Credit: Monterey Bay Aquarium

The Certification and Ratings Collaboration is working on a range of projects that will increase our impact so that more seafood producers move along a clear path toward environmental sustainability and social responsibility.

Below you will find information on our  recently completed projects.

Tropical Surimi Performance Improvement

Unlike their coldwater surimi counterparts, tropical surimi fisheries face extensive sustainability threats. These fisheries are typically rated Avoid by Seafood Watch or, most likely, have not even been assessed. Understanding the performance challenges facing multispecies surimi fisheries is a critical step toward performance improvement. In addition to the landscape analysis featured here, the Collaboration is working on a roadmap for tropical surimi sustainability performance improvement.

Sustainable Seafood: A Global Benchmark

To accelerate the pace of improvements in fisheries and aquaculture globally, industry, NGOs and governments driving the sustainable seafood movement need a clear understanding of the current status of sustainable seafood production as well as the gaps that the movement needs to address. Sustainable Seafood: A Global Benchmark consolidates the data of individual Collaboration members into a comprehensive picture of the sustainable seafood landscape.

We also developed an interactive Data Tool that allows seafood buyers, mid-chain suppliers, producers, and other stakeholders a means to track progress toward worldwide status of fisheries and aquaculture.

Clarifying Roles of Certifications and Ratings

The differences and similarities between certification and ratings programs are not well understood by the market. As our programs evolve, defining and communicating our complementary roles is key to having greater impact.

The Seafood Certification & Ratings Collaboration has developed a brief that clarifies our complementary roles and how we fit into responsible sourcing policies.

Regional Collaboration in Mexico

Certification and Ratings programmes are working with partners in Mexico to explore the supply chain of key commodities, and support in-country improvement efforts.

Social Issues Framework

Social issues like labor rights, gender equity, and economic and food security are a growing priority in the seafood industry. This new Framework for Social Responsibility in the Seafood Sector builds on existing standards and resources to answer help seafood businesses answer critical first questions, so they can assess and improve their performance on social issues.

Performance Frameworks

Alongside the social issues framework, the  Collaboration has developed common scales for measuring the environmental performance of fisheries and aquaculture and mapped our standards to those scales to understand how they are similar, where they differ, and where there are significant gaps in coverage.