Partner highlights
Purina Europe's support for global bycatch mitigation
How Purina Europe's interest in protecting ocean ecosystems and supply chain improvements led to a collaboration with SFP to reduce global bycatch.
In 2021, our longtime partner Purina Europe came to SFP with a problem. The company wanted to support bycatch mitigation in its business supply chain, but the complex nature of its business made this difficult. Purina Europe’s fish varieties are often favorites for pet owners, and the company needs to work toward having ingredients that are sustainable and ensure a resilient supply chain into the future. They primarily use fish byproducts, a positive approach from a sustainability perspective, but one that made it challenging to identify projects that could deliver meaningful impact in protecting ocean wildlife.
What Purina Europe did know was that bycatch, which is the capture of non-target species during fishing, is a significant problem with serious impacts on ocean biodiversity. So they decided that they would like to broadly address bycatch issues in fisheries related to their upstream supply chain.
“If only there was a centralized hub…”
Purina Europe asked SFP to help figure out where promising bycatch solutions were being implemented and how to connect to them. This conversation led to the joint realization that it would be very useful to have a global hub that consolidated bycatch-mitigation projects from around the world and connected them to the seafood industry.
And thus the Bycatch Solutions Hub was born.
One of the biggest barriers to preventing endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) species from being killed as bycatch in commercial fisheries is fragmented information. Companies want to help fix the problem, but they don’t know how or where to find solutions.
With generous founding sponsorship from Purina Europe, SFP developed the Bycatch Solutions Hub to bridge the gap between innovation and action. The Hub matches retailers and businesses seeking to financially support projects to reduce bycatch with organizations capable of implementing in-the-water solutions.
A collaborative development process
Purina Europe was an active participant throughout the conceptualization and development of the Hub. In addition to providing funding for research and hiring a web developer and bycatch team, the company offered a valuable markets-based perspective to complement SFP’s science-based approach. Purina Europe’s insight helped SFP understand how best to present information to companies, highlighting the benefits of these projects and their connection to business decisions.
The Hub was first presented to industry at Seafood Expo North America in Boston in March 2023. It was then officially launched during a conference session at Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona in April 2023. Through the Hub, SFP’s team finds scalable and practical projects and presents them to the seafood industry to support the next stage of implementation.
Kathryn Novak of SFP, Tracy Murai of Thai Union, and Nicola Bedding of Nestlé Purina Petcare at the launch of the Hub at Seafood Expo Global 2023
Supporting specific Hub projects
Acoustic pinger
Disentangling a whale
In the years since the Hub was established, Purina Europe has also sponsored or co-sponsored several specific bycatch-reduction projects that were developed and shared through the platform. These include:
- Dolphin and porpoise bycatch reduction in the Norwegian North Atlantic cod and monkfish fishery: A project that is providing Norwegian gillnet fishers with free acoustic pingers, which have been shown to keep marine mammals away from fishing nets.
- Non-entangling biodegradable fish aggregating devices (FADs) in the tuna purse seine fishery: Support for the development of “jelly FADs,” which are made of organic materials instead of plastic and break down quickly, reducing the risk of entanglement of non-target species. The project is also offering workshops to participating vessels, which will then monitor the performance of the jelly FADs at sea.
- Global whale entanglement response: Support for the International Whaling Commission’s Global Whale Entanglement Response Network, which has developed best practice guidelines and entanglement response workshops, and distributes disentanglement equipment kits, across five continents.
- Modified purse seines to reduce seabird bycatch in a Chilean reduction fishery: Support for gear modification on artisanal vessels in south-central Chile to make the switch to modified nets that reduce seabird bycatch, as well as training workshops for captains and crew.
Looking ahead
In its first three years, the Hub has facilitated more than USD 1.2 million of bycatch-mitigation efforts around the world, through more than 25 projects. And interest from seafood buyers continues to grow. Purina Europe hopes the Hub will continue to build on its successes, bringing together like-minded businesses to support the fishing industry in implementing bycatch mitigation practices for a healthier ocean. More importantly, the Hub is a shared platform that unites businesses, enabling them to have greater impact than if they acted alone, while accelerating funding for innovative projects, trials, and fishery improvement projects (FIPs).
“Purina’s voice guiding all of this was absolutely invaluable.”
– Kathryn Novak, SFP Nature & Biodiversity Director
“We wanted to be the founding sponsor of the Bycatch Solutions Hub to kickstart action by the seafood industry to help protect ocean wildlife. The resources are there, but there are major barriers for industry and companies in finding and supporting practical, real-life solutions. The Hub connects stakeholders who care about marine life that previously could not find each other.”
–Nicola Bedding, Nestlé Purina Petcare Europe Raw Material Buyer
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