Productive Oceans
Implement sustainable practices to protect future supplies
FEATURED TOOL
Seafood Selector
Select the Right Fish -
To help sustain wild stocks and support healthier aquaculture, avoid fish whose mass consumption hurts our ecosystems.
FEATURED CASE STUDY
Wegmans and Bon Appétit
Successful grocery retailer and leading food service company create new purchasing policies for farmed king salmon.
Industries Affected
What's at stake
As population increases, global demand for seafood rises. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, by 2030 there will be a need for an additional 40 million tons of seafood. But the world’s fisheries are in trouble. More than three-quarters of the world’s fisheries have been overfished, and many fisheries continue to decline. Currently, wild-caught fish make up 57% of the seafood consumed, but the amount of wild fish caught is unlikely to increase since most fisheries are fished at or beyond capacity.
To meet the demand for seafood, aquaculture has expanded greatly, increasing 86% in the last decade. While some forms of aquaculture hold promise as sustainable options to meet seafood demand, the practices used to farm many species can result in the loss of natural habitat, release of waste, spread of disease, and the introduction of foreign species that harm native fish. By changing the way seafood is farmed, we can help ensure a long term supply of farmed and wild seafood.
What companies can do
- Improve seafood purchasing policies to encourage sustainable seafood production: Read about farmed shrimp.
- Select the right fish to help sustain wild stocks and support healthier aquaculture. Avoid fish whose mass consumption hurts our ecosystems. For help selecting the right fish, consult EDF's Seafood Selector.
- Offer Healthy Choices to Consumers - Guard customers’ well being as well as the planet’s by shunning any seafood that appears on EDF’s Health Alert List.
- Strive for transparency - Always buy seafood from reputable and trusted vendors - and let customers know.
Resources to help
Tools
- Compare best and worst seafood choices for your organization.
- Join the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions and use a range of tools and approaches to help your business move forward on a path toward sustainability.
Publications
- Review results of policies enacted to minimize the impacts of fish farming: Impacts of fishing and results of sustainable fish policies
Case Studies
- Wegmans: Improving standards for farmed salmon
- Wegmans: Improving standards for farmed shrimp
External Links
Who should care
- Retail and consumer goods: Large and influential seafood buyers like Wal-Mart and Whole Foods have adopted stringent new purchasing polices that require fish farming operations to adhere to specific standards or adopt specific certification programs.
- Food and agriculture: Fisheries exports now generate more foreign exchange (either through export earnings or license receipts) than the revenues earned from any other traded food commodity such as rice, cocoa, coffee or tea.
- Healthcare: Medical professionals are recommending seafood for its high omega-3's but also cautioning against it because of contaminants like mercury and PCBs. Choosing seafood that's healthy has become increasingly confusing.
Posted: 24-Dec-2008; Updated: 03-Nov-2008
