China is widely considered the elephant in the room as far as the sustainable seafood movement is concerned. However, the country’s fast-growing wealth and demand for premium-grade fish is putting its own USD 16 billion (EUR 11.6 billion) seafood industry on a much more responsible footing, learned delegates at this week’s Seafood Summit in Vancouver, British Columbia.
As the world’s single largest seafood exporting nation for at least the last six years, with annual exports valued between USD 9 billion and USD 10 billion (EUR 6.5 billion to EUR 7.2 billion), the Chinese industry has not surprisingly drawn criticism from numerous parties and for various reasons.
Even at this year’s Seafood Summit, a number of industry leaders, NGOs and other stakeholders have voiced concerns about China’s seafood practices and environmental ethics. But things are changing very quickly in the Asian country.
According to Peter Redmayne of the Seattle-based marketing company SeaFare Group, China’s exports have “flat-lined” at their present level, while demand in the domestic market is growing toward the point where it will become the world’s largest importer of seafood by the end of this decade. China currently imports around 35 million metric tons of product, valued at around USD 5 billion (EUR 3.6 billion).
Redmayne also pointed out that Chinese consumption is shifting. In addition to its traditionally favored live products, the market is growing for fresh and frozen seafood.
The Chinese consumer cares about quality and price but less so on sustainability, explained Redmayne. “It’s not on their radar,” he said.
It is, however, ranking high on the agendas of many of the leading seafood businesses operating in China.
“Sustainability is embedded in our company’s tradition,” insisted Jack Liu, president of ZF America and ZF Max International Inc., which are the U.S. and Canadian arms of the Zhangzidao Fishery Group, a wholly integrated company founded in 1958 that focuses on producing high-value shellfish, such as scallops, abalone, sea urchins, clams and sea cucumbers. It has 1,500 square kilometers of sea-farming area, which is potentially the largest site in the world, and its total sales for 2010 are expected to be in the region of USD 330 million (EUR 238.5 million).
Liu conceded there are challenges to sustainability in China, particularly when it’s factored in that 30 percent of Chinese consumers’ protein comes from seafood, of which shellfish accounts for 79 percent. But he added that his own company’s employees are increasingly looking at ways in which the business can be more responsible and make a greater contribution to society and the environment.
“There’s no doubt aquaculture activities pursue maximum output as far as possible, but this must be based on quality and sustainability,” he said.
Sean Wilton, president of AgriMarine Industries, which recently started producing farmed salmon and trout in China using closed-containment tanks, confirmed Redmayne’s assessment that sustainability isn’t recognized at the consumer level but also said Chinese industry and government “were really taking notice.”
A lot of that interest is for the protection of the industry and its economic development, he said. There are concerns around product standards, water quality and, in the case of aquaculture, the issues surrounding feed.
“There’s growing pressure from environmental protectors and NGOs, as well as increased demand for traceability so it’s known what is produced and where,” said Wilton. “It’s also a bit of a myth that all the water in China is industrially polluted. For example, we need cooler water for our production so we gravitated toward the north where there’s lots of pristine, well-managed water.”
From the perspective of the NGOs working in China, the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership’s Han Han, who is managing a program to improve the sustainability of the country’s tilapia production, said it should be remembered sustainable seafood is a fairly new concept to lots of Chinese; whereas it’s been standard for many other nations for decades.
“Actually for lots of Chinese it’s our philosophy that we have to do things in a sustainable way. It’s just sometimes things are misinterpreted; they often require more communication and understanding between the west and the east,” she said.
