Data Tool Instructions

The Sustainable Seafood Data Tool was created using Tableau, a software package designed to visually represent complex data. Tableau has a distinct functionality that can take some getting used to. Tableau provides a series of instructional videos (account required) which you may find useful. The page offers additional tips to navigate this particular tool. To help you make the most of the tool, we’ve also developed a series of brief tutorial videos.

Global Production

The donut chart at the top left of the dashboard summarizes the sustainability of seafood production based on a user’s filter selections. The “donut hole” displays the total volume of production summarized by the chart, as well as the share that has been certified or rated by Collaboration member organizations, is in a FIP or AIP, or is in assessment.

The donut also provides more detail on the proportion of total production assigned to the following sustainability statuses:

  • Certified by ASC, BAP, Fair Trade USA, or MSC
  • Rated by Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch
  • In a FIP
  • In an AIP
  • Under assessment by MSC
  • Under assessment by ASC
  • Not yet assessed by any Collaboration member organization

The legend below the donut chart identifies the color-coded segments representing each sustainability status. When you hover over any segment in the chart itself, a tooltip will display the tonnage and percentage of that sustainability status.

Top Producing Countries

The bar chart to the right of the donut chart summarizes the sustainability status of production in each country. When this chart initially loads, you can see at a glance that the 10 largest production countries account for nearly ¾ of global production. The color-coding on the Top Producing Countries chart is the same as for the Global Production donut chart. Hovering over any color-coded bar prompts a tooltip displaying the country’s volume for that status and that status’ share of the country’s production.

Top Produced Species

The Top Produced Species looks and works much like the Top Producing Countries chart above it. The color-coding and tooltip functionality are similar. Tooltips for this chart display both the species common and scientific names, in addition to the production volume and share of total production for the selected status.

Using Filters to Refine the Display

The donut chart displays the broadest summary of production. To dive deeper into the global seafood production data, use the dropdown menus to the left of the donut chart. To display wild-capture shrimp production, for example:

  • Choose the Commodity filter, then uncheck All, scroll down to and then check Shrimp & prawn, and click Apply
  • Choose the Wild/Farmed filter, then select Wild

Many of the filters (all but Status Year, Wild/Farmed, and Aquatic Plants) also accept typed entries that let you find the options you’re looking for more quickly. To use this method to display shrimp production, for example:

  • Choose the Commodity filter, then uncheck All, then type “shr”, and with each letter you type the tool narrows the matching option until Shrimp & prawn is the only option
  • Check Shrimp & prawn and click Apply

Note that the tool uses smart filters so selections in one filter will narrow down to the relevant options in the others. In the wild shrimp example, selecting the Commodity filter’s Shrimp & prawn value narrows the options available under the Species filter to those pertaining to shrimp and prawn.

Status Year. Updates the display based on the year the certification and ratings data were provided by participating organizations. The default value is 2022. Only one selected value is valid for this filter.

Organization. Controls the application of the data tool’s decision rules for handling production assessed by more than one participating organization. The tool defaults to All, which applies the decision rules as described on the Methodology page. Selecting one of the participating organizations turns off the decision rules and displays only data from that organization. Only one selected value is valid for this filter.

Wild/Farmed. By default, the value for this filter is All, and the tool displays wild and farmed production. Select another option to display wild or farmed production only. Only one selected value is valid for this filter.

Commodity. Allows users to focus the tool on popular commodities, by unchecking the default All value and checking one or more options, then clicking Apply.

T75 Sector. This filter defaults to All. To filter by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership’s Target 75 sector (see the Methodology page for more information), uncheck All, select a T75 sector or Non-T75 (production outside the T75 scope), and click Apply.

Species. This filter defaults to All, and the filter option displays the species common name and scientific name — African bonytongue (Heterotis niloticus), for example. To narrow the tool’s focus, uncheck the default All value, check one or more species, then click Apply.

Continent. Filters the tool by continent in which the seafood is produced (farmed) or in which the reporting country is located (wild). To narrow the tool’s focus, uncheck the default All value, check one or more options, then click Apply.

Country. Filters the tool by country in which the seafood is produced (farmed) or by which the seafood is caught (wild). To display production for which no country is specified in the production dataset, select Other nei. To narrow the display’s focus, uncheck the default All value, check one or more options, then click Apply.

FAO Area. Filters the display by the FAO Major Fishing Area in which the seafood is produced, or to display production outside FAO areas (that value is Not Applicable). To narrow the display’s focus, uncheck the default All value, check one or more options, then click Apply.

RFMO. Filter the display by the Regional Fisheries Management Organization jurisdiction in which the seafood is produced (relevant to tuna species only), or to display production outside RFMO jurisdictions (that value is Not Applicable). To narrow the display’s focus, uncheck the default All value, check one or more options, then click Apply.

Aquatic Plants. By default, the tool displays both seafood and aquatic plants. This filter focuses the tool, with options to Include or Exclude seaweed and other aquatic plants. Only one selected value is valid for this filter.

Data Deficient (nei) Species Groups. By default, the tool includes data deficient (nei) species groups. This filter focuses the tool, with options to Include or Exclude these species groups. Only one selected value is valid for this filter.

Click to filter

Some filtering functions can also be performed simply by clicking directly on elements of the donut or bar charts. For example, to display United States farmed production with a Seafood Watch Good Alternative (yellow) rating:

  • In the Top Producing Countries chart, click on the United States label, and the charts update to show the sustainability performance of U.S. production, then
  • In the donut chart or the U.S. bar chart, click the yellow segment, and the tool updates to show only yellow-rated U.S. production, then
  • Below the donut chart, click the Farmed label, and the tool displays only farmed U.S. production that is rated yellow

Improvement profiles

Seafood businesses are encouraged to use the tool not only to understand the sustainability of seafood production, but also to contribute to continued progress. To aid this, we have prepared commodity-specific profiles, outlining the Collaboration’s sustainability improvement priorities and recommending specific interventions businesses can support to accelerate progress on that commodity.

The improvement profiles page lists commodities in alphabetical order. Click on a commodity’s name to launch the corresponding improvement profile as a PDF in a new tab.