A new fishery improvement project (FIP), the Mexico Yucatan octopus drift rod and line fishery improvement project, has been listed on FisheryProgress.org.
The industry-led FIP targets octopus caught off of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, and according to a release from the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) contains four key focus areas: Developing a stock assessment methodology; increasing knowledge about the fishery’s interactions with protected, endangered, and threatened species; strengthening the management and monitoring systems; and promoting enforcement of the regulatory framework. SFP works to improve fisheries using both FIPs and aquaculture improvement projects worldwide, in addition to supporting supply chain roundtables to improve seafood supply chains.
“Adding 10,000 tons of responsible octopus to the market is going to make a substantial shift in the sustainability of the octopus sector dynamics,” said Pedro Ferreiro, coordinator of SFP’s Global Octopus Supply Chain Roundtable, in the release. “Other major octopus fisheries competing for Yucatan octopus in the marketplace are now behind in terms of meeting the growing sustainability demands of the U.S. and E.U. markets.”
The global octopus roundtable – initially formed at Seafood Expo North America in 2017 with four members and has since grown to 13 members – is working to assist the FIP, along with other industry stakeholders: Netuno USA, Empacadora Promarmex, Orca Seafoods, LP Foods, Comercializadora Healthy Fish, and MASPESCA.
“The Global Octopus Supply Chain Roundtable is committed to the promotion of sustainability among the most important octopus fisheries worldwide, and the Yucatan fishery is one of our priorities,” said Andre Brugger, Sustainability Manager at Netuno USA and member of the SR, in the release. “We are looking forward to seeing similar steps in other key octopus fisheries, such as in Morocco and Mauritania, where the SR is also providing support for the setting up of similar improvement projects.”
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
