Speaking of shrimp, with the encouragement of Walmart and Sam’s Club, FIPs were developed in both the US Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican Gulf of California to address environmental impacts of the shrimp fisheries there. Just this summer, a fishery management plan was developed in Louisiana, and fishermen in Mexico are beginning to install bycatch reduction devices in their nets one year ahead of new regulations being enacted.
In May of this year, Walmart expanded its sustainability policy to include canned tuna. Once again, Walmart has committed to working with their suppliers to make improvements across all fishing methods to ensure the long-term sustainability of this pantry staple.
Walmart is also working on other sustainability projects such as monitoring where the feed comes from for their farmed shrimp. Earlier this year, several representatives from Walmart’s Responsible Souring team and their procurement team visited with SFP staff in Southeast Asia to hear more about FIPs that are being developed on fisheries used for fishmeal and fish oil production. These FIPs also include activities to ensure that fishing vessel owners/operators comply with new labor laws and good labor practices (GLP), including safety training and granting of legal status to migrant workers.
Walmart and Sam’s Club work with SFP to collect information about all of their source fisheries and farms to monitor their sustainability. In the case of FIPs, SFP also provides a rating system that is based on the completion of activities in improvement projects so that Walmart can monitor and encourage progress in FIPs.
The pursuit of sustainability for fisheries and fish farms requires the commitment and engagement of fishermen, farmers, government regulators, scientists, NGOs, and major seafood buyers like Walmart. SFP commends Walmart for its long-term vision to truly advance the sustainability of global seafood.