MarinTrust and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) have announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalise and strengthen their collaborative efforts in promoting responsible practices across the marine ingredient value chain.
Recognising the complementary nature of their missions, MarinTrust and SFP have agreed to accelerate progress towards shared goals. This includes governance, with continued SFP representation on MarinTrust committees, including the Governing Body Committee, Improver Programme Application Committee, Fisheries Development Oversight Committee, and Social and Ethical Committee.
Other goals are joint support for initiatives such as the FAO Gulf of Thailand (GoT) Fish Project, the MarinTrust Multispecies Pilot Project, the Global Roundtable for Marine Ingredients and others, integration of SFP’s Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) ratings within the MarinTrust Improver Programme, with MarinTrust contributing to review and revision processes, and boostinginsight and information sharing with exchanges of data, networks, and expertise to promote best practices and avoid duplication.
This includes the use of FishSource data for MarinTrust certificate applications and exploring the use of the FAO Global Record of Stocks and Fisheries (GRSF) identifiers.
‘This MoU marks a significant step forward in our longstanding relationship with SFP. By aligning our efforts, we can more effectively drive improvements in marine ingredient sourcing, traceability and production, ultimately benefiting ecosystems, communities and the users of marine ingredients such as the global aquaculture sector, the omega-3 nutraceutical industry and the pet food sector,’ commented MarinTrust executive chair Libby Woodhatch.
‘We are delighted to formalise our collaboration with MarinTrust, which started a long time ago and has resulted in fruitful projects such as the Multispecies Pilot Project and the Gulf of Thailand (GoT) Fish Project. Together, we can amplify our impact and accelerate progress towards a more sustainable and equitable seafood supply chain,’ said SFP deputy division director Dave Martin.
