Sustainable Fisheries Partnership announced today that William Davies, sustainable sourcing and CSR manager at UK shellfish supplier The Big Prawn Company, will be the industry chair of SFP’s Asian Farmed Shrimp Supply Chain Roundtable (SR) for 2022.
“Mr. Davies brings important leadership skills and a vision of how the SR can address sector-wide issues, which will be key in realizing the global impact that the SR aims to achieve,” said Elena Piana, SFP’s aquaculture markets engagement contractor.
Davies will work closely with SFP to integrate habitat protection into aquaculture improvement projects (AIPs) and accelerate the adoption of AIPs in retailers’ sourcing strategies. This is an important time for the Asian Farmed Shrimp SR, which was re-launched this year as a membership-based coalition with a formalized workplan that focuses on implementing responsible shrimp farming at scale, with supportive government policies in place.
Participating SR member companies will continue to meet bi-monthly to shape the future of shrimp farming and to support AIPs in Southeast Asia. With a new workplan and structure, the coalition will engage responsible retailers in advancing shrimp sustainability by moving beyond the farm-by-farm approach and toward landscape-based management.
“The shrimp sector faces complex and cross-sector challenges. The Asian Farmed Shrimp SR has developed a great workplan to tackle these challenges, and I am excited about the opportunity to chair the group,” Davies said. “I look forward to the next year, with a focus on how we can work together and support on-the-ground sustainability initiatives that look past single farms to strengthen the sector, expand best environmental practices, and promote innovation.”
Currently, only about 7 percent of Asian farmed shrimp is produced through responsible practices, either verified by certification or by participating in an AIP. SFP’s strategy is to promote policy and management improvements at scale by catalyzing AIPs in five key producing countries in Southeast Asia: China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Background
For more than a decade, SFP has been developing and promoting aquaculture improvement projects (AIPs), multi-stakeholder efforts to address environmental challenges in aquaculture production. AIPs operate at scales greater than the farm level to drive necessary change, focusing on policies requiring sustainable practices and improved government management.
SFP’s Framework for Sustainably Managed Aquaculture, which is based on the FAO’s Ecosystem Approach to Aquaculture, is a roadmap for comprehensive improvements to aquaculture management beyond the farm level.