The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has released a new guide aimed at buyers, retailers, chefs, and consumers identifying the 10 most at-risk seafood species and how to handle them from a sourcing standpoint.
The new “Endangered Marine Species Guide” is meant to serve as a tool to identify the marine species that are known to be commonly concerning within seafood supply chains, such as abalone, bluefin tuna, conch, freshwater eel, grouper, sea cucumber, shark, skate and ray, sturgeon, and totoaba. Stakeholders can look to the guide, which was released at the beginning of August 2019, for “clear instructions for if or how it’s possible to source these species responsibly,” WWF said.
“Since 1970, global populations of marine species utilized by humans have halved, with some of the most important species experiencing even greater declines. There are over 400 known endangered marine species linked to human consumption of seafood. With mindful sourcing, you can help protect them for the future,” the organization states in the guide’s introduction.
Conceived in April 1961, WWF has long been combining its scientific foundation and global reach as a means to promote responsible modern food systems that “meet the needs of people while also respecting nature.” The organization has been working with the seafood industry in particular for more than 20 years, helping companies to transition toward more sustainable, responsible, and traceable supply chains. Its Endangered Marine Species Guide is another extension of this mission, according to WWF.
“For the most part, WWF advocates that companies stay engaged with their existing supply chains and support improvement in the seafood industry overall. However, some threatened species populations need time and effort to recover, and reducing fishing pressure by removing them from procurement until measurable and impactful improvements are made is necessary,” according to the guide.
By and large, seafood buyers have been made aware of the state of the world’s marine resources and the irresponsible practices driving depletions, explained Michael Griff, WWF’s manager of seafood engagement. However, they haven’t been provided with many tools or actionable steps to take to encourage constructive change. That’s something WWF’s new guide seeks to revise.
“I think people are aware by now that overfishing and irresponsible fishing is a substantial threat, but what seafood buyers and consumers should do about it is not always clear,” Griff said. “With this new guide we are providing a blueprint to make it simple. Here are 10 species that we are most concerned about; here are the ones to avoid completely; and here’s how you can source the rest responsibly.”
Griff said the guide was meant to allow its readers to make actionable decisions.
“We created this specifically for seafood buyers to cut through the noise of misinformation about these highly threatened species in a way that is concise and digestible, and provides the private sector with the knowledge to make smarter, more responsible purchasing decisions," he said. "Companies can operationalize this resource by socializing it with their employees and having it on-hand when making procurement choices.”
According to Griff, “from ideation to completion,” the guide took about a year to come to fruition, with several different experts pitching in to make the resource comprehensive across numerous global markets.
“We wanted to make sure that we took the time to capture the perspective of regional WWF Network offices to make this resource even more useful for our multinational corporate partners,” he said. “We are very excited to see it cross the finish line and get into the hands of buyer companies so that they can start utilizing it to make a difference through their purchasing.”
WWF’s other regional Seafood Guides can be used in tandem with this latest release for additional, region-specific information. If or when information conflicts across resources, “WWF’s guidance is to abide by the most conservative recommendation available,” WWF said.
Moving forward, Griff said WWF would be keeping a pulse on where the organization can produce and implement more guidance tools like its “Endangered Marine Species Guide.”
“One of our team’s priorities is to develop resources that educate our partners about critical conservation issues and help them to understand the steps that they can take to make positive change. We will certainly be aiming to produce more materials that do just that,” Griff said.
Photo courtesy of naturepl.com / Doug Perrine / WWF
