The World Wildlife Fund joined private and public sector leaders in calling for a new global seafood traceability system to give consumers, businesses and governments full access to information about marine fishing practices.With the statement, issues at the World Economic Forum meeting in Switzerland, marks the first multi-stakeholder call for such a system.
The statement, issued by the Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Oceans, recognizes the need for tracing fish products “bait to plate” as a means for linking markets to sustainable fishing practices, and for ending the illegal fishing that continues to be a major driver of fisheries depletion.
Creating a reliable system for seafood traceability will require harmonizing both regulatory and commercial practices across national boundaries and across subsectors of the seafood industry, ranging from small scale producers in developing countries to the major retail chains and brand owners in the European Union, U.S., and Japan.
“Making commercial fishing sustainable is a critical global challenge,” said Jim Leape, WWF director general. “The joint statement released in Davos points the way to one important part of the solution. The stakes are high for the global seafood industry, as well as for the hundreds of millions of people around the world who depend on fish for protein and on fishing for their livelihoods.”
