SFP in Boston

Seafood Expo North America 2023

SFP’s presence at Seafood Expo North America was bigger than ever in 2023, with a larger booth in a more central location, and a full slate of events and activities. See below for all the highlights from Boston.

Thai Union leads call for restoration of endangered species

Adam Brennan, group director, sustainability, at Thai Union (second from right), presented their new commitment to only source from vessels that are implementing best practices to protect ocean wildlife from bycatch. Thai Union’s action is based on research by SFP on the risks to sharks, seabirds, turtles, and other marine wildlife in its source fisheries, and an analysis by Key Traceability of Thai Union’s tuna fishery improvement projects and in the highest risk fisheries that were identified in the audit.

Brennan was joined by (R-L) SFP Biodiversity and Nature Director Kathryn Novak and Key Traceability Director Iain Pollard, in a panel moderated by SFP CEO Jim Cannon.

Bycatch Solutions Showcase connects retailers with gear experts

SFP’s Protecting Ocean Wildlife team hosted an open house to showcase
ropeless, or on-demand, fishing gear, which can reduce whale entanglements while still allowing fishing to continue in areas that overlap with whale habitat.

The Showcase gave retailers and suppliers an opportunity to connect with gear manufacturers, fishers who have trialed the gear, and representatives from gear-lending libraries in the US and Canada.

SFP Sustainability Crossroads was a focus of learning and sharing

Universal fishery IDs event at SENA 2023

L-R: Jayson Berryhill of Wholechain, Guy Pizzuti of Publix Super Markets; SFP Global Policy Director Brad Spear; SFP CEO Jim Cannon; Bill DiMento of High Liner Foods; and Blake Stok of Thai Union North America came together to announce pilot projects companies are championing through an SFP-led project to test the use of universal fishery IDs, supported by the United Nations Development Programme Ocean Innovation Challenge.

We hosted several meet & greets with SFP staff at our booth, on issues including IUU fishing, Mexican seafood, our FIP Evaluation Tool, opportunities for industry to support small-scale fishers, marine ingredients and feed, and cephalopods.

Richard Draves of Nestlé Purina (left) joined SFP’s Biodiversity and Nature Director Kathryn Novak and Bycatch Programs Coordinator Phillip Sanchez to launch and demo our new Bycatch Solutions Hub, a web-based platform that will connect seafood companies with innovators to reverse the decline of ocean wildlife.

Representatives from the fisher-led Ecuador mahi-mahi – longline (ASOAMAN) FIP visited our booth before presenting on the FIP to the Global Mahi Supply Chain Roundtable.

World Benchmarking Alliance at SENA 2023

Helen Packer (second from right), of the World Benchmarking Alliance, presented the Seafood Stewardship Index (SSI), a WBA benchmark assessing the 30 most influential seafood companies.

SFP Aquaculture Director Jenna Stoner and Longline Environment CEO Rui Ferreira presented a new mapping tool, developed by SFP and Longline to identify where shrimp farming is located within or adjacent to mangrove habitat.

Cameron Moore, Julie Kuchepatov, and Becca Williams from Seafood and Gender Equality came by to discuss the empowerment and inclusion of women in the global seafood sector.

Leah Buckley of Global Fishing Watch demonstrated GFW’s vessel tracker maps and risk assessment tools, which are available free to the seafood industry to help fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and reduce sourcing risks.

Robin Teets (right), of the NGO Tuna Forum, stopped by our booth to talk about the Forum’s expectations for data and transparency, and addressing bycatch in tuna fisheries.

Global Tuna Alliance (GTA) Executive Director Tom Pickerell brought cans of “overfished Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna,” to highlight GTA’s campaign to revise the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission Agreement to improve responsible fisheries management.

Seen on the Convention floor

Thank you to all of our partners and colleagues who displayed our “Proud to Work with SFP” signs at their booths all around the Expo.

Pacific Coral

Thai Union/Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods

Fortune Fish & Gourmet

PanaPesca

Seafarers

Lund’s Fisheries

Beaver Street Fisheries

WOFCO

Ocean Garden

Atunlo/Confremar

Beacon Fisheries

Grupo Alfrio

Supply Chain Roundtables gather to strengthen sector strategies

Eight of our Supply Chain Roundtables (SRs) met in person during the Expo to discuss best practices and other improvement initiatives in their source fisheries, develop strategies for the coming year, and review workplans.

Asian Farmed Shrimp

Asian Farmed Shrimp SR participants agreed on the 2023-24 workplan and budget, highlighting a focus for the next year on understanding the risks to farmed shrimp supply chains in a changing climate. The SR also elected a new industry chair, Blake Stok of Thai Union.

Global Mahi

A group of mahi fishers from Ecuador presented the Ecuador mahi-mahi – longline (ASOAMAN) FIP to the members of the Global Mahi SR. The new fisher-led FIP is putting co-management principles into action in the Ecuador mahi fishery.

Global Octopus

The Global Octopus SR discussed the need for co-management, more involvement of fishers, and better transparency in small-scale octopus fisheries, and heard about a newly created octopus FIP in Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Global Squid

Following on last year’s public commitment to prevent IUU fishing in their supply chains, the 20 members of the Global Squid SR signed an MoU demonstrating their commitment to implementing the strategy and better traceability and transparency in their own supply chains, beginning with strengthening their procurement policies.

Indonesian Snapper and Grouper

The Indonesian Snapper & Grouper SR hosted a representative of the Indonesian government and received a proposal from the Indonesian Demersal Association, which is for the first time inviting US importers of snapper and grouper to join its FIP.

Mexican Shrimp

Mexican Shrimp SR participants have nearly completed their legal verification audits for the 2022-2023 shrimp season and continue to see value in this rigorous process. They also discussed and agreed to the need to relaunch fishery improvement projects for both the industrial and artisanal shrimp fleets in the Gulf of California

Mexican Snapper and Grouper

The Mexican Snapper & Grouper SR established connections with several major US-based importers and invited them to join the current SR participants in providing unified market requests for progress toward more sustainable fisheries.

US Gulf of Mexico Shrimp

US Gulf of Mexico Shrimp SR participants discussed certification of the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery, which is now one step closer to Marine Stewardship Council and RFM certification.