Saving Seafood

MSC grants awarded to boost fisheries management efforts

April 30, 2021 — Global efforts to improve the management of fisheries through efficient collection and utilization of high-quality data have received a boost with a GBP 650,000 (USD 907,834 EUR 753,562) grant from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

The MSC grant, channeled via the Ocean Stewardship Fund, will help strengthen the at-sea fishery observer safety initiative, reduce unwanted bycatch, and improve fisheries’ harvest strategies and the sustainability of bait fishing, according to a statement by the Council.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

StarKist says all its salmon and tuna now sustainably-sourced

April 26, 2021 — Starkist is now sourcing all of its tuna and salmon from sustainable sources.

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.-based company is now sourcing 100 percent of its tuna and salmon from suppliers that meet the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard for sustainable fishing or are working toward certification, including those participating in a comprehensive fishery improvement project (FIP), the tuna supplier said in a press release.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Seaspiracy’s lasting impact on sustainable seafood businesses

April 21, 2021 — With each passing day, Seaspiracy becomes increasingly irrelevant, buried in the never-ending content cue of the world’s largest streaming platform. The last month has been full of fact checks, flame wars, and funding accusations. Though it brought out the worst of everyone on social media, it brought the marine science and stakeholder community together. There is a clear consensus that the film was awful. Even Ray Hilborn and Daniel Pauly agree!

I sneer at the filmmaker’s silly “fact page,” a regurgitation of each false claim in the film listed in chronological order.  But I acknowledge—the joke’s on us. The filmmakers had no intention of presenting facts or having an honest discussion about ocean health; they sought to create a piece of horror entertainment by slandering the seafood industry. And they succeeded. For those of us in the sustainable seafood world, the cut is deep and unlikely to heal soon.

Sustainable seafood businesses didn’t deserve this. Those referring to the best available science, making public sourcing policies, exercising due diligence in their supply chains, and seeking certifications are disproportionately impacted. The film concluded that there is no such thing as sustainable seafood, making liars and cheats of those seeking it. A seafood company that makes no sustainability claims is now less likely to receive negative feedback than one that does.

Herein lies the most disgusting part of this film: it disincentivizes sustainability. Sustainable seafood products are often more expensive than unsustainable alternatives, and studies suggest consumers are not willing to pay a premium for environmentally sustainable seafood. Attempting to source seafood sustainably costs time, money, and perseverance. Like brushing your teeth, you can’t just do it once and be considered clean. A diligent seafood sustainability program requires regular re-assessments and constant attention, or else plaque will accumulate. Commitment to sustainability prohibits a fisherman from fishing in a marine protected area even though it might be full of valuable fish; it stops a chef from putting a popular item back on the menu; it requires a mid-size grocery store chain to invest valuable resources into a seafood certification program each year.

Read the full story at Sustainable Fisheries UW

Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions aims for bigger impact

April 20, 2021 — The Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions has announced a series of changes aimed at helping the seafood industry achieve greater adoption of sustainable practices and innovation. The changes are intended to support the organization’s 10-year goal of achieving 75 percent of global seafood production rated as environmentally sustainable or making verifiable improvement, and making sure safeguards are in place to ensure social responsibility.

The goal is part of the organization’s mission to drive alignment between NGOs, businesses, scientists, seafood experts, and governments around the world.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Marine Stewardship Council funds ocean projects to drive progress in sustainable fishing

April 20, 2021 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

Twenty fisheries and research projects around the world will receive up to £60,000 each from the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) Ocean Stewardship Fund – a fund dedicated to enabling and supporting sustainable fishing around the world.

The awards include grants to the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), WWF India and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) as well as to fisheries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. Nearly a quarter of the funding has been awarded in support of fisheries in the Global South.

Research into fishery observer safety is a special focus this year given the critical role observers can play in providing the data and evidence required to demonstrate fisheries are operating responsibly. An Ocean Stewardship Fund grant will support Saltwater Inc. – a company which trains and deploys fishery observers – in collaboration with the I.T. consulting firm Chordata, LLC, to create a ‘one-touch’ communications platform. This will enable fishery observers to safely communicate with their home office, or alert emergency services to unsafe working conditions.

Three other grants will fund research aimed at reducing bycatch – a major cause of ocean biodiversity depletion – whilst other projects focus on fisheries’ harvest strategies and improvements in bait fisheries.

The 20 awardees include:

  • RSPB and ISF (Icelandic Sustainable Fisheries) Iceland lumpfish fishery which will conduct research into how effectively a bobbing buoy, with eyes on it, deters seabirds away from fishing nets. This could be a simple, cost effective way to reduce bycatch.
  • The fishing association, Tuna Australia, will research alternatives to using Argentine shortfin squid as bait, including artificial bait, as this species is under threat from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The results will be important for the Australian Eastern Tuna and Billfish fishery as well as other fisheries that use bait.
  • A postgraduate student from IPB University in Indonesia will use environmental DNA analysis to identify bycatch species in blue swimming crab fisheries in the Java Sea. The data will be vital in progressing the fishery improvement project, led by APRI – the Indonesian Blue Swimming Crab Association – towards sustainability.

The Fund also supports fisheries that are in the early stages of improving their management practices. Six of the grants, totalling nearly a quarter of the funding (£157,724) are supporting fishery improvement projects in the Global South, including the deep-sea shrimp trawl fishery in Kerala, India and blue swimmer crab fisheries, squid fisheries and snapper and grouper fisheries in Indonesia.

The MSC’s Chief Executive, Rupert Howes, said:

“Congratulations to all the 2021 awardees of the Ocean Stewardship Fund. The MSC established the Ocean Stewardship Fund in 2018 to fund credible projects and initiatives that will deliver real improvements in the way our oceans are being fished and importantly, will help fisheries around the world to progress on their pathway to sustainability.

“The knowledge generated by these projects will inform the sector more widely and we hope, will catalyse and lead to further adoption and scaling of solutions beyond the immediate beneficiaries of the grants.

“I was very impressed by the quality of all of the applications this year and have no doubt the Ocean Stewardship Fund’s focus on collaborative projects is driving innovation and creativity. Without doubt our collective efforts can help to ensure our oceans remain productive and resilient in the face of the growing pressures and demands placed on them but much more needs to be done and urgently if we are to deliver the UN strategic development goals by 2030.”

Since 2019, the Ocean Stewardship Fund has awarded 35 grants totalling £1.3 million and the MSC hopes the impact of those projects will contribute to the delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water.

For more information about the Ocean Stewardship Fund, including previous grant awards, please visit: www.msc.org/oceanstewardshipfund

ASMFC Releases 2020 Annual Report

April 16, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is pleased to present you with our 2020 Annual Report, http://www.asmfc.org/files/pub/2020AnnualReport_web.pdf.  In the report, you will find a quick guide to stock status for the 27 species and species groups the Commission manages; a fisheries management section, which focuses on species which had the most significant management or stock assessment activities in 2020; and sections highlighting our major accomplishments in 2020 in the areas of fisheries science, habitat conservation, and fishery-dependent data collection and management. Please visit the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org for additional information on any of our programs or activities.

The report reflects our Commissioners’ commitment to accountability and transparency in all they do to sustainably manage the stocks under their care. We hope that you will find the information contained within this report useful and interesting.

Whole Foods Market launches new responsible sourcing program

April 8, 2021 — Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market has launched its Sourced for Good program, an exclusive third-party certification program to support responsible sourcing of foods, including seafood.

The certification program includes making tangible improvements in farmworkers’ lives, strengthening worker communities where products are sourced, and promoting environmental stewardship where crops are grown, the retailer said in a press release.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ISSF tuna stock status report shows increase in catch, little change in sustainability

April 5, 2021 — The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation’s (ISSF) “Status of the Stocks” report covering the status of the world’s tuna fisheries has found that most catch continues to be sourced from stocks at “healthy” levels of abundance.

The twice-yearly report by the ISSF – a cooperative program involving scientists, the tuna industry, and the World Wildlife Fund – breaks down the status of the world’s tuna stocks. The latest report represents the second since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first started impacting the work of regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs).

Read the full story at Seafood Source

International study shows alternative seafood networks provided resiliency during pandemic

April 1, 2021 — Local alternative seafood networks (ASNs) in the United States and Canada, often considered niche segments, experienced unprecedented growth in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic while the broader seafood system faltered, highlighting the need for greater functional diversity in supply chains, according to a new international study led by the University of Maine.

The spike in demand reflected a temporary relocalization phenomenon that can occur during periods of systemic shock—an inverse yet complementary relationship between global and local seafood systems that contributes to the resilience of regional food systems, according to the research team, which published its findings in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.

The globalization of seafood has made food systems more vulnerable to systemic shocks, which can impact those dependent on seafood for sustenance and employment, according to the research team, led by Joshua Stoll, assistant professor of marine policy at the University of Maine.

Policy changes and greater investments in data collection and infrastructure are needed to support ASN development, increase functional diversity in supply chains, and bolster the resilience and sustainability of regional food systems and the global seafood trade, according to the researchers.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

5 Things You Should Know About Sustainable Seafood

March 31, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In the United States, sustainable seafood is not only a possibility, it’s our priority. Fish, shellfish, and marine algae are renewable resources—they can reproduce and replenish their populations naturally. That means we can sustainably harvest fish within certain limits without depleting their populations. Fishery management is the process of using science to determine these limits—catching some fish while leaving some to reproduce and replace the fish that are caught. The United States is a global leader in seafood sustainability.

Our global population is rising, but our global abundance of wild fish is not. Aquaculture, or farming in water, plays a critical role in ensuring that our need for seafood is met sustainably. It is a resource-efficient way of increasing and diversifying U.S. seafood production. The future of sustainable seafood must include both farm-raised and wild-capture seafood. Seafood farming, if done responsibly as it is in the United States, is increasingly recognized as one of the most environmentally sustainable ways to produce food and protein.

Read on to learn more about what sustainable seafood means in the United States and how we are working to support healthy fisheries and provide safe sources of seafood.

1. U.S. fishermen abide by some of the most rigorous environmental measures in the world.

The United States has a well-earned reputation as a global leader in sustainability. U.S. fisheries management is guided by several laws, including the Magnuson-Stevens Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, and Endangered Species Act.

Learn more about the laws and policies that keep our ocean resources productive and sustainable

2. U.S. fisheries are managed under 10 national standards of sustainability.

These standards aim to prevent overfishing, protect other species and habitat, and minimize bycatch on non-target species. They ensure sustainable and responsible fishery management in the United States.

Learn more about the National Standards

3. Managing wild fish populations sustainably and keeping fishermen on the job is a dynamic process.

U.S. fisheries management is a transparent and robust process, based on strong science, responsive management, and enforced compliance. NOAA Fisheries works closely with eight regional fishery management councils, whose members represent commercial and recreational fishing, environmental, academic, and government interests.

Learn more about how we manage fisheries in the United States

4. Expanding aquaculture can stabilize and diversify seafood supply.

Aquaculture is a sustainable way to produce food, using fewer resources than other protein sources. This is especially important when considering the impacts of climate change on land-based farming and wild-capture fisheries.

Learn more about how aquaculture supports a sustainable Earth

5. Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing leads to unsafe and unsustainable practices and harms law-abiding fishermen around the world.

Combating IUU fishing is a top priority for the United States. NOAA Fisheries is proud to be a leader in the nation’s comprehensive approach to this battle. We work with U.S. and state agencies to promote compliance with import requirements that help prevent IUU fish and fish products from entering our markets. We also work with foreign governments and regional fisheries management organizations to promote international cooperation to achieve effective, responsible marine stewardship and ensure sustainable fisheries management.​

Learn more about how NOAA is working to combat illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing globally

Sustainable seafood is a continuous journey and science is a big part of our success. Effective management for both wild-caught and farmed species starts with accurate scientific information about fish and fisheries. Be sure to visit our site regularly to learn even more about how we support safe sources of seafood by ensuring our fisheries are productive and sustainable.