The Mexican Council for the Promotion of Fishery and Aquaculture Products (COMEPESCA) has been promoting the responsible harvest and consumption of legally sourced Mexican fishery and aquaculture products since 2003. The organization includes 50 commercial members working to counteract negative perceptions and prejudices affecting the seafood sector by communicating best practices and concrete actions that support the national economy and oceanic health.
SeafoodSource spoke with COMEPESCA CEO Citlali Gomez Lepe and COMEPESCA Vice President of Sustainability Luis Bourillón about how the industry is working to drive improvements in harvesting and production while increasing the availability of responsible seafood in the domestic Mexican market.
SeafoodSource: Who are COMEPESCA’s members, and what brought them together?
Gomez Lepe: Our organization is recognized as an industry-based NGO, which means that all our members are directly involved in the seafood sector – either through small-scale fisheries; industrial fishing; inland fish farming in rural, family-owned and -operated businesses; or large commercial offshore aquaculture companies.
The organization was established over 20 years ago to promote seafood consumption among the Mexican population and to highlight the nutritional benefits of consuming this protein-rich food. To encourage domestic consumption and expand the market, collaboration among member companies and with Mexican governmental authorities has been key to this purpose over the years.
SeafoodSource: What are some of the key challenges for seafood companies to become more sustainable or responsible in Mexico?
Bourillón: The most significant challenges lie in sourcing sustainable and legally caught seafood. There is a lack of sustainably and domestically produced seafood in Mexico. Although the number of certified fisheries and fishery improvement projects has increased substantially in recent years, there remains a greater demand than supply.
Additionally, many wholesale markets still do not require sustainability as a criteria for their purchasing decisions. For most retailers, the criteria is to buy the cheapest possible seafood, which is often imported as frozen fish fillets. This is especially true for retailers that serve populations with limited purchasing power. In Mexico, only half of the population is above the poverty line.
More than half of the seafood produced in Mexico originates from fisheries that are considered illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU). Therefore, in some markets, we find a prevalence of this type of seafood, making it challenging for responsible companies that offer legally caught seafood to compete in those markets.
Traceability is still not available in most supply chains, making it impossible to trace back and demonstrate the origin of most seafood and, thus, providing no certainty to final consumers.
SeafoodSource: What are the types of commitments Mexican companies are making toward becoming more sustainable?
Bourillón: Over the last couple of years, the majority of companies that are part of COMEPESCA have made public commitments to source only from legal sources. These commitments are part of a broader effort to develop individual sustainability plans with specific objectives for the next two years, aimed at increasing the share of sustainable seafood in their portfolios compared to the baseline measured using data from 2023.
The goal is to achieve 100 percent coverage in sustainability plans for all companies that are part of COMEPESCA, with sustainability improvements implemented by 2030, and to communicate the progress made to the public.
SeafoodSource: Can you explain COMEPESCA’s project Pesca con Futuro and how it relates to the organization’s overall mission?
Gomez Lepe: Pesca Con Futuro began as a project of COMEPESCA almost eight years ago and has since developed into the most significant seafood sustainability movement in Mexico. Pesca Con Futuro translates to “fishing with a future” and encapsulates all the work done by our organization, staff, members, and allies to promote the production and consumption of sustainable seafood in Mexico.
Pesca Con Futuro is providing a sense of community and pre-competitive collaboration to all member companies, collectives of chefs in various parts of the country, and allies along the supply chain, enabling them to network with markets in retail, foodservice, and traditional seafood markets. Our goal is to connect all sustainably produced seafood with interested markets, making it accessible to Mexican end consumers. This will enable them to enjoy all the fish, shellfish, mollusks, and algae produced by responsible fishers and producers who aim to make Mexico a global reference for sustainability.
SeafoodSource: COMEPESCA’s map of sustainable fisheries and aquaculture is a nice visual that highlights the individual sources of sustainable seafood while providing a nice visual of how much responsible production there is in Mexico. Has that been an effective tool for member companies, restaurants, or consumers?
Gomez Lepe: Yes, it has been an incredible and powerful tool not only to visually explain to all actors along the supply chain the variety of sustainable seafood options we have but also to provide a tangible opportunity to become “part of the map” to small-scale, rural fishers and producers, as well as large fishing and offshore aquaculture companies. They are the ones who have benefited the most from the map, as it enables them to discuss the uniqueness of their products, the differences between Pacific and Gulf of Mexico seafood, and the biodiversity and biological richness of Mexico.
