Seafood Industry Joins Fair Trade Revolution

18 Apr 2017 --- Fair trade products within the seafood industry are now on the rise in the U.S., thanks to a growth in consumer interest about how fish and shellfish arrive on their plate. 

Fair trade certification status, which is conferred by independent groups to denote environmental sustainability and fair working conditions, has been around for years, but the fish and shellfish industry is only just starting to catch up.

The move ties in with a general shift towards sustainability in the seafood industry. Many companies are now taking steps to ensure their products are sourced sustainably with consumer demand also driving this trend.

“Certification of seafood products, including tuna and shrimp, began in 2014, and the volume of imports of such products grew more than 350 percent last year to more than 1.2 million pounds (500,000 kilograms)”, said Fair Trade USA, a California-based nonprofit group.

The first company to offer fair trade seafood harvested from U.S. waters will have scallops on the market this month. The company, Bristol Seafood of Portland, Maine, is looking to capitalize on the growing interest in authenticity of seafood, said its president, Peter Handy.

“There's a certain sanctity to food when it comes to the story about it,” he said.

“It tastes better the more you know.”

Independent groups, including Fair Trade USA, provide certifications to a host of products that people buy in stores, ranging from fruit and nuts to home goods. The certification is most commonly associated with coffee, which launched the fair trade movement in the 1990s.

To achieve certification, companies need to submit to an audit and interviews to make sure the food is produced with fair working conditions and environmental stewardship along the supply chain.

Packaged products can then bear a "Fair Trade Certified" seal, which carries a price premium. Fair Trade USA currently certifies shrimp from Mexico, yellowfin tuna from Indonesia, and skipjack and yellowfin tuna from Maldives. It is the only group currently certifying seafood as fair trade, representatives for the nonprofit said.