Despite the acute political situation in 2018, which left Nicaragua on its knees both socially and economically, the resilient fishing communities together with the government continued to prioritize the preservation of the spiny lobster, and to drive it towards Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification with the active support of WWF and its corporate partners in the US.
With an average annual catch of 50,000 metric tons and more than 4,200 fishers, Mahi-Mahi is one of Peru’s most important artisanal fisheries. WWF and its partners have been supporting this Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) since 2013.
This video takes us on a tour inside capacity-building workshops in La Tortuga, La Islilla, and San Jose, where fishing cooperatives, which recently received Mahi-Mahi fishing permits, are being trained on the use of a smart application for documenting landings using mobile phones.
Do you know what seafood you are serving at your restaurant? Can you accurately tell apart the species displayed at your supermarket? Are you certain there are no at-risk fish or crustaceans in your supply chain? Think twice, before sourcing certain types of seafood. They might be one or more of the 400 endangered marine species linked to human consumption.
Several endangered marine species continue to make their way to the global market. With fragmented and weakly regulated supply chains and the near impossibility to identify species once processed, seafood buyers are faced with the daunting task of accurately selecting and responsibly sourcing their products. Fortunately, WWF has developed a simplified and practical guide identifying endangered species most commonly found in seafood supply chains and offering recommendations to help companies make informed choices in procuring seafood.
As a global hospitality brand, Hyatt has more than 850 properties in 60 countries across six continents. Brands with vast international portfolios, like Hyatt, can use their influence to source seafood that is sustainably caught or responsibly farmed to benefit the environment and local communities in which they operate, and preserve the natural resources that support their business.
At WWF, working with large multinational businesses to transition supply chains to more responsible operations helps support food systems that better conserve nature and feed the world. Since 2012, Hyatt has worked with WWF to increase its sustainable seafood offering throughout its global operations
Encouraged by long term WWF efforts, two of Chile’s leading salmon farming companies have announced, early June, their intention to discontinue all activities in the southern lakes of the country.
Los Fiordos, one of the major salmon producers, had previously suspended all operations in this freshwater system. Following their merger with Aquachile, they decided to maintain this commitment, and have publicly announced their move out of the lakes. A pledge that was matched by another key producer, Multiexport, which will also cease all production in the area by 2020.
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.
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.
Southern Chile’s pristine waters also support one of the largest farmed-salmon production hubs, supplying almost a third of all farmed salmon globally. The salmon industry in Chile employs more than 70,000 people with annual exports of more than $4 billion USD.
Seafood farming, or aquaculture, is one solution to help meet growing consumer demand for seafood products as 93% of wild fish stocks are fished to capacity or overfished and no longer able to support higher catches. Aquaculture may help alleviate pressure on wild fisheries, but farming practices can pose threats – like sea lice, microbial infections, antibiotic discharge, and other diseases – to delicately-balanced surrounding environments if operations are not managed responsibly.
The good news is that by implementing best practices seafood farming can be done more safely and with less impact on the environment and on local communities and workers.
On February 18, 2019, WWF-Mexico hosted its first Sustainable Seafood Roundtable. The event, held at the Hyatt Regency in Mexico City, brought together representatives from across the full seafood supply chain, from fishermen to distributors, and end-market buyers such as Hyatt, Hilton, and Iberostar hospitality groups to explore the opportunities for, and barriers to, sourcing sustainable, responsible seafood in Mexico.
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.
The 2018 commercial fishing season was one of the most profitable in recorded history for the fishermen of Bristol Bay, with more than 62 million salmon harvested. In an average year, Bristol Bay produces more than 40% of Alaska’s salmon and is responsible for 1 billion servings of wild, sustainable protein annually, generating additional revenue for restaurants, retailers, and others in the seafood supply chain.
Today, Bristol Bay’s intact ecosystem and sustainable economy are threatened by the proposed Pebble gold and copper mine.
