NAPA’s call for sustainability in pelagic fisheries draws support from retail in Asia

Date of issue: 19 July 2021

The North Atlantic Pelagic Advocacy Group (NAPA) has announced its first member company from Asia. Calling for joint Coastal States’ action on collaborative management of blue whiting, mackerel, and herring, NAPA says the accession of the Japanese Consumers’ Co-operative Union (JCCU) to its supply chain coalition shows the global reach of its message.

“NAPA is growing and growing – and we are delighted to welcome the Japanese Consumers’ Co-operative Union (JCCU) to our collective of supply chain businesses who are vocal about their investment in a long-term, sustainable future for seafood from the Northeast Atlantic. This really underlines the global importance of getting management for these pelagic stocks right – buyers, processors and consumers everywhere want to see Coastal States in the region stepping up and taking collaborative action” says Aoife Martin, NAPA Chair.

NAPA was launched in 2019, in response to loss of MSC certification for several key pelagic stocks, and an emergent trend for unilateral quota-setting above the scientific advice within the Northeast Atlantic region. Since its inception, NAPA has attracted over 40 members – covering food service businesses, processors, buyers and retailers.

In June of this year, NAPA launched a new take on a traditional Fishery Improvement Programme – the NAPA ‘policy FIP’, which covers actions to drive sustainable management for Northeast Atlantic mackerel and Atlanto-Scandian herring.

Dr Tom Pickerell, NAPA Project Lead, says:

“The barriers to enacting sustainable management centre around decision-making and political will – the policy FIP is a tailored programme of activity to address this, through advocacy and using the collective voice of the marketplace. It’s fantastic that this collective voice now includes seafood retail in Japan, too”.

Alongside JCCU, other recent recruits to NAPA include Friesenkrone, Icewind, Groupe Gendreau and Karsmund Protein.

Looking ahead to the Northeast Atlantic Coastal States meeting in October, NAPA has already announced its intention to launch a MarinTrust ‘improver programme’ to cover blue whiting – the third pelagic stock under NAPA’s remit.

Tom Pickerell commented: “We’re drawing in members from all over the world – a huge array of supply chain businesses – we’ve come to the table with tools to deliver against our goals, and we know the science is already in place for these pelagic stocks. It really is a case of Governments listening to the marketplace AND the science, and we hope to see real change in October”.

• Author: North Atlantic Pelagic Advocacy Group
• Date: March 6, 2023
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