The Sustainable Shrimp Partnership (SSP) has announced it will integrate living wages as a formal criterion into its member standards.
SSP, which is an organization that brings together firms committed to improving shrimp sustainability standards, will look to implement this measure within the operations of its member base and progressively expand its application to other stages of the global shrimp-farming value chain, it said in a release without specifying a timeline.
Member SSP firms include major feed and aquaculture companies such as Adisseo, BASF, BioMar, Cargill, Corbion, dsm-firmenich, INVE Aquaculture, Skretting, and Vitapro. Other members include Ecuador-based financial institution Banco Guayaquil; AI and machine-learning tech company Kampi; and health, nutrition, and sustainability solutions firm Kemin AquaScience.
The announcement of the initiative comes soon after the organization conducted a case study in collaboration with international trade and development firm IDH that measured living wages in Ecuador.
Comparing shrimp workers’ incomes against the cost of living in their local context, the case study analyzed living wages at the Chongón (owned by Corporación Lanec), Cachugran (Omarsa), and Marfrisco (Promarisco) shrimp farms. The analysis was based on payroll data from 2024 and compared with the IDH Salary Matrix tool, and the results were then verified through third-party audits.
The three farms were determined to have paid their workers sufficient living wages, which according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), is the level of payment needed to ensure a decent standard of living – being able to cover basic needs such as access to food, water, housing, education, healthcare, transportation, and clothing – for workers and their families, taking into account national circumstances and the work performed during normal working hours.
“Today, trust and responsibility are at the center of how people choose their food and how we at SSP understand shrimp production. The experience of Ecuadorian shrimp offers a lesson for the entire seafood industry: It is possible to provide nutritious, high-quality food while also taking care of people,” SSP Director Pamela Nath said. “Product quality is no longer defined only by the product itself but also by how it is produced, and living wages are part of that standard. This is a path we now know can be followed and, more importantly, one that must be started.”
IDH Market Engagement Director Sonia Cordera reinforced the idea that living wages are increasingly becoming expected in responsible companies and across supply chains.
“The SSP case study shows that it is possible to make practical progress on this issue by measuring and managing living wages in a structured way, offering a model that can be replicated both in shrimp aquaculture and across other industries,” she said.
Launched by the Ecuadorian seafood industry in 2018, SSP has gone on to create a blockchain-based traceability application for shrimp, and it released its first-ever sustainability report last year. It seeks to expand its network throughout the shrimp value chain, driving its mission to advance sustainability practices in shrimp aquaculture.
