Francisco Aldon is the CEO of MarinTrust, an international marine ingredient certification program.
The global seafood industry holds a unique and vital position in the food supply chain, with a trade value surpassing that of beef, pork, and poultry combined, according to Rabobank. This dominance is expected to grow as the Food and Agricultural Organization's (FAO) "Blue Transformation Roadmap" emphasizes sustainable aquaculture to support global food security.
However, the sector is facing challenges related to transparency and traceability – essential tools to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which accounts for approximately 20 percent of global wild-caught seafood according to Pew.
The FAIRR Initiative’s recent traceability report, "Tracing Risk and Opportunity: The Critical Need for Traceability in Today’s Seafood Supply Chains," addresses this issue by raising awareness among investors. Investors can play a pivotal role by urging policymakers and industry players to adopt stricter traceability standards. The report commends existing regulatory frameworks, such as the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in the U.S., the E.U.’s General Food Law Regulation and Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, and Japan’s Fishery Products Distribution Act.
It also highlights the critical role of certification programs in promoting transparency and sustainability. Achieving global alignment across entire seafood supply chains requires a unified framework like the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST), which provides standardized guidelines for data collection, transfer, and management, in an interoperable manner.
At MarinTrust, a program dedicated to advancing best practice in the responsible sourcing, traceability and production of marine ingredients, such as fishmeal and fish oil, our Factory Standard Version 3 aligns closely with GDST’s requirements. This ensures improved traceability and accountability across the seafood supply chain.
With over one-third of marine ingredients now derived from fish byproducts, tracking these raw materials back to their source is critical. With 80 different wild-caught species from 180 stocks already being utilized as byproducts under the MarinTrust Standard, there is a lot of scope for even more byproducts, particularly from aquaculture species. Under the third-party model that MarinTrust operates, certification bodies are accessing over 300 byproducts from over 100 factories globally. The most common species that byproducts are coming from are tuna, mackerel, herring, haddock, saithe, and cod.
Like all other industries, the marine ingredients industry faces a growing challenge: maintaining accurate and comprehensive data throughout the supply chain is essential. This includes details about the species used, their origin, and the entities involved in the supply process.
However, as the products undergo various stages of processing, this critical information can be overlooked or lost, complicating efforts to ensure responsible sourcing and production. To address these challenges, factories producing marine ingredients must adhere to stringent data collection and traceability practices. This involves not only keeping records of suppliers and monitoring their compliance but also performing due diligence.
Collaboration across the supply chain is vital to prevent gaps in traceability and accountability. This includes partnerships to align on standards and practices.
