Saving Seafood

Walton Family Foundation poll finds Americans want sustainable seafood

June 7, 2022 — A new poll commissioned by the Walton Family Foundation has found that a majority of Americans want assurances that the seafood they’re eating is sustainable.

The poll, performed by Morning Consult, surveyed 2,210 adults nationally and found that consumers felt the sourcing and supply chain of meats and seafoods is important. According to the survey, 72 percent of consumers support increasing the traceability of seafood, and sustainability was the second-most important factor in purchasing seafood – behind only price.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Technology Adoption Fund for Sustainable Fisheries opens inaugural funding round

April 7, 2022 –The Technology Adoption Fund – a collaboration between the nonprofit Multiplier, The Walton Family Foundation, and Builders Initiative – has begun its inaugural round of funding as of 24 March, 2022. The new pooled loan fund aims to reduce the barrier funding in order for new technology adoption in sustainable fisheries.

Technology adoption in the sustainable seafood industry can improve fisheries management, reduce environmental impacts of fishing, increase supply-chain transparency, and deliver benefits to fishing communities, according to Multiplier. During this pilot phase, technology companies will have the chance to demonstrate how an increased uptake of their technology can result in better fisheries data to help fishers, fishery managers, and seafood businesses in achieving sustainability goals.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

New poll finds US voters want assurances merchants are selling legally-caught seafood

March 25, 2022 — The Walton Family Foundation, in collaboration with Morning Consult, recently released a poll that found Americans would eat more seafood if they had greater knowledge of its health and environmental benefits.

The poll’s main focus was on Americans’ views on climate change, and what solutions towards its impacts respondents preferred. Overall, the poll discovered U.S. residents are unified on climate change and see urgent connections between it and the economy, agriculture, and health, according to Teresa Ish, the Oceans Initiative Lead and Senior Program Officer at the Walton Family Foundation.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

AP to cover oceans, fisheries with Walton grant

January 7, 2022 — The Associated Press today announced it will create a new investigative reporting team to cover oceans and fisheries with support from the Walton Family Foundation.

The grant will expand the news agency’s efforts to cover corruption, labor abuses and environmental issues within the fishing industry and its complex supply chains. AP retains editorial control of all content.

“Global investigations have become increasingly urgent, and The Associated Press is uniquely positioned to do this important work,” said AP Global Investigations Editor Ron Nixon. “This reporting has tremendous potential to advance the public understanding of the critical role that oceans play in our everyday lives, from the food that we eat to the impact that it has on local and national economies.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press

National Seafood Council launches scholarship program

July 20, 2021 — The National Seafood Council Task Force launched a scholarship program in order to engage more small- and medium-sized seafood businesses in participating in developing a national seafood marketing and education program.

The task force is seeking nominations for seafood business leaders whose annual company revenue is less than USD 20 million (EUR 17 million), in order to be representative of the entire seafood supply chain, Seafood Nutrition Partnership said in a press release.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Scholarship Program Opened Today for National Seafood Council Task Force

July 16, 2021 — The following was released by the Seafood Nutrition Partnership:

The National Seafood Council Task Force, with the support from the Walton Family Foundation, is announcing the launch of a scholarship program to open up more opportunities for small- and medium-sized seafood businesses to participate in this important initiative to develop a holistic consumer marketing and education campaign. To be representative of the entire seafood supply chain, the Task Force is seeking nominations for seafood business leaders whose annual company revenue is less than $20 million.

Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP) is incubating the National Seafood Council (NSC) and launched the National Seafood Council Task Force in April 2020 to provide advice and input into the formation of a NSC. As recommended by NOAA’s MAFAC, an industry-led, federally-supported NSC will help build a more resilient seafood sector, improve public health, and foster a healthier planet. The NSC will establish one unified voice for the seafood industry at a time when it is needed most.

Walton Family Foundation picks new strategy for oceans, fishery conservation work

June 18, 2021 — The Walton Family Foundation – which was created by the family of Walmart founders Sam and Helen Walton and  annually gives away more than USD 500 million (EUR 412.3 million) to charitable causes, including more than USD 90 million (EUR 74.2 million) in 2019 to environment-centered projects – has revamped its approach toward its marine conservation and support of seafood sustainability initiatives.

Heather D’Agnes, senior program officer and oceans initiative lead for the foundation’s environment program, told SeafoodSource in an interview that WFF recently launched a new five-year plan tailored toward maximizing its impact on specific fisheries and seafood-trading nations.

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

Sustainability experts: Systems and individual mapping key for seafood’s sustainability movement

March 19, 2021 — The sustainability movement in seafood encompasses a vast network of initiatives and individuals committed to driving lasting change.

Working within the movement can feel “like being in a galaxy,” according to Walton Family Foundation Senior Environmental Program Officer Teresa Ish, in that it inspires awe and, at the same time, a sense of uncertainty about where to turn next.

“It’s hard to see the galaxy when you’re sitting inside it,” Ish said during a Seafood2030 keynote panel at this week’s Seafood Expo North America Reconnect.

Stockholm Resilience Centre Researcher Per Olsson, who joined Ish for the session “Resilience, Innovation, and Transformation: Bouncing Beyond in a Post-COVID World,” agreed navigating sustainability systems is nuanced, expansive work. That’s why he advises seafood industry stakeholders to start out focused on creating a systems-mapping process.

“If you want to start somewhere, I think systems mapping is really important, to get a view of the system that you’re trying to change,” Olsson said. “It’s about mapping components and the interactions between them, but also where in the transformation you are. Are you before a crisis, sort of in the preparation phase? Or has the crisis happened and you’re trying to rebuild?”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Joint Packard and Walton Family Foundation report identifies five key seafood sustainability focus areas

January 4, 2021 — A new report from the Packard and Walton Family Foundations has identified five key areas of focus that the seafood industry would need to build upon to develop demand in emerging sustainability markets in Latin America and Asia, Walton Family Foundation (WFF) Senior Program Officer Teresa Ish said during the Latin American Summit for Fishing and Aquaculture Sustainability.

Ish – who manages grants for WFF’s Environment Program, which leverages the power of the supply chain to advocate for more sustainable fisheries – was referring to the new report, “The Strategy Behind Sustainable Seafood Philanthropy – A Briefing for Industry from the Packard and Walton Family Foundations,” which was a joint evaluation of the two foundations’ Global Seafood Markets strategies. The report reviews the progress made over the past twenty years in the global sustainable seafood movement, and identifies the challenges that lie ahead.

Read the full story at Seafood Source