Episode 4

Blue Transformation – FAO’s vision for aquatic food systems

with Dr. Audun Lem

Audun Lem is Deputy Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). He is particularly involved with policy issues related to international trade and market access, and value chain analysis and management.

© FAO/Riccardo De Luca

For many years, Audun was Secretary of FAO’s Subcommittee for Fish Trade, the principal forum among governments for discussion of relevant fish trade matters, and from this summer he will take on the position of acting Secretary of COFI. Before joining the FAO in 1996 he worked for the Norwegian Embassy’s trade mission in Milan, and as a private consultant on various fisheries and aquaculture topics. Audun holds a B.Sc in Economics from the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen, an MBA from Harvard and a PhD from Poland’s Sea Fisheries Institute.

Audun sat on the GSSI Steering Board from 2016-2021.

GSSI and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

GSSI has worked in close partnership with the FAO and its member states since its inception to operationalize and champion internationally-agreed guidelines and instruments in the seafood sector. FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and its related guidelines are at the heart of all GSSI programs, bringing sustainability to the forefront of the work being done in the seafood sector and thereby contributing to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

GSSI and the FAO have been closely collaborating for several years. Before we dive into Blue Transformation, can you reflect on the relationship between the FAO and GSSI?

From our perspective, it is important that GSSI’s work is rooted in international codes and guidelines. Looking at the first 10 years of GSSI, the fact that benchmarking systems are in place and are being recognized in the marketplace is a significant achievement. The benchmarking done by GSSI reduces duplication and certification costs for operators by creating equivalency among schemes that have been evaluated and found to be aligned with a set standard – something that was needed. On a personal note, before GSSI was created, I was present in FAO when the benchmarking debate was ongoing. Within the Sub-committee on Fish Trade, talks relating to certification, market access, and traceability went on for many years before a consensus emerged on the importance of certification. I was therefore pleased to see the creation of GSSI, the continued strong ties with the FAO, and the fact that you build on internationally-negotiated and agreed instruments. I also welcome GSSI’s wider-picture approach, including the recognition that the majority of seafood production takes place in developing countries and that GSSI has to be relevant also for them.

Looking at the future of GSSI, it now has a solid base to build on, with the potential to grow by adding new stakeholders and companies, including in developing countries. Alongside this growth, many countries are also showing a keen interest in developing national certification schemes. The importance of certification is being recognized in most producing countries as a voluntary market-based instrument, and this makes the need for benchmarking even more relevant. Most consumers need guidance to be able to understand and value the new certification schemes that are coming on-stream. Of course, the ultimate goal is to achieve sustainable fisheries and aquaculture for everyone. Moving forward, we will also see much more emphasis on the human and social issues, the social dimension of sustainability, including safeguarding the rights, dignity and well-being of all those millions of people who are involved in seafood value chains globally.

Over the past 10 years, GSSI has also become a strong advocate for sustainability in sourcing. And contributed to raising awareness among operators and the general public about the need to make all fisheries and aquaculture operations sustainable. We firmly believe that GSSI and the practice of benchmarking have an important role in these endeavors. We will continue to be supportive of GSSI’s benchmarking work on this basis and encourage its inclusion also of more developing country partners. We’re therefore pleased to see increased global representation in the GSSI Partnership, including a first partner from the African continent. The FAO is also impressed with the progress made with Seafood MAP – a platform that will allow users to start building connections. We look forward to seeing the smallholder stories collected by the FAO, the Lexicon, and GSSI in the IYAFA storytelling initiative on Seafood MAP.

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Looking at the first 10 years of GSSI, the fact that benchmarking systems are in place and are being recognized in the marketplace is a significant achievement.

FAO Fish4ACP project

© FAO/Luis Tato

What does Blue Transformation mean, and what role does the FAO believe it will play in the future of seafood and those that rely on it?

Blue Transformation is the programme created at FAO to effectively implement our activities toward achieving more sustainable aquatic food systems. It has three pillars: aquaculture, capture fisheries, and value chains – mirroring the setup of our division for additional synergies. The need for transforming food systems was highlighted at the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, and Blue Transformation refers to the shift towards a more sustainable and equitable use of the ocean’s resources. It encompasses a range of actions and initiatives aimed at promoting ocean health, conservation, and sustainable development. It also recognizes the critical role that oceans play in supporting life on Earth, including their contribution to food security, climate regulation, and economic development. However, it also recognizes the many challenges facing the ocean today, including overfishing, pollution, climate change, and habitat destruction.

Furthermore, Blue Transformation is a targeted effort by which agencies, countries and dependent communities use existing and emerging knowledge, tools, and practices to secure and sustainably maximize the contribution of aquatic (both marine and inland) food systems to food security, nutrition, and affordable healthy diets for all. Blue Transformation acknowledges that aquatic food systems significantly influence human, animal, and ecosystem health.

There are 17 different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and all of them are relevant to the fisheries and aquaculture sector. Our sector contributes to the SDGs in many different ways: economic development, elimination of hunger, taking care of the environment, labor and human rights, and of course SDG 14: Life below water. Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture is necessary to save the planet and humanity, but it’s also a very important economic sector that provides livelihoods, nutrition/healthy diets. For fisheries the emphasis lies on ending illegal fishing, maintaining healthy states of fish stocks, and creating economic benefits. Aquaculture contributes through increasing food security, and creating additional economic benefits. The role of both aquaculture and capture fisheries will be even bigger in the future, which sees a growing population and an increasing demand for healthy diets. Most of the increase will come from aquaculture.

Blue Transformation requires the collaboration and involvement of all key actors – both public and private. Why is this so important?

Collaboration is fundamental. The public sector sets rules at national and international levels, but in the end, it’s the private sector that produces (catches or farms), processes, trades, distributes, and operates according to the rules and laws set down by governments. There’s also the power of consumers and retailers, their specific needs, and civil society. The industry has been adept in responding to those needs, one such response is actually GSSI, which is providing much-needed clarity in the marketplace. Collaboration between the public and private sectors in the seafood world is crucial. It can also take place at many levels, and involve academia and NGOs. Unquestionably, there are more stakeholders involved today than there were only a few years ago, including in FAO fora with a growing number of observers participating from civil society, the NGO community, and industry associations.

It is also obvious that for Blue Transformation to be effective, we have to achieve a shared vision of a healthy, thriving ocean that supports life and livelihoods for generations to come. This requires cooperation between governments, the private sector, civil society, and communities. And we certainly see GSSI as being relevant in this context, both as an important stakeholder in benchmarking and certification and as a key advocate for more sustainable sourcing of seafood products from all over the world.

Key reasons why collaboration is so important for Blue Transformation include:

Shared responsibility – The ocean is a shared resource that belongs to everyone, and achieving Blue Transformation requires a collective effort from all. Collaboration can help to foster a sense of shared responsibility for ocean health and ensure everyone is working together towards common goals.
Integrated approach – Blue Transformation requires an integrated approach that addresses the complex and interconnected challenges facing the ocean, such as overfishing, pollution, and climate change. Collaboration can help bring together different perspectives and expertise to develop comprehensive solutions that address these challenges.
Innovation – Collaboration can foster innovation in areas such as sustainable fisheries, marine conservation, and the blue economy. Working together can help to generate new ideas and approaches that promote sustainable development and protect the ocean.
Mobilization of resources – Achieving Blue Transformation requires significant investment and resources. Collaboration can help mobilize resources from different sources, such as government, private sector, and international organizations – to support ocean conservation and sustainable development initiatives.
Stakeholder engagement – Collaboration can facilitate stakeholder engagement and participation in the decision-making process, ensuring the needs and concerns of different stakeholders are taken into account. This can help build trust and support for ocean conservation and sustainable development initiatives.

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Collaboration between the public and private sectors in the seafood world is crucial.

FAO Fish4ACP project

© FAO/Luis Tato

How can Blue Transformation help us reach the UN SDG targets?

Blue Transformation can play a critical role in helping us achieve the SDGs, which provide a framework for achieving a more sustainable and equitable world. Some tangible examples include:

SDG 14: Life Below Water – Blue Transformation is focused on protecting and restoring the health and productivity of oceans. SDG 14 aims to conserve and sustainably use the ocean’s resources for sustainable development.
SDG 1: No Poverty – Blue Transformation can help to promote sustainable economic growth and job development, which is essential for reducing global poverty.
SDG 2: Zero Hunger – The ocean provides a significant source of protein and other essential nutrients for people around the world. Blue Transformation can help to promote sustainable fisheries and aquaculture.
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation – The ocean is a critical source of freshwater, and protecting its health can help to ensure that people have access to clean water and sanitation. Blue Transformation can also help to reduce pollution and improve water quality.
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – Blue Transformation can help create new job opportunities in sectors such as sustainable fishing, aquaculture, and marine tourism.
SDG 13: Climate Action – The ocean plays a critical role in regulating the Earth’s climate, and protecting its health is essential for mitigating the impacts of climate change. Blue Transformation can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote carbon sequestration, and build resilience to the impacts of climate change.
SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals – Blue Transformation requires collaboration and partnerships across sectors and stakeholders to achieve its goals.

These examples demonstrate how closely linked the concepts are behind Blue Transformation and the UN SDGs, and how both are calls to action for the future of our planet.

Read the complete Blue Transformation roadmap here.

CeDePesca

Encourage good practices in small-scale fisheries through co-management.

CeDePesca are working on a confirmation of a Co-management Commission in Panama have begun data collection through voluntary logbooks by fishers.

It is an ongoing experience where we are discussing and resolving together how to recover the diminished resources that make our livelihoods. We really thank CeDePesca and Seafood MAP for their help on this process.

Ernesto Vargas

FENAPESCA (National Artisanal Fishers Federation)

The Philippines and Indonesia - Asian Seafood Improvement Collaborative

Providing improvement-oriented programs to smallholder producers and fishers to improve their social and environmental practices for better international markets while improving livelihoods and building resilient communities.

This aquaculture project seeks to engage smallholder shrimp farmers to help them improve their efforts towards environmental, social, and gender equality sustainability targets. ASIC provides improvement programs to allow for a step-by-step continuous journey for smallholder farmers to comply with the ASIC Shrimp and Social and Gender Standards. The program offers verification of sustainable practices at no cost which is then leveraged to provide direct market access to buyers. ASIC fisheries project is working to finalize its program while providing support to existing fisheries programs in the Philippines and looking to pilot its program soon.

The social and gender components are a new area that we have not yet heard before and through this program, our awareness has increased - which extended to farm management, household, and to the community level.

Smallholder Farmer

Indonesia

Uganda - Deutsche Gesellschaft fϋr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Ensuring food security and reducing poverty by increasing fish supply and income

The Responsible Fisheries Business Chains Project (RFBCP) in Uganda is concentrating on sustainable fisheries management of Nile Perch on Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga. Currently, GIZ-RFBCP is drafting selection criteria that will be used to identify producers to work with. The status of such businesses will be ascertained at the beginning and where points of weakness are identified in regards to sustainability measures. GIZ-RFBCP will work with producers to validate their sustainability measures and help them register on the Seafood MAP.

China - China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance and China Blue Sustainability Institute

Optimizing the industrial layout, conserving fishery resources, and protecting water ecology to meet the growing consumer demand for high-quality protein and to provide producers with new sustainable practices.

CAPPMA and China Blue have been working with scientific research teams, producers, purchasers, and other stakeholders over the span of this project. In close cooperation, a large amount of research has been carried out and suggestions have been made for the optimization and next development of the Seafood MAP registration model based on China's characteristics and reality.

In China, there are many types of aquatic products available for residents to consume, and the production model is diversified. Reflecting on our pilot work so far, we know more time is needed to optimize, but we are looking forward to establishing a concrete buildout of the Seafood MAP platform to move our work forward and improve.

Janelle Dong

CAPPMA

Papua New Guinea - Fishing Association of Papua New Guinea

Exposing our progress and performance with seafood supply chain partners and finding common ground for collaboration to move towards certification.

The prawn and lobster fisheries management in the area is aimed at preserving the fishery for the traditional inhabitants, with strict limited entry for non-inhabitants. We aim to move all fisheries and aquaculture operations toward sustainable certification, we need Seafood MAP as a path to educate our fisher how to collect data properly, report and assess it.

Seafood MAP has increased the collaboration between the National Fishery Authority and the producers in the area with respect to data collection, measuring performance and reporting against the robust Seafood MAP criteria based on FAO and SDG indicators.

Marcelo Hidalgo

Sustainability Director, FIA PNG

Aquaconnect and IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative

Working towards more efficient resource use by collecting and analyzing farm and disease data.

The project focused on improving disease data collection and analysis, by linking Aquaconnect to a lead aquatic epidemiologist. The objective of the project is to provide farmers better information on diseases with the ultimate aim to improve resource efficiency. The Aquaconnect team tested the Seafood MAP registration form for seafood producers, as well as the self-evaluation form for their customers.

Through the IDH-Aquaconnect program, we were able to promote sustainable practices among the farmers communities and set several shrimp production benchmarks. One of the key highlights is that we have redesigned our data architecture to capture individual and population-level symptoms to support the shrimp epidemiology study.

Sudhakar Velayutham

Project Manager, Aquaconnect

Indonesia - UNIDO

Strengthening the quality and standard compliance capacity of small and medium-scale enterprises to improve market access to both domestic and international markets.

The programme supports the country to align the demand and supply of quality services required by markets through enhancing quality infrastructure and services, strengthening producers and value chains, and raising a culture for quality.

The Indonesian fisheries sector has great potential for both capture fisheries and aquaculture, with small fishers and farmers dominating the sector. Small scale fishers and farmers usually have limited access to markets, technology, information, finance, and public services. Helping them to improve their access to these services will ultimately improve their livelihood that could incentivize sustainable fishing and farming practices.

Ita Sualia

Chief Operations Officer, UNIDO

Ecuador - Sustainable Shrimp Partnership and IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative

Supporting SSP members to achieve their goals and supporting small and medium-scale farmers to achieve SSP through the establishment and coordination of an improvement program.

Over the course of the project, twelve farms qualified for the SSP criteria of zero antibiotics, ASC certification, minimal environmental impact, and full traceability. Currently, the SSP focuses on a better understanding of their carbon and water footprint by joining the IDH Aquaculture Working Group on Environmental footprint. The SSP team tested the Seafood MAP registration form for seafood producers, as well as the self-evaluation form for their improvement program.

The improvement program allowed us to support small shrimp farms to demonstrate accountability by improving their environmental and social performance and it demonstrated that SSP members are committed to the highest levels of transparency by being the first shrimp producers in the world to adapt blockchain traceability for shrimp

Pamela Nath

Director, SSP

Mozambique - Pescamar and Nueva Pescanova

Improve maritime fishing training in Mozambique to ensure local generational replacement of fleet masters and resilience of fishing communities

The project is a public-private initiative that transfers knowledge from the Atlantic Maritime Fisheries Institute of Vigo (Spain) to the Matola Fishing School (Mozambique) funded by AECID and the collaboration of Pescamar and Nueva Pescanova. To date it has allowed improving the school´s curricula, and its equipment and has incorporated students to work at Pescamar.

Seafood MAP will give visibility to the work that Pescamar is doing to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, in this case highlighting its collaborative work to improve fisheries education.

Jose Joaquin Rodriguez

General Manager, Pescamar

Hugo Byrnes

Vice President Product Integrity, Ahold Delhaize

Hugo Byrnes joined Ahold in 2006 and was subsequently appointed to the position of Vice President Product Integrity. He is responsible for Ahold Delhaize’s food and non-food product policies, which cover product safety and responsible products. This includes social compliance, animal welfare and environmental issues. Hugo Byrnes has a Dutch Law degree from the State University Leiden, the Netherlands. He is a food lawyer whose career has focused on the food business and in particular on quality management and standardization.

Flavio Corsin

Director of Partnerships, Aqua-Spark

Flavio has spent more than two decades working in responsible aquaculture globally for non-profit, intergovernmental, and for-profit organizations. As Aqua-Spark’s Director of Partnerships, he is responsible for driving the development and execution of a robust partner ecosystem that aligns all stakeholders behind a core vision, while supporting Aqua-Spark’s portfolio, network, and goals. Prior to joining Aqua-Spark, Flavio worked for IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative, overseeing their Aquaculture Program. He was also IDH Vietnam Country Director, establishing groundbreaking public-private partnerships in coffee, tea, and apparel. He founded and ran the sustainability arm of the Vietnam association of farmers and fishers (VINAFIS). He has worked as an expert for over 20 international organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Flavio holds an M.Sc. in Aquaculture from the University of Stirling and a Ph.D. in Epidemiology, the study of diseases in populations, from the University of Liverpool.

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