North Atlantic, a Portland, Maine, U.S.A.-based importer of wild-caught seafood and its Indonesian subsidiary, Bali Seafood International, have announced their formal commitment to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, a set of international development objectives adopted in 2015 aimed at poverty elimination, environmental stability, and global peace and prosperity.
Their commitments mark the first by a U.S. seafood company to be published with the U.N.’s Voluntary Commitment Registry, North Atlantic’s Greg Lavoie said. Their pledges were made in advance of the upcoming U.N. Ocean Conference, taking place 5 to 9 June in New York City.
“The Ocean Conference Voluntary Commitment Registry … aims to ‘conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development,’” Lavoie said. “Recognizing the strong linkages between multiple [sustainable development goals] and the companies’ work in Indonesian artisanal fishing communities, North Atlantic, Inc. and Bali Seafood International have solidified a time-bound commitment touching on three specific SDGs.”
Specifically in regard to these goals, the companies have committed to:
1. Build up to four private sector-funded fisheries centers by 202. These centers will the support management and use of defined near-shore fisheries in the Lesser Sunda region of Indonesia, which will benefit up to an estimated 26,000 fishers and families in artisanal communities once fully operational.
2. Develop, trial, and scale a prototype private sector-led investment model by 2020, geared toward socially responsible and sustainable fisheries management and use.
3. By 2020, collect data from each vessel in the companies’ supply chain, either through passive tracking units or e-log catch documentation. Use the data to: 1) support real-time stock assessment, fishery controls, and community-based enforcement, and 2) guarantee no illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing.
4. By 2030, re-engineer the seafood supply chain to eliminate the estimated 40 to 50 percent waste in product value inherent to the current system.
Bill Wall, distributor division director at nonprofit sustainable seafood consultancy FishWise, partnered with North Atlantic, Inc. to help them identify the SDGs they are most well-positioned to positively influence
“We’re proud to work with a company so thoroughly committed to advancing the goals set by the United Nations,” Wall said. “We look forward to collaborating further towards successful outcomes for all deliverables.”
Gerald Knecht, president and founder of both North Atlantic and Bali Seafood, said the mission of the U.N.’s SDGs “directly echoes” those of his companies.
“From supporting local community development to ensuring product traceability and legality, our business values are perfectly aligned with this effort. Achieving the SDGs will absolutely require cooperation across stakeholders and sectors, but we also recognize our individual responsibility as a company to align our strategies with the goals,” Knecht said. “We’re proud to be amongst those leading the seafood industry to contribute to this common vision for the future.”
