Because the U.S. crabmeat supply is heavily dependent on imports — about three-quarters of the crabmeat Americans consume is from overseas — a group of U.S. importers has banded together to address sustainability issues in foreign waters.
The companies, all members of the National Fisheries Institute in McLean, Va., formed the NFI Crab Council after convening last September to discuss challenges with the sustainability of crab fisheries in Indonesia and the Philippines.
In just a short time, the group — comprising Twin Tails Seafood, Handy International, Chicken of the Sea, Lawrence Street Seafood, Newport International, Phillips Foods, John Keeler and Co., Heron Point Seafood, Crab Associates and RGE Agridev Corp. — has already made an impact.
The World Bank’s Allfish program awarded the council a USD 50,000 (EUR 36,815) grant, which the founding companies matched. On March 14, the council will officially commission its business plan at a meeting during the International Boston Seafood Show.
“This is a group that went from an idea to a multilateral reality in just a few months. When you have plans in place and money in the bank in less time than it takes some to put out a press release you’ll find organizations like the World Bank take notice,” NFI spokesperson Gavin Gibbons told SeafoodSource. “There is work to be done when it comes to the sustainability of blue-swimming crab, and the council isn’t claiming it’s going to impact things overnight, but participating companies are clearly putting their time, money and effort where their mouths are.”
The group is working with Seattle’s Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, the Association of Indonesian Blue Swimming Crab Processors and the Philippine Crab Processors Association to address the challenges.
