Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) was a proud participant this month in the first-ever Seafood Lima seafood show, which was held in Lima, Peru, from November 6-8. The seafood show was held in conjunction with the Expo Pesca & AcuiPeru, the largest tradeshow in Latin America for fisheries and aquaculture equipment and supplies. Although the tradeshow has been held every two years since 2003, this is the first time that the event has included a seafood show.

SFP’s Buyer Engagement Deputy Division Director Pedro Ferreiro, Deputy Latin American Fisheries Director Renato Gozzer, and Buyer Engagement Manager Carmen González-Vallés hosted an SFP booth and organized trainings and meetings around sustainability issues for show participants. The team held one-on-one trainings on the sustainable seafood movement and market incentives for sustainability, as well as sessions on Peruvian fishery improvement projects (FIPs) for mahi-mahi and jumbo flying squid. In addition, Gozzer worked with Fishwise to present a workshop on the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) for Peruvian exporters. More than 80 people from NGOs, industry, and other seafood-related sectors participated in the SFP-sponsored training and workshops.

“It’s not a surprise to me to see the great interest in seafood sustainability shown by Peruvian seafood-related actors,” González-Vallés said. “Peruvian industry and civil society are aware of the richness of Peruvian natural seafood resources and, therefore, it is in their interest to improve the sustainability performance of Peruvian fisheries, to get international recognition while preserving these resources for the good of future generations.”

Alfonso Miranda, president of the Committee for the Sustainable Management of the Southern Pacific Jumbo Flying Squid (CALAMASUR) and president of the Camara Peruana del Atun (CPA/Peruvian Chamber of Tuna), was an organizer of the show and attended SFP’s training session. Miranda noted that, “Within the framework of Expo Pesca & AcuiPeru, as well as Seafood Lima 2019, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership has been the first NGO to actively participate in the seafood show. Pedro Ferreiro, SFP representative, raised great interest during his presentation about the importance of fisheries, sustainability demands in international markets, and the tools available to comply with their requests.”