Spanish-owned multinational Profand, with presence in twelve countries, has successfully certified its Argentinian fleet of squid and shrimp vessels to the Best Seafood Practices (BSP) Responsible Fishing Vessel Standard (RFVS).
‘The protection and respect for human and labour rights is one of the fundamental pillars of our strategy; this recognition is the result of a collective effort, of much dedication and teamwork, and it allows us to continue demonstrating that we are aligned with the highest standards of social and operational responsibility in the fishing sector, which reinforces our commitment to an ethical and responsible supply chain,’ said Antonio Álvarez, Profand’s director of sustainability, commenting that Profand has a strong commitment to social responsibility, exemplified by its Profand 4 Future strategy.
Profand is the largest seafood operator in Spain, covering the entire value chain and integrating fishing and aquaculture. It currently operates 24 vessels in Argentina, Morocco and the United States, three aquaculture sites in Ecuador, Greece and Galicia, and 13 seafood processing plants.
The RFVS was the first SSCI-benchmarked vessel standard and certifies operational practices relating to crew safety and welfare on board fishing vessels. It is owned by the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) as part of its BSP certification program. BSP also includes GSA’s Seafood Processing Standard (SPS), which is the only seafood-specific processing plant standard in the world and is applicable for both wild caught and farm-raised seafood.
‘We congratulate Profand on achieving RFVS certification, which demonstrates their commitment to best practices in crew safety and welfare aboard fishing vessels,’ said Iain Shone, director of market development Europe.
‘We look forward to working with more vessel operators around the world to help them demonstrate industry-leading assurances to the marketplace.’
