The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) joined private and public sector leaders in calling for a new global seafood traceability system to give consumers, businesses, and governments full access to information about marine fishing practices.
With the statement, issued at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, WWF becomes the first multi-stakeholder to call for such a system, which could herald an important role for the World Economic Forum in support of sustainable fisheries.
The statement, issued by the Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Oceans, recognizes the urgent need for tracing fish products from "bait to plate" as a means for linking markets to sustainable fishing practices, and for ending the illegal fishing that continues to be a major driver of fisheries depletion.
“Making commercial fishing sustainable is a critical global challenge,” said Jim Leape, director general at the WWF. “The joint statement released in Davos points the way to one important part of the solution.”
Creating a reliable system for seafood traceability will require harmonizing both regulatory and commercial practices across national boundaries and across sub-sectors of the seafood industry, ranging from small scale producers in developing countries to the major retail chains and brand owners in the European Union (EU), United States, and Japan.
“The stakes are high for the global seafood industry, as well as for the hundreds of millions of people around the world who depend on fish for protein and on fishing for their livelihoods,” said Leape.