FishWise takes a three-pronged approach to our work to positively impact the seafood industry at scale—Direct Supply Chain Engagement, Collective Engagement, and Governance Reform. In its 20+ years, FishWise has convened and guided industry, non-profit, and government organizations to promote adoption of best practices, policies, and strategies in environmental sustainability, social responsibility, supply chain traceability, and counter IUU fishing.
RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS CONDUCT
FishWise partners with seafood companies across the supply chain to co-develop and implement responsible seafood programs. FishWise works closely with seafood buyers and their supply base, providing the guidance, resources, tools, and data required to source seafood from enviornmentally and socially responsible supply chains. Our experience working closely with companies to overcome critical challenges in seafood sustainability provides FishWise with a pragmatic lens in which we approach our work.
SUPPLY CHAIN DUE DILIGENCE
The complexity and breadth of issues in the seafood sector, from a lack of transparency in supply chains, to illegal fishing and systemic human and labor rights abuses, can be overwhelming for companies to effectively address. FishWise utilizes a holistic approach to our work by supporting companies in executing due diligence on their supply chains. By operationalizing due diligence measures, FishWise’s partners achieve greater oversight of their supply chains and are equipped to better understand and address the myriad of risks inherent in seafood. FishWise’s due diligence approach also positions companies to be more transparent and communicate about their success and lessons learned in navigating longstanding and emerging issues in fisheries and aquaculture.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Promoting decent work and upholding workers’ human and labor rights is an integral part of the global sustainable seafood movement. Instances of human rights and labor rights abuses, such as forced labor, debt bondage, and restricted freedom of association, have been documented in the production of seafood products. In response, many companies with environmentally sustainable seafood sourcing policies are now expanding their commitments to include social responsibility. FishWise offers due diligence and risk assessment guidance to our seafood business partners, as well as educational resources for best practices in social responsibility. Our guidance on upholding human and labor rights is compiled on The Roadmap for Improving Seafood Ethics (RISE), a free online resource to help companies navigate these challenges and create the conditions for decent work across the seafood industry.
TRACEABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, VERIFICATION, AND DATA
FishWise supports and develops solutions that increase visibility in notoriously complex and opaque global seafood supply chains. Traceability—defined as an understanding of a seafood product’s journey from bait to plate—is a critical tool for maintaining food safety, improving logistical efficiencies, and verifying product origins. Through our expertise in data collection, analysis and visualization, we empower companies to obtain greater transparency into their supply chains. Our data-driven approach equips businesses with the necessary insights to operate responsibly.
COLLABORATION TO AMPLIFY OUR IMPACT
FishWise helps build the sustainability movement by collaborating with allied nonprofits, government bodies, and industry groups to create long-term change. When addressing complex and often systemic issues across the industry, such as environmental sustainability, traceability, IUU fishing or human rights abuses in seafood supply chains, the solution may not be easy or apparent. By collaborating with experts, influencers, rights holders, and other actors in the supply chain, we have the opportunity to leverage resources and expertise, innovate, and influence change, amplifying our impact.
THE SEAFOOD ALLIANCE FOR LEGALITY AND TRACEABILITY (SALT)
SALT was launched in 2017 as a six-year public-private partnership between USAID and the Packard, Moore, and Walton Family Foundations and implemented by FishWise. SALT was born from a need to bring together disparate initiatives, ideas, and people to advance progress in seafood traceability. This call to action united governments, industry, and organizations into a global movement working to make seafood traceable. SALT’s community, grown to more than 2,000 stakeholders worldwide, has developed key resources to accelerate your electronic catch documentation and traceability (eCDT) journey, whether you’re just starting to design a program or trying to push past barriers that are holding back your implementation success. FishWise now carries the services and community created by SALT.
OUR NGO PARTNERS
BRIDGE THE GAP. CONVENE AND CONNECT. AMPLIFY.
The seafood industry can act as a powerful catalyst for policy change. FishWise recognizes the importance of incorporating industry perspectives for inclusive regulatory processes and works to bridge market and government actors to facilitate systems change.
STRENGTHENING POLICY WITH INDUSTRY CHAMPIONS
Acknowledging that no one entity can create change alone, FishWise engages in advocacy with the public, industry, government, and NGOs to inform the actions of relevant regulatory bodies and support accountability for all. FishWise broadly informs the public and the seafood industry on advocacy opportunities and provides expert input and review of key governance actions and processes.