Leading squid producers and buyers from the United States, Spain, Canada and the United Kingdom have increased their commitment to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing through new and strengthened purchasing policies.
The pledge was made by the Squid IUU Prevention Working Group, which comprises 16 squid producers, including Cabomar, Congalsa, Crocker & Winsor Seafoods, Grupo Alfrio, Lund’s Fisheries, Inc, Sun Coast Calamari, Sea Farms, PanaPesca, The Town Dock and WOFCO.
By the end of 2022, the Working Group companies will adopt new purchasing policies or strengthen current ones to incentivise sourcing from legal producers and ban imports of IUU squid products.
They will also establish a governance and funding mechanism for the group, adopt a plan to address social responsibility issues, and engage regulators and other actors to commit resources to improve squid management and eliminate IUU fishing.
The commitment was presented on the panel, Combating IUU Fishing: The Case of High Seas Squid, which featured at the Seafood Expo North America (SENA) 2022 exhibition and conference.
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) Global Policy Director, Braddock Spear, who hosted the panel, commented, “The panel highlighted that most high-seas squid fisheries are unregulated. Today, we heard exciting news that a growing coalition of companies are taking actions this year that are part of a longer-term vision for addressing this issue.”
Given the lack of management in most squid fisheries globally, companies face commercial and environmental risks, explained Sarah Hussey, Fisheries Manager at Sea Farms and industry co-chair of SFP’s Global Squid Supply Chain Roundtable (SR), a group of squid buyers and importers who work together pre-competitively to drive improvement efforts in squid fisheries practices, management, and policy.
“We accept that we alone cannot fix these issues. But we believe we can work together with our supply chains and governments to improve management, stability of squid stocks and welfare of workers within the supply chains around the world,” Hussey said.
The Squid IUU Prevention Working Group, which was formed in July 2021 by some members of SFP’s squid SR, expects to announce a formal agreement at Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, Spain, in April 2022.
