Partner Highlights

Grupo Profand’s support for enhancing socioeconomic assessment of small-scale fisheries

Grupo Profand is working with SFP and our Global Squid and Global Octopus Supply Chain Rountables to improve understanding of socioeconomic risks and challenges in small-scale fisheries.

As one of Spain’s largest vertically integrated companies, Grupo Profand works through the entire seafood value chain, from fishing and aquaculture production to the processing and distribution of seafood products. The company is a leading multinational in the global fishing industry, with a presence in Argentina, Ecuador, France, Greece, India, Morocco, the Netherlands, Peru, Senegal, Spain, and the US.

Grupo Profand has partnered with SFP since 2019 to understand risks and opportunities in its source fisheries worldwide, particularly those that lack certifications or market-based improvement initiatives, such as fishery improvement projects (FIPs).

Understanding the socioeconomic performance of fisheries

SFP’s partnership with Grupo Profand began in 2019, with a focus on establishing a solid foundation for environmental sustainability in the company’s supply chain. SFP conducted a comprehensive review of Profand’s vertically integrated supply chains – fisheries they operate or source from directly – and defined a clear strategy to advance these sources into FIPs, certification, or pre-competitive Supply Chain Roundtables (SRs).

Building on the significant progress made in this first phase, the partnership evolved. By 2023, our focus was on understanding and improving the socioeconomic performance of the small-scale fisheries in Profand’s supply chain. This move was driven by the company’s direct, on-the-ground presence in communities in Senegal, Peru, and India and their firsthand experience buying from small-scale fishers.

SFP is now working with Profand to assess five key cephalopod fisheries – including the squid and cuttlefish fisheries in India and the octopus fishery in Senegal and The Gambia – as part of our work to trial and expand the use of social and economic performance indicators in FishSource, SFP’s online public database of fisheries and aquaculture information.

FishSource uses a series of indicators to assess fisheries based on stock health, environmental impacts, fishery management, and small-scale fishing sector engagement and participation in fisheries governance. These scores identify the fisheries’ strengths and challenges and help prioritize and guide needed improvements. Grupo Profand funded the testing of two new small-scale fisheries socioeconomic indicators being developed by SFP. These two indicators are used to determine (1) whether a fishery has secure, legally recognized access rights for small-scale fishers – a prerequisite for effective management, and (2) whether fishers are meaningfully and effectively participating in decision-making processes.

For Grupo Profand, the use of these indicators is a way to navigate their due diligence needs for clients through third-party assessment of social issues in the fisheries, as well as a way to identify opportunities for community development. In addition, the fact that SFP is a trusted entity within the seafood industry helps to avoid conflicts of interests and allows the company to be more transparent. And because FishSource is a public resource, the results of these assessments can be shared and benefit the entire industry.

Expanding socioeconomic assessment

To further understand social risks and opportunities in small-scale fisheries, SFP is developing an expanded set of socioeconomic performance indicators for fisheries profiles. This new set of indicators is being developed as part of the larger GMC2 project, which focuses on value chains in the Pacific Central American Coastal and Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystems.

As part of this project, SFP will apply the new indicators to all fisheries covered by GMC2, including the Senegalese octopus fishery, where Grupo Profand has a processing plant. Grupo Profand will use these indicators to further understand and evaluate the socioeconomic impact of their support for community development and enterprises within small-scale octopus fishing communities in Senegal.

"Since 2019, the Profand Group and SFP have joined forces to drive measurable improvements in global fisheries value chains. Profand’s support for science-based tools such as FishSource has strengthened knowledge of the fisheries from which it sources."

Alejandro Castro, Sustainability and Environment Department, Profand Group
"Profand’s model in Senegal combines scientific evidence and operational responsibility. We understand that the health of the oceans and the stability of local communities are interdependent; therefore, we base our decisions on technical resource monitoring and direct management that ensures social integrity at the source. This ability to rigorously measure and report our impact allows us to offer our partners complete assurance, transforming our presence in international fishing grounds into a driver of sustainable development and long-term trust."

Mercedes Mendoza, SFP Global Markets Deputy Director/Advisory Services Director

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