Improving Fisheries Management
Universal Fishery IDs
One unique, standard code for every fishery
The Universal Fishery IDs is a collaboration between Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to ensure discussion across the seafood industry, governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders is about the same fisheries and stocks.
These publicly available fishery IDs are powered by SFP’s FishSource, the world’s best source of timely and actionable information on fisheries. The FAO is integrating the standards used in FishSource to establish unique, standardized IDs – for the first time ever – for all of the world’s major fisheries.
What are Universal Fishery IDs?
- A unique code assigned to every source fishery in the world (similar to a UPC/universal product code)
- A standard developed by global fishery experts (scientists, academics, fisheries managers, etc.)
- Backed by the United Nations FAO via the Global Record of Stocks and Fisheries (GRSF)
- A common “language” or “translator” that ensures the seafood industry, governments, and other stakeholders are all talking about the same source fishery.
Watch this space for more exciting news and updates.
The New IDs will Transform the Seafood Supply Chain
- Information will flow more freely.
- Transparency of sourcing will be strengthened.
- Government data collection systems will be improved.
- Small-scale fisheries will get an identity on equal footing to large industrial fisheries.
Pilot Projects
Philippines blue swimming crab fisheries and supply chain
Thai Union is working with SFP, its traceability provider Wholechain, and the Philippines blue swimming crab supply chain to test the IDs with products sold in Publix Super Markets.
“The FAO-backed fishery IDs have the power to transform the seafood industry in many ways, from enhancing transparency/traceability and environmental sustainability, to facilitating producer well-being, and improving the way we connect with our customers and consumers.”
– Blake Stok, Director of Sustainability, Thai Union North America
South Africa yellowfin tuna and swordfish fisheries and supply chain
South African processor and exporter Cape Fish/ICV Africa is working with SFP to test the IDs by tracing products from the fleet of vessels it sources from, through to US importer Blue Oceans, distributor/supplier (en)visible, and US retailers.
History and Timeline
2008+ Initial fishery identification standard developed and refined in SFP’s FishSource.
2016+ Collaborations with UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the University of Washington strengthen the standard.
2017-2022 Project funded by the European Union for FAO to finalize the standard and establish the IT infrastructure to maintain a public database.
2022-2024 Project awarded financing through the UNDP Ocean Innovation Challenge to finalize database and roll out the IDs to industry and all other interested stakeholders.
#IDyourfish
Contact Braddock Spear at SFP for more information on the universal fishery IDs.