As you may have noticed we recently made improvements the seafoodsustainability.org website. The redesigned site improves navigation helping visitors keep up to date on important issues in the industry.
Another important addition is the SUPPORT A FIP button. It can be found next to the search bar and allows industry members to sign up to support a FIP.
By: Elizabeth Herendeen, Guest Contributor
Bristol Bay, Alaska produces 44% of the world’s sockeye salmon supply. It supports more than 14,000 fishing jobs, centuries-old indigenous communities, and hundreds of species of diverse wildlife, from bald eagles to brown bears to beluga whales.
It’s also a model fishery, managed sustainably by fishermen who understand that it’s in their long-term economic, social, and environmental interests to protect this valuable resource. Unfortunately, looming clouds on the horizon signal rough seas ahead for Bristol Bay’s salmon fishery.
Shrimp dominates aquaculture, both in terms of volume and risk. Farming shrimp around the world provides nutrition and livelihoods for millions of people, yet it’s also associated with environmental and social harm, from water pollution to forced labor.
Shrimp aquaculture leaders in Ecuador have taken an important step forward, however, with the creation of the Sustainable Shrimp Partnership. Together, they have committed to achieving and promoting more sustainable and responsible shrimp farming.
We humans aren’t the only animals that think lobster are a tasty treat. Dolphins, sharks, and sea turtles do, too. These spiny crustaceans are a critical link in the food chain that keep our oceans healthy.
And that’s why the work of Mia Isaacs is so important. As president of the Bahamas Marine Exporters Association and managing director of Heritage Seafood, a leading lobster processor, Mia is working with her fellow exporters, fishermen, the Bahamian government, and international NGOs like World Wildlife Fund and The Nature Conservancy to ensure lobsters are fished sustainably.
For large brands that want to offer more sustainable seafood to their customers, there are two choices: (1) Buy fish from sources that are certified as sustainable, or (2) Improve fisheries and move them towards certification.
The first option delivers sustainable products immediately and rewards suppliers that already prioritize environmental performance. The second option is more challenging, but it also increases the number of sustainable fisheries overall—a benefit for the entire seafood industry and its customers, not to mention the oceans and the diverse life it supports.
In 2013, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Bumble Bee began collaborating on a project that takes both approaches to sustainable sourcing
Fishing for mahi mahi in Ecuador may look much like the artisanal craft it has been for decades, but practices on the water are very different than just a few years ago.
US businesses are backing Peru’s mahi mahi fishery in a big way. The Peruvian government recently received a letter from 26 major US-based seafood buyers and importers pledging their support for the Peruvian mahi mahi fishery improvement project (FIP) and urged officials to actively participate in the advancement of the fishery toward the MSC standard. The US is the top importer of mahi mahi from Peru, so this level of economic demand for responsibly sourced seafood is especially significant.
The U.S. government issued new regulations in December 2016 to restrict the import of seafood caught by vessels engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
WWF’s fact sheet on the IUU regulation provides an overview on how the rules are changing, what it means for the seafood industry, and the benefits that companies can expect as a result.
Kien Giang province is nestled in the southwest of Vietnam, featuring a prominent coastline along the Gulf of Thailand. Here in these tepid waters lives the blue swimming crab, a crustacean with an olive-green body and front claws the color of the sky on a clear day.
WWF is working with some of the world’s most innovative farmers to improve shrimp production.
Shrimp has quickly become the most popular seafood in the US. Each of us eats about four pounds of it every year on average, but have you ever wondered where all that shrimp comes from?
