Seafood MAP: The Next Phase
Seafood is an important protein source, accounting for about 17 percent of the total animal protein consumed globally. In addition, aquaculture and fisheries are the main source of income for 59.5 million people. Today, there is a broad consensus that seafood production systems around the world need to become more sustainable and resilient to ensure the supply for future generations. The number of initiatives being undertaken to achieve this are as vast as the world’s oceans themselves. Even so, more than 64 percent of global seafood production is currently not covered by certifications, ratings, or fisheries and aquaculture improvement projects.
Resilience of seafood supply for future generations is a top priority. But how can we ensure that improvement efforts generate impact and accelerate sustainability? GSSI has created Seafood MAP to allow every seafood actor to share their sustainability goals and journeys. As a result, the knowledge gap on the sustainability of seafood production will be reduced, the sustainable seafood industry will become less fragmented and new collaborations will arise to drive continuous improvement efforts by actors of all sizes.
The aim of Seafood MAP will be to:
- visualize the sustainability journeys and goals of all actors, regardless of their size and destination;
- leverage the influence of buyers and investors to support improvements in fisheries and aquaculture; and
- amplify the impact of current and new efforts towards more sustainable seafood for everyone through better information and more collaboration.
Following a multi-year scoping phase, the development of Seafood MAP development kicked off in 2020. GSSI and IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative, together with Sustainability Incubator, worked hard to deliver the theoretical design for Seafood MAP. GSSI Partners including FAO, scheme owners of GSSI-recognized certification schemes, investors and seafood producers were consulted throughout the process. Tests were initiated to evaluate the applicability of proposed features. The result of this multistakeholder process was a solid design that is now ready to be built and introduced to everyone who would like to gain more visibility for their efforts on seafood sustainability and amplify their sustainability impact.
Approval of Seafood MAP was gained by the GSSI Steering Board in November 2020, so work has begun to build, test and implement the program. In 2021, GSSI will develop a beta version of the digital Seafood MAP platform. In parallel, we will work with GSSI partners to pilot the program to confirm that:
- Seafood MAP puts on the map those fisheries and aquaculture operations currently not on the radar;
- buyers and investors use Seafood MAP to drive continuous improvement where certified product is not available; and
- Seafood MAP creates a pipeline for non-profits, NGOs and development agencies to engage more people and accelerate their impact.
The first pilot results will populate the beta version of the digital platform and demonstrate that Seafood MAP can truly deliver what it was designed to do: measure and accelerate the performance of global seafood supply towards more sustainable seafood for everyone.
If you are as excited about this project as we are, and want to learn more, our brand new Seafood MAP brochure is now available. Download it here to learn more about the design and how your company or organization can use Seafood MAP.
Are you interested to learn even more? Do you want to join us on our journey towards more sustainable seafood for everyone? Please reach out at seafoodmap@ourgssi.org. We are looking forward to starting a journey together!