GUELPH — Global seafood supplies are rapidly declining due to over-harvesting, increased demand and lax government regulations. With 85 per cent of fisheries worldwide harvesting at or above their ideal rate, seafood could become a scarce commodity.
But there's hope. In Canada, University of Guelph, geography Prof. Ben Bradshaw and graduate student Dominique Schmidt are tracking this country's emerging seafood governance system, a new movement in which non-governmental organizations are partnering with retailers to offer customers more sustainable seafood options. Such a system complements the work of government regulators by seeking to entice suppliers to improve their harvesting practices.
"Though it is still early days, it is very exciting to see the emergence of a sustainable seafood governance system," says Bradshaw.
Leading the way is Loblaw, the country's largest seafood retailer. Six years ago, grocery stores in the Loblaw chain had no official information to give consumers about the seafood they were selling. Facts such as whether it was farmed or wild, local or imported, endangered or not, were not routinely available to customers.
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