More than half of the world’s mahi-mahi products are already being sourced in a sustainable or improving manner, according to the latest sector report from Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP).
The report, released today, is the latest sector report focused on SFP’s Target 75 initiative, a global movement launched last year that sets the goal of seeing producers of 75 percent of the world’s seafood operating sustainably or improving toward sustainable production by the close of 2020.
According to the report, SFP classifies 59 percent of global production of mahi-mahi as sustainable or improving.
“Most of this success has been achieved via improvement projects that are currently active in Peru, Ecuador, and Taiwan, three of the top five mahi-producing countries in the world,” SFP analysts said in the report.
Potential obstacles to further improvement, according to the report, include a lack of stock data, lack of management of existing stocks, and missing or incomplete catch data.
The report’s authors recommend participation in the forthcoming Large Pelagics Supply Chain Roundtable (SR), made up of elements of the Indonesia Tuna and Large Pelagics Supply SR and the Eastern Pacific Ocean SR, which are currently working on improvement projects that could boost the amount of the mahi-mahi sector that meets the T75 criteria by as much as 15 percent.
Jim Cannon, CEO of SFP, said: “Mahi is an important large pelagic commodity, especially in the US. We’re pleased to see so many fisheries already functioning sustainably or involved in improvement projects that are showing progress. This is good news for the sector.”
“Mahi is a very important item to both retail and food service,” said Guy Pizzuti, Category Manager for Seafood at US grocery retailer Publix. “As an industry, and as we continue down this journey toward a more sustainable supply, mahi needs to be part of the discussion. While many FIPs are already in place, faster progress is needed. It is our hope that this mahi roundtable will unite all the necessary stakeholders so that we may begin working toward a better RFMO solution.”
Contact: Sean Murphy, Communications Director