The Salmon Fishery Improvement Project Partnership, which gained commitments from four additional members Wednesday -- Gorton's, Nestle Purina, Albion Fisheries and The Fishin' Company -- is one year into it work, and already it has a small but important set of achievements in its wake.
The Salmon FIP is incredibly ambitious in scope -- it is aiming for 75 percent of all Pacific salmon stocks to either be third-party certified as sustainable or in a credible fishery improvement project by 2016 -- but everyone involved in the project is clear-eyed about the pace of the progress, and what's needed to make improvement happen.
So getting Nippon Suisan Kaisha (Nissui) owned Gorton's and Nestle Purina on board is more evidence the project is making a difference on the ground, and not simply in principle, said Brian Caouette, director of sustainable fisheries and markets at Wild Salmon Center, the NGO spearheading the effort.
"It's not just about certifying already sustainable fish," Caouette told IntraFish of the project.
During the early part of the sustainable seafood movement, Caouette noted, salmon fisheries such as those in Alaska -- already considered sustainable -- were given the eco-stamp, and benefited from the market demand for sustainable fish.
"Now we're entering a period where the low-hanging fruit has been taken," Caouette said. "We're moving into tougher fisheries. You've got to roll up your sleeves and get on the ground."
Wild Salmon Center has been working on Russian wild salmon recovery for years, and has spearheaded several projects prior to the Salmon FIP, including efforts to help Russian salmon fisheries obtain Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) status.
That's given the Salmon FIP an advantage, Caouette said. The group has an on-the-ground coalition in place for years that it has been able to partner with on its efforts to curb the well-documented problems with poaching, a lack of data on stocks and the need for regulatory changes.
Guy Dean, import/export vice president for Albion Fisheries, said the company has purchased Russian salmon for more than seven years and ensuring its sustainability was "integral," so when they were approached about the Salmon FIP last year, he knew it was a project they wanted to be part of.
"This is just the tipping point," Dean said. "Anything less than the 75 percent is a positive improvement but if we're going to make significant changes we need at least that."
Caouette said one unique aspect of the Salmon FIP is the intense focus on transparency, and credible data showing the improvements that are happening. Along with Wednesday's announcement, the group unveiled what it claims is the first-ever "FIP tracker," showing the locations of the fisheries it's working with, and showing the projects and their progress.
The project started its focus in Asian and Russian fisheries, which produce more than half of the wild salmon globally. They were targeted as a way to focus on the areas with the greatest need and largest opportunity to improve and increase the global supply of sustainable salmon, Dean said. By showing the companies the value and importance of sustainabilty it helped explain why it was necessary.
"It moves from 'a nice to have' to an integral part of the business once they see the implications," he said.
Dean added that although the project is starting in Asia and Russia, the partnership is dedicated to sustainability improvements in all salmon fisheries throughout the North Pacific.
In addition to the fisheries work, organizing stakeholder efforts is a big part of the project. The next meeting of the group will be during the Boston Seafood show.
