Saving Seafood

Everything you need to know about sustainable seafood

August 5, 2021 — From deck to dock to dinner table, it is easier than ever to source fresh seafood that’s traceable, trusted and encourages a healthier food system.

“Good Morning America” reeled in expert advice from marine scientists, founders of national fishery networks and an environmental impact food blogger to take a deep dive into what consumers need to know about the eco-friendly seafood system.

What is sustainable seafood?

“In the most basic terms, sustainable seafood means seafood that’s caught at a rate that allows the population to continue to replenish,” Emily De Sousa, a food and travel blogger, told “GMA.”

De Sousa, a fisheries scientist, said her family immigrated from the coastal islands off Portugal where there is a rich history in small-scale and locally supported fishing. De Sousa created Seaside with Emily, a coastal-focused blog that shares her research on sustainability of global fisheries, educates consumers and makes it easy to eat seafood in a sustainable way.

Sustainable seafood should consider the impacts of how harvesting affects its surrounding marine environment, De Sousa said, explaining that means “using minimally destructive gear types and implementing strategies that limit interference with other wildlife.”

Read the full story at ABC News

ThisFish: Pandemic creates “new normal” for digitization

July 30, 2021 — The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for a digital transformation in seafood, according to ThisFish Inc. Co-Founder and CEO Eric Enno Tamm.

The seafood industry is lagging behind other industries in its embrace of digitization and move toward greater transparency in supply chains, Tamm said, and it must embrace the opportunity provided by the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic to reorganize itself.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US fresh, frozen seafood sales hold gains through first half of 2021

July 28, 2021 — U.S. retailers continued to experience strong sales of fresh and frozen seafood in the first half of 2021, 210 Analytics Principal Anne-Marie Roerink said she expects continued strong growth through the rest of the year.

“Yes, people are going out to restaurants and take-out continues to be strong, but they are still buying more fresh and frozen seafood,” Roerink said at the 28 July Seafood in U.S. Retail webinar, sponsored by animal health company Elanco. “There is a lot less concern [about COVID-19], so there are a lot more people coming into the store and spending more time shopping [and] browsing for new ideas and new recipes.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ROSAMOND NAYLOR: Making blue foods central to global food systems

July 19, 2021 — A friend used to tell me “something’s a-fish” when things were off kilter. Today, the global food system is not just “a-fish”; it’s failing billions of people.

Hunger, malnutrition and obesity coexist in rich and poor countries alike, often in the same town or even in the same home. Diabetes, heart disease, coastal dead zones and other social burdens connected to our food system continue to rise. In recognition of this urgent challenge, the United Nations will hold a global summit in September for government, business, nonprofit organizations and civil society leaders to map a more sustainable, healthy and equitable food system.

Transforming our food system will require a new mind-set and more careful consideration of blue foods — aquatic animals, plants and algae cultivated and captured in freshwater and marine environments.

Until now, the movement to build productive and sustainable food systems has focused on transforming land-based crops and livestock, largely overlooking the critical role that fish and other aquatic foods play in nutrition, livelihoods and ecosystems around the world. That role will increase as food production becomes increasingly vulnerable to climate change.

Read the full story at the Los Angeles Times

This robot fish makes seafood more sustainable

July 7, 2021 — Liane Thompson and her husband and business partner, Simeon Pieterkosky, were well ahead of the blue economy curve when they founded Aquaai in 2014. Simeon’s work was in robotics and climate change, but his daughter had the vision for their company’s priority.

“I met Simeon while I was working as a journalist in the Middle East, and he had made a promise to his child to save the seas,” Thompson explainsed. “After his daughter learned of the ocean crisis at school, she came home and said, ‘Dad, enough with the land-based robots. Can you please make a robot to save the seas and help the planet?’”

Thompson, CEO at Aquaai, believes that turning their attention to the oceans and a commitment to sustainability and affordability has shaped what they do.

“Our long-term vision is to help keep humanity alive through sustainable and environmentally friendly practices by combining risk management with biomimicry,” she said.

Aquaai makes biomimetic robotic fish, autonomous underwater vehicles that are selective laser sintering (SLS) 3-D printed and can be deployed by a single person to monitor aquaculture fisheries and other underwater industries. The device’s small size and the way it “swims” allows it to get close to the sources it is monitoring to gather data, images and footage. These are then delivered to a web dashboard for clients.

Read the full story at GreenBiz

A sustainable ocean economy is achievable, new paper finds, but barriers are high

June 18, 2021 — A paper published in Nature Communications, “Financing a sustainable ocean economy,” was among a long list of articles, announcements, and pledges that appeared on 8 June, commemorating World Oceans Day.

The paper’s authors, a group of international economists and ocean policy experts, found that public and private investment lags far behind that needed to ensure a thriving, resilient, and sustainable ocean economy.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Red Lobster latest seafood vendor to get hit with sustainability-focused lawsuit

June 15, 2021 — A growing number of class-action lawsuits are being filed against seafood retailers and foodservice outlets, claiming their offerings do not meet their own sustainability claims.

Earlier this month, in a complaint filed in the U.S. Superior Court in the District of Columbia, ALDI was accused of false advertising and marketing, with the advocacy group GMO/Toxin Free USA alleging ALDI’s claim that its salmon is sustainably sourced is not credible. Earlier this year, Mowi agreed to settle a similar lawsuit for USD 1.3 million (EUR 1.1 million). The complaint alleged that the sustainability claims on its Ducktrap River of Maine smoked salmon were false.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Is Maldivian tuna being penalized for being sustainable?

June 11, 2021 — In seafood circles, the Maldives is heralded as one of the world’s most-important tuna-fishing nations, an acknowledgement proudly welcomed by Maldivians. But what isn’t so apparent to most non-natives is just how vital tuna is to the island nation. Its 2,000-year history is literally built on catching these universally-prized fish. Moreover, it’s been doing this in pretty much the same way down through the centuries – one-by-one. Essentially, one fisher, using one fishing line, catching one fish at a time.

Its fisheries laws prohibit purse-seining, gillnets, trawl nets, or any other form of commercial fishing that uses a net. At the same time, the country’s exclusive economic zone isn’t leased to other nations and it has a strict policy of not licensing foreign fishing vessels.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Auchan Joins GSSI

June 11, 2021 — The following was released by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative:

The Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative is pleased to announce that Auchan has joined GSSI as a Funding Partner.

Auchan is a next generation retailer that has been serving the public for 60 years. As a changing retailer in a changing world, Auchan’s current ambition is to meet today’s purchase- and health-conscious omni-channel consumers with the goal and desire to bring change to their lives.

“We work every day at our level for responsible fishing and aquaculture. We are constantly updating our sustainable fisheries policy, in response to consumers’ concerns about the quality of products and to ensure sound management of the resource, in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals for aquatic life. It is through the GSSI programme that we wish to further strengthen our involvement in the conservation and wise management of resources.” said Matthieu Trenchand, quality manager of Auchan.

Read the full release here