Wild-Caught Seafood Archives - WWF Seafood Sustainability

News

Category: Wild-Caught Seafood

May

Four Years of Our European Sustainability Journey with Thai Union

By: Andrew Russell, Seafood & Fisheries Specialist, WWF-UK

Just over four years ago, WWF-UK kicked off a new and ambitious business partnership, collaborating with the seafood company Thai Union, with the shared aim of improving the environmental sustainability of seafood supply chains in Europe.

Our journey started with the signing of WWF’s Seafood Charter, which contains a set of principles and steps aimed at guiding the industry towards tackling key challenges, including ensuring seafood is traceable, increasing transparency and implementing projects to reduce the impact of fishing practices on the environment. Thai Union’s sustainability commitments have since grown with the launch of their global SeaChange® sustainability strategy, through which the company has committed to source its branded tuna from fisheries that are either Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified or engaged in fishery improvement projects aimed at meeting the MSC.

May

Industry Bands Together in Support of Collapsing Crab Fisheries

Picture this: it’s summertime and you are enjoying a plate of Old Bay-smothered crab cakes at a seaside restaurant in Maryland. You might assume that the crab meat on your plate was sourced locally, considering the blue crab is a well-known Maryland symbol, and a powerful icon of much of the mid-Atlantic region. Pre-1990s, that assumption would most likely be correct. The Chesapeake blue crab fishery was the most valuable fishery in the Bay at the time and it met most of the demand for the species in the region. In fact, until the 1990s, most crab meat consumed in the United States came from domestic sources. This all changed when the major domestic blue crab fisheries, like those in the Chesapeake Bay, were overfished to the brink of collapse – in large part due to a lack of sustainable fishery management.

The near-collapse of the Chesapeake Bay blue crab fishery precipitated a series of negative impacts on the seafood companies that depended on this iconic crab species. Companies found themselves struggling to meet contractual demands because of the volatile supply of crab; inventory management was challenging; relationships with customers were under pressure; and profitability was at risk. In fact, Maryland and Virginia’s economies were impacted by more than $640 million in losses between 1998-2008 because of the crab’s decline.¹

Mar

Pebble Mine Continues to Threaten Alaska’s Wild Salmon Stronghold

By: Elizabeth Herendeen, Guest Contributor

Bristol Bay is home to the largest wild sockeye salmon run in the world, producing nearly half of the world’s sockeye salmon supply. These fish and the pristine waters they swim through are an irreplaceable resource for both the American and Alaskan economies. Bristol Bay’s salmon generate over $1.5 billion in economic activity and support 20,000 jobs; these jobs spur the growth of other industries, including shipping, reprocessing, and retail.

Feb

Iberostar Launches Development of Sustainable Seafood Program in Partnership with WWF

Today, nearly 93% of fisheries around the globe are overfished or fished to their ecological limit. The status of global fish stocks presents a major cause for concern, as we strive to feed the appetite of a growing population while also protecting our planet’s natural resources.

At World Wildlife Fund (WWF), working with multinational businesses around the world helps to drive more sustainable food systems that both conserve nature and feed humanity. Currently, WWF is partnered with over 100 leading companies, globally, working to transition seafood supply chains to become more sustainable, responsible and traceable. Hospitality is a global market – and hotels provide a unique opportunity to support local fisheries and the communities where properties are embedded. That’s why we’ve partnered with Iberostar Hotels & Resorts to continue to propel the global hotelier towards a more responsible, sustainable seafood supply chain that also supports local communities transitioning to more responsible, sustainable practices.

Dec

Sysco is Committed to Seafood Sustainability

In 2009, Sysco Corporation – one of the largest purchasers of seafood in North America – began working with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to assess and improve the sustainability of its seafood supply chain. Through this collaboration, Sysco committed in 2011 to source its top 10 Portico® brand (Sysco’s own seafood brand) frozen and further-processed wild-caught seafood species from fisheries that were either certified to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard, in full assessment for MSC certification or engaged in a comprehensive Fishery Improvement Project (FIP), by 2015.

Continuing its alliance with WWF, in 2016, Sysco committed to further improve the sustainability of its seafood procurement through 2020, incorporating additional elements to guide its seafood procurement practices and standards.

Oct

Kroger to customers: Buy sustainable seafood to save the ocean

Most seafood consumers agree: to protect the health of our oceans, we should only consume seafood that comes from sustainable sources. However, the sustainable choice isn’t always clear. To build customer awareness, Kroger – a family of companies serving over nine million customers every day – launched an in-store campaign to highlight sustainable seafood.

Sep

Red Lobster Partners with WWF to Support Spiny Lobster

Last month, The Bahamas’ spiny lobster fishery became the first Caribbean fishery to achieve Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, meeting the leading environmental standard for wild-caught seafood.

The Bahamas certification was a major milestone and charts a path for other spiny lobster fisheries exporting product around the world. Building on this success, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has partnered with Red Lobster, the world’s largest seafood restaurant company and largest restaurant purchaser of seafood, to help improve the environmental sustainability of spiny lobster fisheries in Honduras, Nicaragua, Belize and Brazil

Aug

Mahi Mahi Exporters Promote a Sustainable Future for Ecuador’s Fisheries

Ecuador’s mahi mahi fishery is one of the country’s most valuable artisanal fisheries and products are primarily exported to the United States. Mahi mahi are also critical to the overall health of the marine environment, providing nutrition not just for people but for wildlife as well.

The Ecuadorian mahi mahi fishery is vast and productive, but prior to 2010, there was no ongoing science that industry and government could rely on to determine the overall health of the local fish stock. A size limit to ensure juveniles are not being caught was in place, but there was no control over its application, no meaningful monitoring program, and no management plan to back it up. To promote a sustainable future for this critical fishery, Ecuador’s undersecretary of fisheries resources, in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), launched the Ecuador Mahi Mahi Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) in 2010.

Aug

A First for Caribbean Fisheries: Bahamas Spiny Lobster Earns MSC Certification

By: Wendy Goyert, Lead Specialist, Latin America Fisheries in Transition

On August 7, 2018, The Bahamas’ spiny lobster fishery became the first Caribbean fishery to earn certification from the Marine Stewardship Council, the leading global standard for wild-caught seafood environmental performance.

Since 2009, World Wildlife Fund and The Nature Conservancy have collaborated with The Bahamas Marine Exporters Association, Bahamas Department of Marine Resources and fishermen to ensure the health of the spiny lobster stock, reduce the impact of fishing on the marine environment, and improve the overall management of the fishery.

With the certification, the lobster tails are now eligible to carry the MSC blue fish label, recognized by many consumers as a mark of products sourced with higher environmental standards.

Jul

Peruvian Government Cracks Down on Illegal Fishing

Fisheries and farms across the globe support the livelihoods of 59.6 million people who rely on fishing and fishing related activities for income, and about 3.2 billion people who depend on fish as an important part of their diet. But illegal fishing is threatening the food supply of coastal communities as fish populations decline due to overfishing in areas fishers are not permitted to access. Fortunately, in Peru—one of the world’s leading producers of mahi mahi and squid—the government is taking action to clamp down on illegal fishing.

12 3