Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
is to protect fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems. We believe that positively
influencing seafood supply chains through the facilitation of partnerships with key
seafood industry players and educating consumers is essential to this goal. Through
this corporate partnership programme, the Aquarium believes the outcomes will be
twofold. First, the consciousness of the seafood industry will be raised to support
environmentally responsible seafood products. Second, consumers will have an
increased awareness of the vulnerability of our ocean resources and have access to
seafood products that have less impact on the marine environment.
16.6.1
Industry-related outcomes
In working with seafood industry partners, the Aquarium has taken the approach
that, while major buyers cannot recast their entire seafood supply chain overnight,
they can take incremental steps to improve the environmental responsibility of their
seafood products over time. In addition, the Aquarium expects that purchasers will
have their own unique set of goals and challenges that will influence their ability
to take certain actions and will affect the speed of those actions. So, because of
the unique qualities of each purchaser and of each seafood species in question,
the Aquarium team encourages both familiar and creative approaches to utilising
stock- or farm-specific recommendations. Possible actions a seafood buyer can take
include as follows:
(1)
completely stopping the sale of a species that the Aquarium considers to be
non-viable in the short and/or long-term;
(2)
reducing the percentage of sales of particular species or sources - this may
be through switching to an alternative source of the same species that is more
highly recommended, switching to a completely different species or by reduc-
ing promotions;
(3)
increasing promotions of more sustainable seafood options and, possibly, in-
troducing consumers to species they are not familiar with; and
(4)
engaging with fishers, producers, suppliers or policy makers to address areas
of concern.
16.6.2 Consumer-related outcomes
While the corporate seafood advisory programme is not a consumer-based pro-
gramme, it can have profound influence on what seafood consumers have access
to. Consumer education programmes have been the main focus of many groups
in the conservation community, educating the general public about the best and
worst seafood options from an environmental perspective. Since the mid-1990s,
organisations including the Monterey Bay Aquarium (Chapter 17), Environmental
Defense and Blue Ocean Institute, as mentioned earlier, have been distributing lists
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