Year in Review

Highlights from 2021

SFP Partners Expand Commitments to Responsible Sourcing

 Many of SFP’s corporate partners introduced new sustainable seafood commitments in 2021:

ASDA

Asda committed to protect endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) ocean wildlife species, including sharks, sea turtles, seabirds, whales, and dolphins, from being accidentally killed in the fisheries that Asda sources from.

Auchan Retail Spain

Auchan released a new sustainability commitment that includes a purchasing preference for seafood from FIPs rated A-C through SFP’s FIP Evaluation Program, support for SFP’s Supply Chain Roundtables, and an intention to begin mapping its aquaculture sources in 2022.

Disney logo

Disney Parks, Experiences and Products made the commitment to serve 100-percent environmentally responsible seafood by 2022, including products that are actively engaged in fishery improvement projects (FIPs).

Seapact logo

Sea Pact, a group of North American seafood companies working together to drive improvements in the seafood supply chain, formally adopted SFP’s Target 75 initiative as a key strategy to focus its support.

Seattle Fish Co

Seattle Fish Co. released a new 2021-2025 Sustainability Commitment that includes a commitment to actively support fishery and aquaculture improvement projects (FIPs and AIPs).

Protecting Ocean Wildlife

After piloting the first bycatch audit with Asda, SFP continued working with Birdlife International and Whale & Dolphin Conservation throughout 2021 on additional audits for several other SFP partners, with public releases beginning early next year.

Green sea turtle
mother and baby right whales

SFP’s Expert Brief examined the threat posed to North Atlantic right whales by North American lobster and crab fisheries – through entanglement in fixed fishing lines  – and the potential for ropeless gear to eliminate this threat.

Supporting Small-Scale Fishers

We teamed up with the Peruvian Ministry of Production (PRODUCE) and local NGO Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental (SPDA) to launch www.pescaformal.pe, to help small-scale fishers legally register their vessels. In just the first few months, one-third of the fleet (more than 1,150 vessels) received their vessel licenses.

jumbo flying squid Peru
BSC Indonesia

We helped launch the BSC Fishers Communication Forum (Forkom Nelangsa) for blue swimming crab (BSC) fishers in Indonesia. Forum members participated in a review of the national blue swimming crab Fishery Management Plan (FMP) with the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF).

Improving Fisheries Management

Fisher associations from Ecuador and Peru and processing plants from Ecuador, Peru, and Costa Rica, all members of COREMAHI (the Regional Committee of Mahi), agreed to implement a Code of Conduct, the first-ever regional coordination mechanism for improving the sustainability of the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) mahi-mahi fishery. SFP provided technical support and coordination in developing and approving the Code.

mahi in water
Ecuador small pelagics vessel

Ecuador approved the first national-level fisheries management plan for its small pelagic fishery. This milestone reflects the advocacy of the Small Pelagics Sustainability Fishery Improvement Project and the Ecuadorian Sustainable Small Pelagic Fishery Platform, a co-management mechanism developed and implemented by Ecuador’s government with support from the Global Marine Commodities project, an interregional initiative funded by GEF that receives technical support from the UNDP and is facilitated by SFP.

Promoting Sustainable Aquaculture

SFP’s Aquaculture Technology Spotlight report highlighted the growing number of data-driven tools that bring fish farmers and their data together to monitor the cumulative impacts and shared risks associated with aquaculture, beyond the traditional farm scale.

Aquaculture - shrimp
Close up of bright round confetti

SFP Turns 15!

We marked our 15th anniversary in 2021 with the publication of SFP@15, a chronicle of SFP’s history and evolution, people, and accomplishments.

Read SFP@15

SFP Supply Chain Roundtables Work Together Toward Sustainability Improvements

SFP’s Supply Chain Roundtables (SRs) were busy in 2021:

Fishmeal in market

SFP and IFFO (The Marine Ingredients Organization) launched the Global Marine Ingredients Roundtable, for companies to drive environmental and social improvements in key fisheries that supply marine ingredients (fishmeal and fish oil).

Global Squid SR

Members of the Global Squid SR joined forces to create a working group to address illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) squid fishing.

Gulf of Mexico brown shrimp

The US Gulf of Mexico Shrimp SR became one of the first 100-percent industry-funded SRs.

Mexican shrimp

The new Mexican Shrimp SR now has six participating companies that have agreed to implement a rigorous legal verification system and share all resulting information with SFP.

long line tuna

25 members of the Global Longline Tuna SR signed on to a joint advocacy letter with a total of 112 supply chain companies, advocating for the WCPFC to progress work on harvest strategies during the 2021 Commission meeting.

Fish counter

SR Industry Co-Chairs

To continue promoting industry leadership, SFP leads work closely with industry chairs to collaboratively set priorities, drive progress, recruit additional participants, and seek funding.

SFP Supply Chain Roundtables

SFP Tools, Science, and Services Support Industry Sustainability Goals

SFP’s suite of innovative tools and services continued to expand in 2021:

Seafood Metrics logo

We expanded our Seafood Metrics system to include a new set of aquaculture indicators to assess management at the provincial or state level, an updated Human Rights Risk Indicator tool, and an increased program for suppliers to help them better serve their customers.

Fishsource Logo

We added an updated scoring method for environmental impacts to our FishSource online information system. Along with the already established scoring for stock status and management quality, this new method will help fisheries and FIPs better track the improvements being made on the big issues they are facing.

FIP Evaluation

We introduced a major update of our FIP Evaluation Tool to better assess the link between FIP tasks and actions and impact on the water.

FIP DB logo

With the Hilborn Lab at the University of Washington, we released an improved version of our Fishery Improvement Projects Database (FIP-DB), to help researchers understand what approaches contribute to success in FIPs.

C&R SSDT

The Certification and Ratings Collaboration, of which SFP is a member, released an updated version of the Sustainable Seafood Data Tool.

Mediterranean fish in sunlight

Eight new companies join the Ocean Disclosure Project

New participants include Blue Apron, Greencore Group, Hilton Seafood, LP Foods, Sainsbury’s, Stop & Shop, Thai Union Group, and The Town Dock. Nearly every UK seafood retailer is now participating in the ODP, covering more than 80 percent of seafood sold in the UK.

Ocean Disclosure Project

Learn more about SFP

Contact us to learn more about SFP’s progress in improving the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture around the world.