Saving Seafood

SFP working with FAO to create universal fish IDs to standardize data collection

March 19, 2023 — The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) launched multiple new pilot projects with High Liner Foods, Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods, and Publix Super Markets to design and test the use of universal fishery IDs.

The project, announced in an event at the 2023 Seafood Expo North America, will be partially funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The SFP is working with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to create the unique IDs, which SFP said have the potential to “transform the seafood industry.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

FRANCISCO ALDON: A decade on, and the marine ingredients industry standard continues to evolve

December 15, 2020 — Francisco Aldon is the CEO of MarinTrust, which recently celebrated its tenth anniversary.

Now over 10 years old, the MarinTrust standard (formerly IFFO RS) is no longer the new kid on the block. Entering Version 3.0, the standard continues to improve to reflect both the growing demands of the industry and customers, ensuring integrity and traceability of marine ingredients from start (fisheries) to finish (feed plants, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, and pet food sectors).  Having joined the standard at its birth, I know it has changed a lot and owes a great deal to all the stakeholders who have contributed to shaping it. The story goes on and the standard will continue to be a reflection of how the society is evolving.

The 2000s was a period of great excitement: free trade was becoming a tangible reality throughout the world. Globalization was on everyone’s lips and aquaculture was booming. There was a growing feeling that some guidance was needed, as people’s welfare and the future of natural resources were at stake. The FAO’s Code of Conduct for responsible fisheries, published in 1995, sent a decisive signal. MarinTrust was born from a need to reassure the aquaculture value chain about the origin and integrity of raw materials going into the production of fishmeal and fish oil. The industry’s trade body, IFFO, the Marine Ingredients Organisation, took the lead in facilitating an industry and NGO Technical Committee with the aim to develop an independent third-party standard. The first plant got its certification in February 2010, and by the end of the year, around 30 plants were certified. At that time, the certification covered the assessment of the fisheries management, the supply and processing of only whole fish and the recognition of third-party certification programs such as GMP+, FEMAS, and IFIS. We moved further up the value chain with the launch of the Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard in 2011, enabling the full traceability of certified marine ingredients from source to end user. This same year, we included by-products (heads, guts, and frames) as a new raw material source to produce certified marine ingredients, encouraging the responsible sourcing and utilization of this valuable ingredient, which otherwise would end up as waste.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

High seas fisheries play limited role in feeding the world

August 14, 2018 — A recent study undertaken by a team of fisheries and social scientists found that fishing fleets operating outside of national waters contributed to less than 3 per cent of the world’s seafood supply.

Scientists from Dalhousie University, New York University and National Geographic paired a global database of marine catches developed by researchers at the University of British Colombia with a seafood trade database maintained by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. They analysed the data, considering the amount of fish and marine invertebrates produced by marine capture fisheries and comparing it to those produced by freshwater fisheries and aquaculture.

The team found that a much lower volume of seafood was produced by the high seas fisheries, with most of the catch destined for upscale EU, US and Asian markets. China and Taiwan account for one-third of the total high seas catch.

Lead author Laurenne Schiller, PhD student at Dalhousie University said: “I think many people have the misconception that because the area is so large, the high seas must be contributing a massive supply of food to the world, but that’s just not the case. Only a handful of countries are fishing in the high seas and the fish they catch are not feeding those most in need”.

The findings of this study are against the common misconception that high seas fisheries are important for food security. Less than 40 species are targeted by fisheries in the high seas, and only one species, the Antarctic toothfish, is exclusively caught in this are of the ocean. Marketed as Chilean sea bass, this fish can easily sell for over $50 per kilogram.

Read the full story at New Food