Seafood retailers can improve their bottom line by becoming more sustainable, says a finance think tank.
In its latest report Planet Tracker reveals how retailers can both have a positive effect on marine ecosystems and increase profits by sourcing more sustainable seafood and being more transparent.
François Mosnier, head of oceans programme at Planet Tracker, said that food retailers hold immense power when it comes to the sustainability of the oceans. “Anyone buying and selling seafood can make a positive impact by channelling demand out of unsustainable farming and overexploited wild stocks into sustainable management and production,” he said.
“Besides being the right thing to do, it’s the business-smart thing to do. Our report found significant financial benefits to be gained from sustainable sourcing and enhanced disclosure.”
To produce the report, the non-profit think tank, which aims to change financial markets to prevent ecological collapse, studied Carrefour, one of the largest food retailers in the world, analysing more than four million seafood purchases across France.
It found that the lowest margins were on the most overfished species, an encouraging lesson that sustainability pays.
Planet Tracker is now calling on seafood retailers to determine how sustainable they are and implement strategies to improve sustainability, improve transparency and track and report on progress.
Similarly, investors and lenders should use their funding influence to demand greater supply chain disclosure, encourage retailers to make sustainable choices, impose traceability targets, develop financial tools that promote sustainability and provide financial incentives for retailers to become more sustainable.
Companies interested in assessing the sustainability of the seafood they buy and sell can use Planet Tracker’s interactive Seafood Sustainability Protocol.
