Big seafood companies promise to reduce illegal fishing
14/12/2016 16:07
* Eight seafood companies promise transparency, traceability
* Vow to stop illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
* Big Chinese, Russian and other seafood firms absent
By Geert De Clercq
PARIS, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Eight of the world's largest
seafood companies have promised for the first time to improve
transparency and the traceability of their catches to stop
illegal fishing and protect the oceans, they said on Wednesday.
After a meeting organised by the Stockholm Resilience Centre
(SRC) between seafood companies' chief executives and
scientists,the CEOs signed an agreement on ocean stewardship.
"The seafood industry cannot thrive on an unsustainable
planet, and we will not have a thriving planet with an
unsustainable seafood industry," the eight companies said in a
joint statement.
The companies promised to help reduce illegal, unreported
and unregulated fishing (IUU) and seek to ensure that such
products and endangered species are not present in their supply
chains.
The companies also promised to eliminate any form of modern
slavery including forced and child labour in their supply
chains, and to reduce the use of antibiotics in aquaculture.
The seafood companies include the two largest by revenues,
Maruha Nichiro 1333.T and Nippon Suisan Kaisha 1332.T ; two
of the largest tuna companies, Thai Union TU.BK and Dongwon
Industries 006040.KS ; the two largest salmon farmers, Marine
Harvest ASA MHG.OL and Cermaq; and the two largest aquafeed
companies, Nutreco unit Skretting and Cargill Aqua Nutrition.
Chief executive Myoung Lee of South Korea's Dongwon called
the deal remarkable, adding: "I will ensure Dongwon does its
part to uphold the agreement".
Many fishing companies are not reporting what species and
volumes they catch or where they catch them, despite the
emergence of new tools for traceability such as DNA barcoding
and satellite surveillance, SRC said.
The SRC, an international group based at Stockholm
University, estimates that 13 large international companies
together account for 11 to 16 percent of the global catch, with
a handful of them controlling up to 40 percent of some of the
most valuable stocks.
While eight of these signed up to the ocean stewardship
initiative, five other major fishing companies did not, an SRC
spokesman said, listing Austevoll AUSS.OL , Charoen Pokphand
Foods CPF.BK , Kyokuyo 1301.T , Pacific Andes PACF.SI ,
Pescanova PVA.MC and Trident.
SRC said some big Chinese and Russian seafood firms are not
on its list because they don't report data such as profits. "It
is difficult to assess due to the lack of transparency inherent
to the seafood industry," a spokesman said.
The companies are planning a meeting next year to identify
specific joint actions.
(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
((geert.declercq@thomsonreuters.com; +33 14949 5343; Reuters
Messaging: Twitter: @gvdeclercq))
Keywords: ENVIRONMENT FISHING/SEAFOOD