacts; and Principle 3, Effective management. 

About the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF)

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is a global coalition of scientists, the tuna industry and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the world’s leading conservation organization, promoting science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting ecosystem health. To learn more, visit their website at iss-foundation.org.

North Atlantic, Inc. and Subsidiary Bali Seafood International Commit to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

May 15, 2017 — The following was released by North Atlantic Seafood:

Today, North Atlantic, Inc. and its subsidiary Bali Seafood International announced their commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These commitments mark the first by a U.S. seafood company to be published with the UN’s Voluntary Commitment Registry in advance of the upcoming UN Ocean Conference. 

Adopted in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of international development objectives aimed at poverty elimination, environmental stability, and global peace and prosperity. The 17 goals, each with specific targets–169 in total–are to be met over an ambitious 15-year timeline.

Recognizing the strong linkages between multiple SDGs and the companies’ work in Indonesian artisanal fishing communities, North Atlantic, Inc. (NAI) and Bali Seafood International (BSI) have solidified a time-bound commitment touching on three specific SDGs.

The Ocean Conference Voluntary Commitment Registry is geared toward SDG 14 in particular, which aims to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.” As such, the first three committed deliverables from NAI/BSI fall directly under the targets of this ocean-focused Goal.

With a target date set at 2020 to align with SDG 14 timelines, NAI/BSI will work to build and operationalize up to four integrated fishery centers to support the sustainable management and use of nearshore fisheries in Indonesia’s eastern archipelago, thereby providing a platform to trial and scale their private sector-led investment model for environmentally and socially responsible fisheries.

To support SDG 14’s strong emphasis on ensuring legal fishing around the globe, NAI and BSI are also committing to collecting data from every vessel in their supply chain by 2020 through either passive tracking units or e-log catch documentation. This information will be used to support real-time stock assessment, fishery controls, and community-based enforcement.

Beyond SDG 14, NAI and BSI will work towards targets under SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), particularly the ambition to halve global food waste by 2030. By establishing fishery centers with cold storage and processing directly in artisanal fishing communities, NAI/BSI aim to eliminate the estimated 40-60% waste in produce value inherent to the current system.

Finally, recognizing the collaboration required to achieve the SDGs, NAI/BSI is turning its eye to SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) and seeking to strengthen its partnerships on all of the above objectives going forward.

“The mission of the Sustainable Development Goals directly echoes that of North Atlantic and Bali Seafood. From supporting local community development to ensuring product traceability and legality, our business values are perfectly aligned with this effort,” said Gerald Knecht, President and Founder of NAI/BSI. “Achieving the SDGs will absolutely require cooperation across stakeholders and sectors, but we also recognize our individual responsibility as a company to align our strategies with the Goals. We’re proud to be amongst those leading the seafood industry to contribute to this common vision for the future.”

“We’re proud to work with a company so thoroughly committed to advancing the goals set by the United Nations,” said Bill Wall, Distributor Division Director at FishWise, a nonprofit sustainable seafood consultancy that has partnered with North Atlantic, Inc. to help them identify the SDGs they are most well-positioned to positively influence. “We look forward to collaborating further towards successful outcomes for all deliverables.”

About North Atlantic, Inc.

North Atlantic, Inc. (NAI) is an importer of wild-caught seafood serving both traditional and emerging food retail channels. Since 1986, NAI has guided top-tier retailers in ensuring supply chain visibility and responsible harvesting methods. PT Bali Seafood International, subsidiary of North Atlantic, Inc., is the parent company’s local processor and leads the development of their community-based fisheries management initiative. For more information, please contact NAI at 207-774-6025 or via email at info@northatlanticseafood.com.

About Bali Seafood International

Bali Seafood International (BSI), the Indonesian subsidiary of North Atlantic Inc., is an exporter of fully traceable, wild-caught seafood. BSI has pioneered an integrated fisheries management model focusing on three key areas: 1) building local community support in pursuit of sustainable resource harvesting, 2) driving positive social impact in the communities in which it works, and 3) providing hook-to-plate transparency for its consumers.

2017 SeaWeb Sustainability Summit taking place 5 to 7 June in Seattle

May 4, 2017 — The 2017 SeaWeb Seafood Summit, the international seafood sustainability conference, will take pace in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. from 5 to 7 June.

The summit aims to connect the industry’s environmental, social, and economic stakeholders and give them a forum for productive dialogue, partnerships, and solutions, according to a press release from Diversified Communications, which produces the summit in partnership with The Ocean Foundation [Editor’s note: SeafoodSource is owned by Diversified Communications].

The site of this year’s summit will be the Westin Seattle. The program includes a main keynote and daily plenary presentations as well as six breakout sessions, with topics ranging from traceability and transparency to business and management, aquaculture, IUU, and FIPs.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

IKEA’s best kept secret? Its affordable, sustainable salmon.

May 2, 2017 — Salty, silky and rich, salmon is truly a versatile protein. Smoked salmon shines when placed upon a bagel with schmear or stirred into an omelet. Grilling, poaching or broiling salmon results in a delectable entree. Ah, this fish.

But eating sustainable salmon can burn a hole in your wallet. Responsibly farmed salmon or wild caught salmon often come with a hefty price tag — salmon at Whole Foods, for example, can cost up to $25 a pound.

The good news: One national chain is a low-key secret, affordable salmon purveyor. IKEA, that Swedish furniture factory and veritable maze of a store, sells salmon that’s sustainable both for the planet and your bank account. . Three different smoked salmon packs are priced at $8 for a pack of 7 ounces, meaning they’re all under $16 a pound.

Beyond its Malm dressers, you may know IKEA for its Swedish meatballs, but the furniture store made headlines in 2015 for becoming one of the largest sellers of sustainable seafood. IKEA, which sells fish in 47 countries, only sources seafood that is certified by the Marine Stewardship Council and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council.

Read the full story at Mic.com

MSC marks 20th anniversary with release of 2020 strategy

April 27, 2017 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

Today, as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) marks 20 years since its creation, the organisation set out its strategy for the years ahead. The plan includes the MSC’s aspiration for a more than a third of global marine catch to be certified or engaged in the MSC program by 2030. The MSC’s ambition is to strengthen engagement and impact in the Global South, Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs), priority markets and species, and with consumers, while continuing to deliver value to MSC certified fisheries.

The release of the MSC’s strategic framework is accompanied by a historical narrative, outlining the organisation’s journey to date. Written by independent journalists from the Press Association, Sustainable seafood: the first 20 years gives a compelling account of the MSC’s origin, challenges and milestones to date.

“20 years ago, the MSC was a bold new idea developed by WWF and Unilever to address the challenge of unsustainable fishing,” says Rupert Howes, MSC’s Chief Executive.“They wanted to create a market based mechanism that would connect seafood producers and consumers through a credible third party certification and labelling program. This program would recognise and reward existing good practice, but critically, incentivise and drive real and lasting change where needed to ensure healthy oceans and seafood supplies for the future. 20 years on this bold innovation has become a proven concept, and a global sustainable seafood movement has emerged to work with all stakeholders to drive this transformation.’’

Read the full release at the Marine Stewardship Council

Environmentalists Can’t Help Defend Fishing Rules

April 20, 2017 — Three environmental groups cannot join the U.S. government to defend against a challenge to an Obama administration rule requiring seafood companies to report the origin of the fish they sell, a federal judge ruled.

The National Resources Defense Council, the Center for Biological Diversity and Oceana asked the court on March 7 to join the government in defending a suit from a group of fishing companies challenging the seafood traceability rule, which requires companies to disclose on a government form the vessel or collection point of origin for their fish.

The companies say the rule will make seafood more expensive. The environmentalists say it is critical to protecting fish populations from illegal fishing. The environmentalists made specific arguments in support of the rule, telling U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta that reversal would affect their daily lives.

Rachel Golden Kroner, in a declaration supporting Oceana, said that if the companies invalidate the seafood traceability rule she would be at greater risk of buying illegally fished seafood, preventing her from making “sustainable seafood choices.”

Todd Steiner, with the Center for Biological Diversity, said that without the rule he would have a harder time studying at-risk populations.

But on Monday Mehta shot down their chance to make their case in court, saying the groups had not shown that overturning the rule would harm them enough to give them standing in the case.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service

CFOOD: New Study Sheds Light on Relationship Between Forage Fish, Predators, and Fishing

April 18, 2017 — The following was published by CFOOD. Founded by Dr. Ray Hilborn from the University of Washington, CFOOD is a network of scientists formed to study the science of fisheries sustainability, and to correct erroneous stories about fisheries in the mainstream media:

A paper published earlier this month shows a new understanding of how commercially fishing forage fish impacts forage fish predators like sea birds, marine mammals, and pelagic finfish.

Forage fish are small, silvery, bottom-of-the-food-chain fish that eat plankton and small invertebrates. They are eaten by seemingly everything in the ocean, providing “forage” for many other animals—you’ve probably heard of the two most common forage fish: sardines and anchovies. If asked their favorite marine species, not many people would choose a forage fish, but many would choose a forage fish predator: Penguins and puffins are endearing, dolphins and seals are adorable, and tuna and swordfish are delicious. Forage fish help sustain these populations, but are also favorite foods for many cultures.

With a high oil and protein content, forage fish are also the perfect species for conversion to fishmeal and fish oil. The largest fishery in the world, Peruvian anchovy, is such a fishery. Fish oil provides essential fatty acids and is sold in drugstores as a nutritional supplement. Fishmeal is food for several of our favorite edible animals. It is especially important in farmed fish production (like most of the salmon eaten in the US), but is also fed to terrestrial livestock like cows and pigs. Essentially, forage fish fisheries take a renewable resource and turn them into protein that people eat.

But how do these fisheries affect the marine predators that feed on forage fish? This is an important question that has only recently been investigated. A paper published in 2012 used mathematical models to estimate the impact of fishing forage fish populations on their predators and recommended that commercial reduction fishing be cut by 50-80% to ensure forage fish predators get enough food. However since then, several papers—including some by the authors of the original—have recognized that the models used in the 2012 research were not suitable for the questions asked, and further studies are needed.

The latest, Hilborn et al. (2017) published earlier this month (open access), shows that environmental variability, left out of the original models, is actually the most important factor affecting forage fish populations. Commercial fishing often has little effect on forage fish populations and their predators. Instead, ocean conditions and nutrient cycles (things humans have no control over) dictate how many forage fish survive each year.

The new paper also suggests that the relationship between forage fish and their predators is complicated by several factors. Forage fish predators often rely on specific, high-density locations where the abundance may be largely unrelated to the total abundance of the population. Basically, instead of predators relying on the total number of forage fish, they rely on forage fish appearing in certain locations, such as near breeding areas. Predators are also not singularly reliant on commercially harvested forage fish to survive—most consume a wide variety of prey. Indeed, Hilborn et al. (2017) found no link between larger forage fish populations and increases in predator populations.

Forage fish provide a wonderful service to humans. They are tasty, nutritious, and their harvest provides food for animals that we enjoy and eat, both above and below the surface. Understanding their ecological role is important to ensure sustainability.

Read the story at CFOOD

Watch a video about the study here

Read an infographic about the study here