New Resources to Help Seafood Businesses Advance Social Responsibility

Every seafood business at every level of the supply chain must take action to address social responsibility. To help businesses move forward, the Seafood Certification & Ratings Collaboration has developed a new tool that consolidates data on human rights abuses and risks in 92 seafood-producing countries along with a set of resources to support business action.

The Sustainable Seafood Data Tool now includes data from credible government and civil society reports to provide a snapshot of the evidence and risks of human rights abuses in the seafood sectors of 92 seafood-producing countries that produce more than 98% of global seafood by volume.

Additional resources outline key actions businesses can take to improve social responsibility, highlight resources available from the human rights community, and provide an overview of how certification and ratings tools and programs can support action.

“Our analysis finds that 65% of countries assessed have evidence of forced labor, child labor, or human trafficking in seafood, and 16% have significant risk factors for human rights abuses,” stated Chris Ninnes, CEO of Aquaculture Stewardship Council and chair of the Collaboration. “Clearly, there is an urgent need for businesses, governments, and NGOs to work together to address human rights issues in seafood.”

Members of the Certification & Ratings Collaboration are committed to supporting different parts of the seafood supply chain to take action, evolving our tools over time, and collaborating with others to create positive change for seafood workers, small-scale fishers and smallholder farmers, and their communities.

The new data and resources were recently featured in Seafood Source. More information is available on the Collaboration’s website.