Does your seafood come from fishers who have the legal right to fish?
While it might seem self-evident that responsible companies would only buy seafood from legally approved fishers, the reality is quite different. If you buy from small-scale or artisanal fisheries, there is a good chance that some of your producers are not legally recognized by their governments.
Small-scale fisheries produce 40 percent of the world’s total fish catch. They include some iconic fisheries, such as squid, blue swimming crab, mahi-mahi, and octopus, that are highly sought-after and widely consumed in large international markets.
Fishers in many of these fisheries are not registered with the government. Consequently, they do not have legal fishing rights and are not recognized in fisheries governance.
Seafood products harvested from unregistered fishers and vessels have potential legal implications that put the sourcing policies and reputation of seafood retailers at risk. Unregistered fishers are also excluded from decision-making processes on fisheries management and are frequently unable to access state benefits, making them vulnerable to labor and other abuses.
In this panel, we will hear from representatives of the catch sector, international seafood companies, and technical experts who are working to ensure fishers have legal fishing rights.
By supporting small-scale fisheries, seafood companies have the opportunity to improve global seafood sustainability and benefit the most underserved fishers in commercial supply chains.
