Why Harvest Strategies Matter for Seafood Processors
4Chris Shearlock is a fish sustainability manager at Princes Limited, one of the largest food and drink manufacturing, import and distribution groups in Europe. In this video, Shearlock discusses the critical importance of comprehensive harvest strategies, which are pre-agreed frameworks for making fisheries management decisions, including quota setting.
These strategies provide predictability and stability to seafood businesses and assure processors and customers that critical fish resources are being responsibly managed.
Learn more at pewtrusts.org/harveststrategies
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TRANSCRIPT
Are harvest strategies important to your business?
Chris Shearlock: Adoption of harvest strategies is of crucial importance to us. Firstly, it gives us confidence as a processor that the stocks are being sustainably managed. So as a company that owns two large tuna processing sites on the island of Mauritius, we want a long-term sustainable supply and availability of the raw material. At the other end of the supply chain, we really want confidence in our customers that they can continue to buy our fish and it meets their sustainability requirements.
How are harvest strategies relevant to those commitments?
Chris Shearlock: As more harvest strategies are adopted, we can see them becoming an increasingly important part of our sourcing decisions. Combined with other factors, where fisheries are reporting data, their regular stock assessments, their high levels of compliance, harvest strategies are likely to inform our sourcing decisions. We already aim for Marine Stewardship Council as a standard for sustainability within the fisheries that we source from. One of the key principles, the first principle of the Marine Stewardship Council, includes the provision for good and effective harvest strategies.
How do harvest strategies benefit your business?
Chris Shearlock: As well as for sustainability reasons, another key facet to harvest strategies is that they add an element of predictability and certainty. So as a very significant buyer of tuna, this is something that Princes would recognize and appreciate that they bring.
So, for example, in the Indian Ocean we're looking for a credible rebuilding plan for Yellowfin tuna, which reduces catches in line with scientific advice. And we'd like to see those set out consistently over the longer term so that we in turn can plan for this and the fleets that supply us can plan as well.
How does poor management of fisheries impact your business?
Chris Shearlock: Poor fishery management has real potential to impact negatively on Princes' bottom line.
As a large tuna processor with two very large tuna processing sites on the island of Mauritius, we employ 4,000 people, and we process over 100,000 tons of tuna annually. We fundamentally need a long-term sustainable supply of the raw material. Without that, those jobs, the economic benefit that it brings the island, the economic benefit it brings our company could be lost.
Why should RMFOs listen to the voices of buyers and others with in the supply chain?
Chris Shearlock: Harvest strategies are critically important because we need to be playing by a pre-agreed set of rules in fisheries management. We need to get away from some of the politics and horse trading that you see within regional fishery management organizations, where catches are not necessarily set in line with the scientific advice. And we go on an annual basis of negotiations that don't come out with the conclusions that we need for the long-term sustainable management of stocks.
Why should RMFOs listen to the voices of buyers and others with in the supply chain?
Chris Shearlock: Fisheries managers should listen to the views of retailers and buyers because we are ultimately the end customers and end consumers of the fish that are caught within those fisheries. At Princes we are acutely aware of our own customer demands.
We can see a clear demand from our customers for the sustainable management of the stocks that they source from and effective harvest strategies are one of the best ways of demonstrating this.
pewtrusts.org/harveststrategies