The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership announced 14 March that Italy-based seafood importer and distributor PanaPesca has become the organization’s latest “Target 75 Champion.”
Target 75 is SFP’s initiative aiming to have 75 percent of global seafood sourced sustainably, or improving toward sustainability, by 2020. Target 75 “Champions” make specific commitments to support that initiative, which involve supporting fishery improvement projects and other initiatives that help increase the amount of seafood that can be sourced sustainably worldwide.
“Having PanaPesca Italy and PanaPesca USA among the supporters of the Target 75 initiative will help SFP to increase the initiative’s traction in key seafood sectors—such as squid and octopus—among the U.S. industry, as well as to bring the Italian market into the game,” Pedro Ferreiro, SFP’s deputy division director for buyer engagement, said in a release.
According to SFP, PanaPesca has already been supporting multiple FIPs, including “at least three different squid fishery improvement projects,” and other pre-FIP work for octopus fisheries.
“As an importer of a wide range of seafood products sourced from all over the world, it is essential for PanaPesca USA to support the development of sustainability initiatives, like Target 75, and organizations committed to improving seafood sustainability, like SFP, to better serve the needs of our customers and ensure the practice of environmentally friendly and socially responsible methods of fishing,” Stefano Pagliai, PanaPesca USA procurement director, said in a release.
The company’s long commitment to quality, food safety, and sustainability made becoming an SFP Champion a natural fit, PanaPesca Italy Group CEO Fabrizio Paesini said.
“For more than 40 years, PanaPesca has guaranteed food safety and best quality, always respecting marine life and supporting sustainability as well as social welfare,” Paesini said. “These principles have led us to become the first Italian company to collaborate with SFP to improve seafood sustainability by actively supporting the Target 75 initiative, in which we firmly believe.”
