(ST. JULIAN’S, MALTA) – At the Our Ocean Conference in Malta, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Walton Family Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and FishWise announced a new alliance to combat illegal fishing and strengthen sustainable fisheries management.
The Seafood Alliance for Legality and Traceability (SALT) is a global initiative for knowledge exchange and action to promote legal and sustainable fisheries through improved transparency in seafood supply chains. FishWise, a nonprofit sustainable seafood consultancy, will coordinate the alliance.
More than 3.1 billion people rely on fish for food, yet illegal fishing and inadequate management jeopardize livelihoods, threaten security, contribute to human trafficking and undermine the sustainability of the world’s fisheries. For example, annual illegal and unreported marine fishing generates US$15-36 billion in illicit profits.
To address this challenge, SALT will bring together the seafood industry, governments and nongovernmental organizations to accelerate learning and collaborate on innovative solutions for legal and sustainable seafood. By improving seafood traceability, or the ability to track the movement of seafood through supply chains, businesses and governments can help ensure that seafood is legally sourced and fisheries are sustainably managed.
“Traceability is a critical component of an efficient, modern and sustainable seafood industry,” said Teresa Ish, Oceans Program Officer at the Walton Family Foundation. “This is an exciting collaboration that we hope will incentivize and support seafood companies to implement best practices, more effectively self-regulate and play a role in stronger fisheries management.”
“While fisheries management and the seafood industry are facing some challenges—including fundamental, long-term resource constraints in business-as-usual scenarios—we recognize better traceability and legality as a bright-light opportunity for businesses and for conservation,” explained Sabine Miltner, program director for the Moore Foundation’s conservation and markets initiatives. “For businesses, full traceability can address and mitigate supply chain risk and foster trust among clients and consumers.”
The approach will be designed over the next twelve months to meet the needs of key stakeholder groups, and SALT will provide the collaborative space for these groups to exchange information and expertise. The seafood industry will learn about the value of traceability for improving supply chains, reducing business risk, complying with import requirements and contributing to sustainable fisheries. Seafood-producing countries will learn how traceability can be used to improve fisheries management, meet import requirements and verify the legality of harvests. Seafood-consuming countries will have opportunities to share information about their seafood import regulations, leading to enhanced compliance and strengthened demand for legal seafood.
“Seafood is the most widely traded food commodity in the world. The global nature of the industry poses unique challenges to sustainability,” said Tobias Aguirre, Chief Executive Officer at FishWise. “If we can more effectively document and trace our seafood and use that information to empower fisheries managers, we will be one big step closer to long-term sustainability of the industry.”
“Poor transparency and supply chain traceability are major impediments to achieving our goals around ending illegal fishing,” said Meg Caldwell, Deputy Director for Oceans at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. “Our hope is that this learning network will enable better information to improve seafood transparency and traceability policies and practices, which are needed as we work together toward responsible and evidence-based marine resource management around the world.”
SALT will enable stakeholders to work together to clarify needs, challenges and opportunities to improve traceability and seafood supply chains. The alliance will catalyze solutions that transform how the seafood industry and governments collect, share, verify and ultimately utilize data in the pursuit of sustainable fisheries.
To learn more about SALT and register your interest as a stakeholder, please visit www.fishwise.org/salt.
About the Seafood Alliance for Legality and Traceability
The Seafood Alliance for Legality and Traceability (SALT) is a global initiative for knowledge exchange and action to promote legal and sustainable fisheries through improved transparency in seafood supply chains. SALT originated as a public-private partnership between USAID and the Walton Family, Packard and Moore Foundations. SALT invites all interested parties to participate in identifying and solving key challenges. See www.fishwise.org/SALT for how to get involved.
About the Walton Family Foundation
The Walton Family Foundation believes that conservation solutions that make economic sense stand the test of time. They work to achieve lasting change by creating new and unexpected partnerships among conservation, business and community interests to build durable solutions to important problems. Through its environment initiatives, the foundation is investing in two of the most important conservation issues of our time: restoring the health of the oceans through sustainable fisheries and preserving functioning rivers and the quality and availability of fresh water they provide. This work spans four initiatives: Oceans, Colorado River, Mississippi River and Coastal Gulf of Mexico. Learn more at: www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org and follow @WaltonFamilyFdn.
About the David and Lucile Packard Foundation
David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private family foundation created in 1964 by David Packard (1912–1996), cofounder of the Hewlett-Packard Company, and Lucile Salter Packard (1914–1987). The Foundation provides grants to nonprofit organizations in the following program areas: Conservation and Science; Population and Reproductive Health; Children, Families, and Communities; and Local Grantmaking. The Foundation makes national and international grants and also has a special focus on the Northern California counties of San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey. Foundation grantmaking includes support for a wide variety of activities including direct services, research and policy development, and public information and education. Learn more at www.packard.org and follow @PackardFdn.
About the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation fosters path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements and preservation of the special character of the Bay Area. Visit Moore.org and follow @MooreFound.
About USAID
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is the lead U.S. Government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential. For more information, visit USAID.govand follow @USAID.
About FishWise
FishWise is a nonprofit sustainable seafood consultancy based in Santa Cruz, CA. Uniquely positioned between the seafood industry and marine conservation organizations, FishWise offers a range of services that empower businesses and a diverse community of collaborators to lead the transition to a sustainable, responsible seafood industry. For more information, visit www.fishwise.org and follow @FishWiseOrg.
Source: FishWise
