Santa Cruz, Calif. (February 1, 2017) – Sustainable seafood consultancy FishWise releases two updated white papers aimed at improving sustainability and social responsibility throughout seafood supply chains. The papers serve as comprehensive references to help conservation and human rights NGOs, businesses, and other experts and stakeholders improve human rights and traceability in the seafood industry.
The first white paper, Social Responsibility in the Global Seafood Industry, outlines the drivers of human rights and labor abuses, identifies social responsibility resources for businesses, and provides information on key legislation and initiatives. The paper’s release comes at a crucial time, given media coverage documenting trafficking and forced labor in some seafood supply chains over the past few years. This update contains summaries of new social responsibility initiatives as well as contact information that can help companies, NGOs, and other groups working to prevent labor risks connect and collaborate.
“Collaboration is critical because no one government, company, or NGO has the influence to eliminate human rights abuses on their own,” said Mariah Boyle, Traceability Division Director at FishWise. “It will take an organized and sustained effort across sectors to achieve meaningful improvements.”
FishWise’s updated traceability white paper, Advancing Traceability in the Seafood Industry, echoes the call for ongoing collaboration. Traceability – a term that describes the ability to track the flow of products and product transformations throughout the supply chain – has become the focus of much attention within the seafood sector. In particular, the European Union and the United States have both recently instituted counter-illegal fishing regulations requiring increased record keeping and reporting for select imported seafood products. These regulations, building upon those addressing food safety, have prompted companies around the globe to make improvements to their product tracking systems and to initiate conversations within their supply chains. FishWise’s white paper highlights many key traceability initiatives, and outlines next steps all types of businesses can take to improve their traceability practices.
“It is an exciting time to be working on seafood traceability. New government requirements, novel efforts by individual companies, new NGO collaborations, and pre-competitive initiatives by private sector leaders are all focusing on this critical foundation of seafood supply chains,” said Boyle. “By sharing examples and providing guidance, we hope our white paper will empower more supply chains to make traceability improvements.”
About FishWise
FishWise is a non-profit 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, please visit www.fishwise.org, and follow FishWise’s work on Facebook and Twitter.