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Securing a sustainable future – technological advances in seafood digitalization
The State of FIPs in 2020–A Briefing for Seafood Businesses
How Do We Increase Consumption in the U.S.– Is It Time to Revisit the Idea of a National Seafood Council?
The Rapidly Changing Future of Selling Seafood at Retail
Winning the War for your Changing International Supply Chain
How Fishsource and New FAO ID Codes Will Revolutionize The Seafood Industry
Speakers: Laurel Bryant, NOAA Fisheries; Todd DuBois, National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration, Office Of Law Enforcement (NOAA OLE); Christopher Robertson, U.S. Customs And Border Protection; Steven Wilson, U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service
SIMP – a key tool in the United States’ response to combating IUU fishing and seafood fraud – has now been in place for more than a year. The recent addition of shrimp and abalone under its monitoring nearly doubled the volume and value of imported fish now subject to U.S. seafood traceability rules. How is it working? What’s next for seafood importers and exporters? The panel, composed of individuals representing the various roles and government agencies responsible for implementation, will present their perspectives on the program’s effectiveness and engage in moderated discussion and Q&A with the audience.
Speakers: Sophika Kostyniuk, Director, Fisheries & Seafood - Ocean Wise Conservation Association; Joseph Chiaravalloti, Director, Product - Seacore Seafood Inc.; David Lancaster, President - Stavis Seafoods, LLC; Shevis Shima, Senior Vice President - Sales/Procurement - Santa Monica Seafood; Mary Smith, Director of Sustainability - Inland Seafood
Session Description: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought monumental challenges to the seafood industry. The seafood supply chain has dealt with inconsistent access to product, border shutdowns, travel restrictions and reduction in staff sizes leading to limited production rates. These challenges have been coupled with restaurant closures across North America greatly diminishing seafood orders for some suppliers, while some retailers are experiencing a mass increase in seafood demand fueling a boost in sales for suppliers able to meet the demand. Previously accessible lucrative international markets were put beyond reach, while in some cases poorly developed local supply chains struggled to make up the difference during this challenging time.
The long-term economic impacts of the pandemic are yet to be fully realized; however, many businesses in the seafood and food services industry have quickly adapted to new business channels. Suppliers and distributors are shifting from traditional B2B operations to direct B2C channels to fill the gap of reduced restaurant orders and capitalize on increasing interest in consumers cooking seafood at home. Meanwhile, restaurants have developed take-home friendly menus in freeze-able and ready-to-serve formats in response to the drop in dine-in customers.
While prioritizing economic sustainability is vital to ensure to survival, it is also important to prioritize responsibly sourced seafood to ensure access to these resources for generations to come. Sea Pact teams up with the Ocean Wise Seafood program in leading a panel exploring the challenges of economic, social and environmental sustainability throughout COVID-19. This panel highlight sustainable seafood success stories and challenges during the pandemic and demonstrate how proper adaptability aligned with sustainable sourcing can help businesses navigate these uncertain waters and evolve industry approaches post-pandemic.
Sea Pact represents key industry leaders promoting access to sustainable seafood options that have made commitments to supporting research and development to continue to build on sustainable forms of seafood production and harvesting. The Ocean Wise Seafood program is Canada’s leading seafood sustainability program. Ocean Wise Seafood works directly with key actors within the seafood supply chain to make access to sustainable seafood simple and ensure sourcing information is readily available to all partners of this program and the wider public.
The seafood industry is a price sensitive, seasonal and specialized market. And it’s becoming even more complex. With business consolidation and industry globalization, having a “cost management” strategy is not enough. Today’s leading seafood companies need a financial management strategy with advanced visibility, accountability, KPIs and real-time reporting throughout the supply chain.
James Griffin, an associate professor of culinary studies at Johnson & Wales University, will share findings from a recent national study on seafood sustainability in commercial foodservice. The study investigated where chefs get their information on sustainability, as well as their opinions of countries of origin and labeling. Griffin’s research suggests that chefs rely more than ever on vendors or suppliers to assure the seafood they purchase is sustainable, in part due to the complexity of seafood sustainability across multiple species and the lack of a consistent definition for what sustainability means when it comes to seafood.
