Environmental Engineering Reference
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research, SeaWeb demonstrated that most Americans identified most closely with
the state of the ocean through the food on their plate. Based on that reality, SeaWeb
created the Seafood Choices Alliance in 2001 to harness the power of consumer
choice and to unite the seafood industry and the conservation community in support
of an ocean friendly supply of seafood.
Through this strategic social marketing approach, SeaWeb and the Seafood
Choices Alliance have raised the profile of sustainable seafood over the last decade.
By engaging the media and a diversity of effective spokespeople, they have made
consumers and large-volume buyers aware of the overall state of the ocean, threats
to particular species and choices that can be made in the open marketplace in favour
of conservation. Importantly, such work also paves the way for certification and
ecolabelling schemes, which are only viable when sufficient resources have been
devoted to conditioning the marketplace for their arrival. If consumers and the me-
dia were not aware of the problem of overfishing and the threats facing particular
fisheries, a label in the supermarket would be attempting to solve a problem that
few knew existed. For that reason, certification, ecolabelling and awareness raising
must go hand in hand.
7.1.3 Filling a unique niche
The Seafood Choices Alliance is an international association that unites leading
voices from the seafood industry and the conservation community in support of
an ocean-friendly supply of seafood. The Alliance consists of over 50 member
organisations from the conservation community (including NGOs, aquaria, and
academic institutions) and more than 3000 food industry members (professionals
such as wholesalers, retailers, suppliers, fishermen, chefs and others) from over 50
countries. Its straightforward mission is to harness market forces around the globe
to encourage changes in purchasing behaviour. The idea behind the organisation is
simple - making responsible seafood choices is a winning proposition for everyone.
Seafood Choices Alliance is unique in the ocean conservation world. While it
implements its own projects and programmes that are market-driven, science-based
and integrated across all sectors of the seafood industry, it does much more than that.
It operates as a non-profit association and the hub of a much broader movement (the
'Seafood Choices' movement) that represents the collective efforts of both seafood
professionals and conservationists. The Alliance has evolved to represent a growing
diversity of voices and expertise and provides an opportunity for seafood sellers,
buyers and producers to channel their commitment in a positive, proactive way. It
is a classic social marketing movement that does not presume to replace traditional
advocacy efforts, but serves to complement them.
Traditional advocacy, while essential in terms of bringing issues to public at-
tention and generating a public will for change, is frequently insufficient by itself
when it comes to bringing such change to fruition. Unfortunately and all too often,
such approaches bring protection to fish species only after their populations have
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