Highlights from 2024

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery became the first shrimp fishery in the world to be certified to the Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Standard, representing the culmination of years of collaboration and improvement work among the shrimp industry, management agencies, and NGOs. SFP began working in the fishery 15 years ago, initiating the first fishery improvement projects (FIPs) in the region.

A historic decision on labor standards and human rights abuses by the The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO) passed as a result of extensive advocacy by local industry organizations and others, including all members of SFP’s Global Squid Supply Chain Roundtable.

After many years of effort by SFP’s Global Octopus Supply Chain Roundtable (SR), in collaboration with the Mauritanian Association of Octopus Producers and Exporters (AMPEP) and the Mauritanian government, the Mauritania octopus – bottom trawl, pot/trap and jig fishery improvement project (FIP) was published as an active FIP on FisheryProgress.org.

The companies of SFP’s Global Squid Supply Chain Roundtable (SR) voluntarily disclosed their source fisheries through SFP’s Ocean Disclosure Project (ODP), a move that grew out of a commitment by the companies to increase transparency and combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Our SFP Policy Brief on the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive offered recommendations for how companies can incorporate new European Union human rights and environmental requirements into a sustainable business strategy.

An SFP technical report and industry briefing looked at the potential for electronic monitoring (EM) to meet growing requirements for stronger transparency, traceability, and verification in seafood production and trade supply chains and offered recommendations for how end buyers can help support the broader adoption of EM.

The 14th edition of our Reduction Fisheries Management and Stock Status Sustainability Overview showed declines in performance of key fisheries for the sixth year in a row, highlighting the need for more active and long-term industry engagement to ensure good fisheries management.

The newest version of our T75 Sectors Status Update found that, while there is a general upward trend in production from sustainable or improving sources across most seafood sectors, some sectors and regions still face challenges that hinder sustainability.