OURTARGET 75
INITIATIVE

SINCE ITS BEGINNINGS IN 2006,
SFP HAS WORKED CONSISTENTLY
WITH SEAFOOD INDUSTRYPARTNERS, GIVING THEM ADVICE
AND GUIDANCE ON SUSTAINABLE
SOURCING. CENTRAL TO OUR WORK
HAS BEEN MOBILIZING PARTNERS
AND THEIR SUPPLIERS TO IMPROVEALL OF THEIR EXISTING SEAFOOD
SOURCES–EVEN WHEN IT MEANT
STILL BUYING FROM SO-CALLED“RED-RATED” FISHERIES.
From the early days, we realized
we were on to something with thisapproach, starting with our work with
McDonald’s on sourcing from various
whitefish sectors. Within a few years,
we saw a global impact. As morepartners joined, similar efforts led
to positive results in other sectors.

Now, SFP is looking at this froma global perspective, to gauge what
our partners and others following
the same approach can cumulatively
achieve. We want to define a short-termtarget for this approach, outlining what
we really want to achieve worldwide
over the next three years throughour combined efforts. Specifically,
we want to see existing partners
continue with their current workand hope to see new partners comeon board, especially where there
may be key sustainability gaps
in the seafood industry worldwide.
Although the objectives of Target 75
may seem ambitious, our initiativeis only calling for our partners andtheir suppliers to continue withactivities that are already underway,
and for some others to get on board.
If companies are prepared to assess
their supply chains, identify the fisheries
and aquaculture regions that need
improving, and mobilize their suppliers
to launch fishery and aquaculture
improvement projects (FIPs and AIPs),
it will be possible to meet the target.

IN THIS DOCUMENT, SFP WISHES TO DO THREE THINGS:1 efine a short-termDtarget and how to getthere.

2

2
Identify gaps in retailer/
foodservice suppliers
that we need to fill andin which sectors (see‘Annex’ on page 6).

3
3. Invite everyone witha stake in sustainableseafood – buyers,
suppliers, and even nonindustry stakeholders
such as NGOs – toadopt this approach
and work toward thiscommon target.

OUR
ULTIMATE
GOAL

SFP’s overall ambition has always been to seethat 100% of seafood worldwide is produced
sustainably – i­n other words, to give everyonein the world the chance to eat sustainableseafood. This is obviously a distant and aspirationalgoal, likely many decades away into the future,but if we’re ever going to get there we needto lay out a route, complete with milestones
and targets.
There are many ways to achieve this distantgoal, but the one SFP favors involves mobilizing
improvements in as much of the world’s production
as fast as possible, working with industry partners
who have a stake in the future of the world’s
fisheries and fish farms. We want to see many
examples of improvement efforts, even if thequality of those efforts varies, rather than merely
a few examples of exceptionally good practice.
SFP favors this approach because we believe
it will reassure the world’s largest seafood buyersthat change is coming at a scale commensuratewith the size of their global businesses, and hence
give them the confidence to stay the course.

Our joint success over the years in key sectors
has enabled our partners to make firmer and more
public commitments over time. By working at thisglobal scale, we have also attracted more of the
supply chain to join these efforts, as the business
payoffs of doing so became obvious.
For this initiative, SFP has set an interim target that,by 2020, 75% of world production in key sectors is– at a minimum – either sustainable or in a formal
FIP or AIP making regular, verifiable improvements.
Based on the work we’ve done with our partners
in the past and analysis of the global industry that
we’re doing today, we see the goal of 75% as a
midpoint – an aggressive but realistic target. Somesectors will undoubtedly go beyond 75% as therelevant stakeholders work toward sustainability,
while others will struggle to get there.
We also believe that this target sends a message
to consumers, reassuring them that the majorityof the seafood available in their area is sustainable,
meaning everyone will be able to buy it.

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THE TARGETOF TARGET 75
IN SIMPLEST TERMS, A FISHERY OR AQUACULTURE
OPERATION IS CONSIDERED WITHIN THE“75%” TARGET IF IT IS ONE OF TWO THINGS:

4SUSTAINABLE – For the purposes of this initiative, we define “sustainable” asoperating at a level necessary to earn sustainability recognition such as Marine
Stewardship Council certification, or green-listed in SFP’s Metrics tool.

IMPROVING – There are indicators of some improvement underway,that the fishery or farm is on track to ultimately reach an improvementlevel such as a FIP with a grade “C” or higher on SFP’s FIP Evaluation Tool.
A FIP of Grade C or better is making regular improvements, and is therefore
on track to ultimately achieve sustainability.

THE JOURNEY
TO GET THERE?
AS WE INDICATED EARLIER, WORKING TOWARD THE 75% GOAL
INVOLVES COMMITTING TO ACTIONS THAT MANY SEAFOOD
INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS ARE ALREADY DOING NOW.
ACTIONS SUCH AS:










 ystematically identifying and tracking
S
all sources
Reporting all sources via the Ocean
Disclosure Project
Requiring all suppliers to participate inmobilizing key vendors and getting FIPs
and AIPs going
Publicly reporting FIP progress (e.g., on
fisheryprogress.org)
Getting all suppliers to participate
in respective Supply Chain Roundtables
or equivalent pre-competitive collaborations
where necessary to drive FIPs and AIPs
Setting realistic timelines for progress andholding suppliers and FIPs and AIPs to them
Increasing public communication and claims
in line with the progress made.

Already, SFP can point to many major industry
stakeholders who are working on various
improvement projects, either with SFP or otherNGOs and advisors or entirely on their own,
and it is our hope that this initiative will inspireinterest from new buyers in new sectors.

We’re also reaching out to marine conservation
NGOs, as we think the core mission of thisinitiative will complement their own.
We’ve known since we first conceived of thisidea that it wasn’t going to be easy, and weknow this goal is a challenge, but we don’t see
this as throwing down the gauntlet. Instead,this document serves as a heads-up to industry,NGOs and donors, often working independently
and on small parts of the global fisheries picture,of what has already been achieved through thiswork and what can be achieved through moreconcerted collaboration and alignment.
We also see this initiative as an invitation –to our current and future partners, industry
stakeholders who are not working directly withus, and NGOs with whom we share a common
goal – to come together behind this approachand help transition the seafood industry tosustainability on a global level. For SFP, this started
as a unique approach to working with a limited
number of industry leaders. With your help, we
hope to make this much more than an approach– we want this to truly become a movement.

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ANNEX:THE SECTORSAS PART OF OUR TARGET
75 INITIATIVE, SFP HASDIVIDED UP THE GLOBALSEAFOOD INDUSTRY INTO
A SERIES OF SECTORS AND
SUB-SECTORS, DEFINEDLARGELY BY SPECIES.

While the sectors as a whole do not cover
the entirety of the global seafood industry –some very high-volume species such as carp,
milk fish, and shellfish, are not included, forexample – they represent a substantial amountof commercial seafood production of importanceto markets currently demanding sustainability.
For each sector, we present a broad analysis
with an approximate assessment of how muchprogress has been made so far toward theTarget 75 objectives.

MAJOR COMMERCIAL SEAFOOD SECTORS AND SUPPLIER ROUNDTABLES:SFP PRIMARILY FARMED:LARGE SHRIMP:

18.1%: SFP PRIMARILY WILD
9.2%: REDUCTION
4.3%: "CLASSIC" WHITEFISH
2.3%: SHELF-STABLE TUNA
0.3%: FRESH-FROZEN TUNA
2.1%: SALMON

4%
4%

H
FIS
LL %
HE 9.2
1

65.4 %GLOBALPRODUCTION
195,784MILLION MT

FI

SH

2.8%
0.2%
0.2%
1.9%
0.2%
0.2%

PLANTS,
E MAMMALS,
RIN
A
M THER ANIMALS
O
&
15.4%

SFP PRIMARILY WILD:
SMALL SHRIMP:
OCTOPUS:SQUID:SWIMMING CRAB:
COLDWATER CRAB:SMIXED/OTHER(NOT SFP PRIORITY SECTOR): 12.4%

FI
SFP PRIMARILY FARMED: 5.5%
TILAPIA-PANGASIUS: 4.1%
SALMON: 1.4%

6N

41.8%: MIXED/OTHER(NOT SFP PRIORITY SECTOR)

For the sectors with a greater percentage ofvolume from improving supplies, the buyers
in these countries have been able to exert
considerable leverage. Accounts in thosecountries, though often buying less than 50%
of a sector’s total production, are too importantfor producers to ignore. What we need in these
sectors is to build on the progress made so far,and we list our recommendations accordingly.
Several key sectors fall very far short of
SFP’s target, with less than 10% of theworld’s supply on the path to improved
sustainability (see chart below). SFP’s biggest
challenge at the moment is figuring out how
to increase improvement efforts in these sectors.
We believe the principal reason for lack ofprogress is our existing partner base simply
buys too small a share of global production,
which suggests we need to involve different
buyers in the improvement process with
sufficient leverage in certain markets.
For these sectors, we list some geographicalregions that might have such buyers available.

GAP TO 75%

OCTOPUSSQUID

WARMWATER CRAB

LARGE SHRIMP

SNAPPER / GROUPERFRESH / FROZEN TUNASWIMMING CRAB

WHITEFISHREDUCTION

COLDWATER CRAB

0%

SALMON25%

SMALL SHRIMP50%

SHELF-STABLE TUNA

75%

SUSTAINABLE OR IMPROVING

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WE UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENCES IN HOWFISHERIES AND FIP VOLUMES ARE CURRENTLY REPORTED,
AND THE FOLLOWING IS INTENDED AS AN OVERVIEW OF
THE GLOBAL SECTORS ONLY. WE ARE PLANNING, OVER
THE COMING MONTHS, TO ISSUE SEPARATE REPORTS WITH
MUCH MORE DETAIL ON WHICH SECTORS ARE DOING WELL
AND WHICH WE THINK NEED THE MOST IMPROVEMENT.
ALSO, WE UNDERSTAND THAT NO REPORT CAN POSSIBLY
ACCOUNT FOR EVERY SECTOR PERFECTLY, AND WE KNOW
THE NUMBERS WILL CHANGE A BIT MOVING FORWARD
AS DATA IMPROVES, BUT IN OUR VIEW OUR DESCRIPTION OF
THESE SECTORS IS NOT GOING TO SUBSTANTIVELY CHANGE.

8

9

THE
SECTOR LIST
WHITEFISH:
This sector includes both “classic
whitefish” and tilapia and pangasius
sub-sectors, with all “classic
whitefish” species falling into
Group 32 of the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization’sInternational Standard Statistical
Classification of Aquatic Animals andPlants (FAO ISSCAAP). This includes
cods, hakes, and haddocks, with thefollowing exceptions: Micromesistius
poutassou (blue whiting), Merlangius
merlangus (whiting), Trisopterus spp.
(Norway pout, pouting, poor cod),and species classified as whitefish
but not ISSCAAP 32 (i.e., sablefish,
Patagonian toothfish, Antarctic
toothfish, New Zealand blue cod,
American yellow perch, Japanese
threadfin bream, and ornate threadfin
bream). The tilapia and pangasius
sub-sector is predominantly of farmed
origin. While over half of “classic
whitefish” volumes are considered to
be improving, the same is only true
for approximately 10% of tilapia andpangasius volumes. Buyers can further
encourage progress by urging tilapia
and pangasius farmers to initiate AIPs,
additional “classic whitefish” fisheries
to initiate FIPs, and fisheries already in
FIPs to become MSC certified.
TUNA (SHELF STABLE):
Over 90% of the world’s pre-cooked
tuna (largely skipjack and yellowfin)
comes from purse seine vessels,
while 7% comes from longline vessels
specifically targeting albacore forcanning (fishing under flags from
China, Taiwan, and Pacific Island

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countries). Included is also tuna
supply from pole and line fisheries,
although this is only a small portionof the shelf-stable category. This
sector shows promising improvement
and a high degree of engagementfrom suppliers. We recommend
continuing to urge additional
fisheries to initiate FIPs and to seek
better management regulations andimplementation at the regional andnational levels in future.
TUNA (FRESH OR FROZEN):
This sector comprises the supply offresh (chilled) and frozen bigeye andyellowfin tuna from longline andhandline fisheries. Note that thisdoes not include the three bluefin
species as a target sub-sector fortuna, as SFP recognizes thatinterventions to improve bluefin
tuna fisheries require a different
approach, given smaller volumes invery specialist markets that may beout of reach. Large-scale distant-water
longline vessels supply frozen tuna.
Small- to medium-scale offshore
vessels supply fresh (chilled) tuna.
For fresh and frozen tuna, fewer
than 10% of the global producers
are considered to be improving.
We recommend engaging the
Spanish, US, and other EU
foodservice markets, ideally, alongwith Japanese tuna suppliers.
SHRIMP (SMALL):
This sector consists of wild,
predominantly coldwater shrimp,
often referred to as “salad shrimp,”

or smaller than 100 shrimp per
pound in body size. This sector also
includes small warmwater shrimp
such as seabobs, as their market
usage is more similar to coldwater
shrimp. Paste shrimp are not currently
included in the overall shrimp sector.
This sector is already doing extremely
well, reaching the 75% target due
in part to the engagement of large
buyers from the US and EU alone.
We recommend building on thissuccess by engaging smaller farmersof these shrimp as well.
SHRIMP (LARGE):
This sub-sector consists of farmed
shrimp and wild warmwater shrimp.
It also includes larger coldwater
shrimp such as Argentine red
shrimp and spot prawns. Species are
typically larger than 100 shrimp per
pound in body size. Currently lessthan 10% of the sector is improving.
We recommend buyers encourage
producers to initiate FIPs and AIPs.
SALMON:The sector includes all salmon that issold fresh or frozen (farmed Atlantic
salmon predominates) or in shelfstable form. Both wild and farmed
salmon show good improvement
progress, placing them amongthe 75% already. We recommend
wild-capture fisheries seek MSC
certification and that farms in AIPs
move toward a zonal approach to
management and continue on thepath to meet farm-level certification
standards.

REDUCTION FISHERIES:This sector includes two main
sub-groups of global supply, which
are differentiated by the end markets:n A
tlantic/Pacific reduction fisheries,

which generally end up reduced
to fishmeal and oil in aquaculture
feed for markets in the Americas,
Europe, Australia and Asia; consists
mainly of small pelagic species
such as anchoveta, sandeel, or
sardine, but also includes species
from a few other biological groups(for example, blue whiting, a cod
like species (Gadidae family),and Antarctic krill, a crustacean).
Atlantic and Pacific reduction
fisheries are doing relatively
well. We recommend expandingon this success by persuading
key sardine/anchovy fisheries tocontinue initiating FIPs and toseek certification from third-party
organizations such as the MSC.
n S
outheast Asia reduction fisheries

include the SE Asia “trash fish”(multispecies-trawl fisheries)
and directed small pelagics
fisheries, which are mainly used
as a fishmeal component in feedin the SE Asia shrimp farming
industry. These fisheries stillrequire significant improvementswith less than 10% of the volume
from improving fisheries.
COLDWATER CRAB:
This sector comprises all crabs
from coldwater regions (e.g., kingand snow crabs) and deepwater

crabs from tropical and temperateregions. All production is from wild
fisheries. Buyers in North America andnorthern and western EU countries
have prompted the fisheries to achieve
MSC certification and demonstratestrong improvement, though morework is needed to encourage someremaining fisheries to initiate
FIPs and those in FIPs to continue
improvements.
SWIMMING CRAB:
This sector comprises all sources ofblue swimming crab and crab species
that can substitute for blue swimming
crab on the market. Species include:
blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), blue
swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus),
red swimming crab (Portunus haanii),and Central American swimming
crabs (Callinectes spp.) (i.e., Central
American countries only in the caseof Callinectes spp., which can befound in countries outside of Central
America). The supply chain isdominated by US importers and wellorganized in mobilizing and supporting
FIPs in Asia through the NFI CrabCouncil, as well as some independent
efforts (e.g., in Mexico). These efforts
needed to be expanded to include
some significant producer countries
not yet in FIPs. These fisheries are
dominated by small-scale fisheries
that often require significant long-term
improvement efforts to put in placerobust co-management systems. FIPs
need to be sufficiently well designed
and supported that they are up to thislong-term task.

WARMWATER CRAB:
This sector comprises all crabs fromtropical and temperate waters, with the
exception of blue crabs and swimming
crabs. A popular species is mud crabs.
This sector needs much improvement
and buyers in destination markets
should support the initiation of FIPs.
SNAPPER AND GROUPER:
This sector comprises all wild andfarmed snapper (Lutjanidae family) andgrouper (Serranidae family) species andsimilar reef fish. Less than 10% of thesefisheries worldwide show evidenceof improvement. While US food service
has some leverage, we also want to
involve buyers based in Indonesia,
Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand,along with Brazil and countries inCentral America.
OCTOPUS:All octopus species (family
Octopodidae). At present, less than
10% of the global industry can beconsidered improving. We recommend
engaging buyers in the Spanish andother key markets to help.
SQUID:All squid species, including those in
the families Gonatidae, Loliginidae,
Ommastrephidae, Onychoteuthidae.
As with octopus, less than 10% of
global producers are considered to be
improving, and Spanish markets may
hold the key to engaging buyers withenough influence to provoke change,
but we are also looking to engage
US and EU foodservice companies.

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FURTHERINFORMATION
www.sustainablefish.org
For additional information please contact us at:
info@sustainablefish.org