The Certifications and Ratings Collaboration, a collective of leading global seafood certification and ratings programs, recently released its Sustainable Seafood Data Tool this month. An online resource, the new tool offers a first-of-its-kind interactive overview of the environmental and social performance of worldwide seafood production, the collaboration said in a press release.
The analysis offered in the Sustainable Seafood Data Tool gives an overarching view of all global production and also drills down to give snapshots of wild and farmed seafood production. Each of the tool’s overviews provides details of the proportion of seafood production that has been certified or rated as meeting a high level of environmental performance; whether the area in question is improving through fishery or aquaculture improvement projects; if it needs improvement; or if its status is unknown.
The data within the resource can be filtered, the collaboration said, a capability that allows users to display similar overviews for particular regions or countries. Additionally, tool also allows for the combination of geographic filters with filters for wild capture, farmed, or both.
“The data tool also offers detailed information about the performance of eight priority seafood sectors: whitefish, small pelagics, shrimp, tuna, farmed salmon, squid and octopus, wild crab, and wild snapper and grouper. This includes a summary of the leading export and import countries, regional and country performance snapshots, detailed sector improvement profiles, and specific opportunities to get involved in improvement efforts,” the Certifications and Ratings Collaboration said in its release.
Consisting of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, Fair Trade USA, Marine Stewardship Council, Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, and the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, the Certifications and Ratings Collaboration designed the tool with input from each of its members. The collective said it plans to update data periodically, and is already planning functionality upgrades to the tool.
“We’re committed to making this tool relevant and useful to the sustainable seafood movement to help drive improvements to the sustainability of global fisheries and aquaculture,” said Jennifer Dianto Kemmerly, the vice president of global ocean initiatives at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
“Improving fisheries and aquaculture starts with understanding how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go,” Aquaculture Stewardship Council CEO Chris Ninnes, who also serves as chair of the Certification and Ratings Collaboration. “For the first time, industry, NGOs, policymakers and foundations can look at the sustainability of the global seafood landscape, focus on specific regions, or examine seafood sectors.”
Photo courtesy of the Certifications and Ratings Collaboration
