Social responsibility was the major theme at this year’s Boston Seafood Show.
SeaChoice recently attended North America’s largest seafood expo, the Boston Seafood Show, which brought together over 20,000 attendees from industry, non-profit organizations, and the research sector, among many other stakeholders. There were more than 1,340 exhibits in the 516,000 square foot Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre, making for a packed and bustling three days (not to mention the overlap with Saint Patrick’s Day!).
The event was full of big announcements, including celebrity partnerships and interesting product launches such as wild Alaskan Pollock noodles. The aspect we found most notable, however, was the huge focus on social responsibility, including ethical supply chain management and improving labor conditions. The event highlighted exciting initiatives and emerging leaders, which together should serve to embed social responsibility as an essential element of sustainability among the seafood industry.
For example, the non-profit and seafood consultancy, FishWise, used the show to launch their “Roadmap for Improving Seafood Ethics,” otherwise know as RISE. The resource was developed in partnership with human rights experts, conservation scientists and industry to provide a clear path companies can take to make improvements to the labour conditions within their supply chains. This information packed, worker-centred supply chain management resource focuses on worker treatment, policy and enforcement, community voice, and traceability and data to get seafood companies on the right track. Several large companies are already using RISE as a resource hub to compliment their own social responsibility initiatives.
The event also highlighted the importance of industry collaborations in addressing social sustainability issues in seafood. Among these is the collaboration between the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) and the Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI) to develop a benchmark tool for social compliance. This tool will be used to move towards global alignment for certification schemes, helping to increase industry efficiency and seafood social responsibility.
Another industry collaboration, the Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS), uses the collective influence of eight out of the ten largest seafood companies in the world to help protect the rights of future generations to healthy oceans and fisheries. Their presentation highlighted SeaBOS’s five ‘Task Force’ groups which together cover issues such as eliminating illegal fishing, modern slavery and forced labour, traceability and transparency, and ocean plastic pollution. With input from industry and scientific experts, the CEOs of these huge companies are focusing on solutions to the social and environmental problems that continue to challenge the seafood industry.
The clear importance of holding the seafood supply chain accountable for social responsibility continued post-Boston, with the more recent announcement of the Marine Stewardship Council’s new measures to combat forced and child labour in supply chains. The update to MSC’s Chain of Custody Standard includes labour audits for companies involved in processing, packing or repacking or manual offloading from a fishery in countries that aren’t considered ‘low risk’.
The industry shift to focus on social issues and sustainability is encouraging, though there is much work to be done. And of course, a focus on social issues needs to be in addition to the attention that must be paid to ongoing challenges with environmental sustainability, not instead of. Thankfully the two are not mutually exclusive. Incorporating social responsibility and reducing harmful labour practises will help to reduce illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, as well as improving the lives of workers all along the supply chain.
At SeaChoice we are also focused on ensuring social responsibility is incorporated into our Canadian seafood supply chains. One of the ways we are doing this is through Seafood Progress, which includes new performance indicators to reflect what Canada’s largest retailers are doing to make sure their sourcing practices account for social responsibility. You can find out more about your retailer’s sustainable seafood commitments here.
