Saving Seafood

The Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative includes the Shrimp Standard in the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Scope of Recognition

February 18, 2020 — The following was released by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative:

The Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) Steering Board is pleased to announce its first recognition of a scope extension. The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) scope of recognition now includes their Shrimp Standard (Version 1.0, March 27, 2014).

ASC applied for this scope extension in early 2019, having already obtained recognition for the scope of their Salmon Standard (version 1.1, April 27, 2017) in August 2018. The Independent Experts and the Benchmark Committee found the ASC Shrimp Standard to be in alignment with all the GSSI Essential Components for Section C (Aquaculture). The Independent Experts and the Benchmark Committee also confirmed the Governance (Section A) and Operational Procedures (Section B) have been appropriately applied to this ASC Shrimp Standard.

Read the full release here

“Wild vs. farmed” debate hurts seafood sales, GAA panel agrees

February 11, 2020 — With both aquaculture standards and fisheries management practices improving steadily, panelists at a roundtable discussion hosted by the Global Aquaculture Alliance said it is time for the seafood industry to call a cease-fire in the “wild versus farmed” debate and launch a joint effort to increase U.S. seafood consumption across the board.

The debate, titled “Come Together: Uniting the Wild and Farmed Seafood Sectors,” focused on how the U.S. seafood industry help land more seafood onto American dinner plates.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

New survey shows little consumer preference between farmed and wild seafood

February 4, 2020 — More than half of seafood consumers in key markets don’t have a preference between wild and farmed fish, but they do want products that take a responsible approach to protecting both planet and people, a new survey conducted on behalf of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) found.

Carried out by market researcher GlobeScan, the ASC’s survey questioned more than 7,000 seafood eaters across Germany, France, The Netherlands, China, Japan, Canada, and the United States. It learned that while there were strong variations between countries in terms of seafood consumption and frequency, there was “generally high” support around the world for better protection of the environment and workers when it comes to food production.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Plastic pollution from aquaculture less than that from fishing

December 10, 2019 — Plastic litter is a serious problem affecting the marine environment, with current estimates indicating there is anywhere from 27 to 66.7 million metric tons of plastic currently in the world’s oceans and rivers. That number now grows every year by more than 12 million metric tons, notes environmental consultancy Eunomia – and the resulting ecological, social, and economic costs are considerable.

Three-quarters of marine plastic litter (74 percent) originates from land, 9.4 percent from fishing litter, 7.8 percent from primary microplastics, and 4.9 percent from shipping litter, Eunomia reports.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

SFP unveils joint global seafood data project

November 18, 2019 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), together with four other NGOs, is pleased to announce that a new data tool for measuring seafood sustainability worldwide is now online and available for public use.

The Sustainable Seafood Data Tool is designed to offer users a clearer picture of environmental and social performance for global seafood production, along with a more detailed look at eight priority seafood sectors.

The Seafood Certification & Ratings Collaboration, a collective group of five NGOs—The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program, SFP, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, the Marine Stewardship Council, and Fair Trade USA, worked together to produce the tool, which includes sustainability-related data from all five NGOs.

Information available through the tool includes rating and certification status where applicable, whether a fishery or seafood farm is improving through a targeted project, and whether or not sustainability improvements are needed in a specific fishery or seafood farm. Users can filter the data by wild or farmed, region, or country.

“SFP is working to ensure that by 2020 at least 75 percent of global production in key seafood sectors is sustainable or moving toward sustainability,” said Braddock Spear, SFP Systems Division director. “The collaboration is critical for this goal, because it harmonizes improvement advice for specific fisheries and aquaculture sources and aligns efforts to engage the industry from key and emerging markets in driving improvements.”

GSSI Public Consultation on the ASC Shrimp Standard Scope Extension

November 15, 2019 — The following was released by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative:

On 23 October 2019, GSSI launched a 30-day public consultation on the Interim GSSI Benchmark Report for the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Shrimp Standard Scope Extension.

In early 2019, the ASC applied to extend the scope of its GSSI recognition to include its Shrimp Standard, having already obtained recognition for the scope of its Salmon Standard in August 2018.

The Independent Experts and the Benchmark Committee found the ASC Shrimp Standard V1.0 – March 2014 to be in alignment with all the GSSI Essential Components for Section C (Aquaculture). The Independent Experts and the Benchmark Committee also confirmed the Governance (Section A) and Operational Procedures (Section B) have been appropriately applied to the ASC Shrimp Standard V1.0 – March 2014.

GSSI now invites comments from all stakeholders on the recommendation of the Benchmark Committee to include the ASC Shrimp Standard in the GSSI scope of recognition for the ASC.

Following the public consultation, the Benchmark Committee, Independent Experts and ASC will process the feedback received. GSSI’s Benchmark Committee will then provide the GSSI Steering Board with a final recommendation on extending the scope of recognition. The Public Consultation feedback will be made publicly available after the GSSI Steering Board’s decision.

Grocery chain calls attention to seafood via new sustainability ranking

November 4, 2019 — Natural Grocers, a large natural grocery chain operated by Vitamin Cottage, is drawing attention to the traceability and sustainability of its fresh and frozen seafood with its new sustainability ranking system for shoppers.

In a massive overhaul, the Lakewood, Colorado-based operator of 153 stores is calling attention to its meat and seafood departments by more effectively communicating the sustainability and other benefits – such as “Certified Organic” and “Dolphin Safe” – of its current offerings.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

GSSI Public Consultation on the ASC Shrimp Standard Scope Extension

October 23, 2019 — The following was released by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative:

On 23 October 2019, GSSI launched a 30-day public consultation on the Interim GSSI Benchmark Report for the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Shrimp Standard Scope Extension.

In early 2019, the ASC applied to extend the scope of its GSSI recognition to include its Shrimp Standard, having already obtained recognition for the scope of its Salmon Standard in August 2018.

The Independent Experts and the Benchmark Committee found the ASC Shrimp Standard V1.0 – March 2014 to be in alignment with all the GSSI Essential Components for Section C (Aquaculture). The Independent Experts and the Benchmark Committee also confirmed the Governance (Section A) and Operational Procedures (Section B) have been appropriately applied to the ASC Shrimp Standard V1.0 – March 2014.

GSSI now invites comments from all stakeholders on the recommendation of the Benchmark Committee to include the ASC Shrimp Standard in the GSSI scope of recognition for the ASC.

Following the public consultation, the Benchmark Committee, Independent Experts and ASC will process the feedback received. GSSI’s Benchmark Committee will then provide the GSSI Steering Board with a final recommendation on extending the scope of recognition. The Public Consultation feedback will be made publicly available after the GSSI Steering Board’s decision.

Read the full release here

Latin America Reckons With a Fish-Farming Boom

August 22, 2019 — When he failed to ignite a continental uprising against South America’s 19th-century colonial masters, Simon Bolivar was crestfallen. “He who serves the revolution plows the seas,” he despaired. Happily, Bolivar got it backward.

From the Yucatan Peninsula to the Strait of Magellan, aquaculture is revolutionizing food production. Plowing the oceans and inland waters, Latin America and the Caribbean expanded more than five-fold their output of captive finfish, crustaceans and mollusks and, from 1995 to 2016, nearly doubled the regional share of global aquaculture. Chilean fish farms now supply about 30% of the world’s salmon and earn the country more revenue than any other export except minerals. Ecuador is the world’s fifth largest supplier of marine crustaceans, Mexico ranks seventh, and Peru’s fisheries are poised to export their aquaculture technology. That makes Central and South America the fastest growing flank of the world’s fastest growing food industry, a global haul now worth $243 billion a year, and on track to double output by 2030.

For a region plagued by stop-and-go growth, aquaculture is a boon.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

ASC claims SeaChoice criticism of new salmon standards “pre-emptively undermines” future progress

August 6, 2019 — SeaChoice’s latest criticism of changes to the Aquaculture Stewardship Council’s Salmon Standard “pre-emptively undermines” the future progress the changes are intended to make, according to a release from the ASC.

The SeaChoice criticism was targeted at the ASC’s amendments to the salmon standards, mainly the parasiticide treatment index (PTI). In a media release, SeaChoice claimed the changes allow for dramatic increases in chemical treatments on salmon farms, and that they represent a lowering of standards.

Read the full story at Seafood Source