Conservation International, LRQA and FishWise have joined forces to form the Consortium for Social Risks in Seafood, to equip the sector with tools and resources to evaluate the human rights and labour risks therein.
The initiative, supported by the Walton Family Foundation and the Walmart Foundation, will offer guidance on assessing human rights and labour issues across the seafood supply chain, LRQA noted.
“Fundamentally, the consortium aims to improve the conditions and well-being of fishers, farmers and workers in seafood supply chains, promote decent work, and empower companies to manage their social risks,” stated Meghan Quinlan, vice-president of food and agriculture at LRQA.
The members of the consortium have been working together for the past two years to make this initiative a reality.
They focused on the advancement and implementation of the Social Responsibility Assessment (SRA) tool – a methodology that enables users to identify and assess social risks in fisheries.
New Consortium
In the next two years, members of the Consortium for Social Risks in Seafood will work on measures to fine-tune the SRA and update the Roadmap for Improving Seafood Ethics (RISE) platform, which provides guidance and resources on human rights due diligence across different levels in the seafood supply chain.
It will see the creation of a new advisory committee and direct engagement with workers, their representatives, human and labour rights groups, and the seafood industry via in-person and virtual workshops.
The group will also analyse the potential integration of social and environmental risk data into a customised seafood platform, to enable data-driven decision-making among seafood businesses, LRQA added.
‘Actionable And Scalable Guidance’
Kelley Bell, social responsibility division director at FishWise, said, “Action must be rooted in quality data and amplified worker participation and agency.
“With this agreement, we’re bringing together our unique expertise to deliver actionable and scalable guidance for the seafood industry on how to implement effective human rights due diligence.”
Around half of the companies assessed by the World Benchmarking Alliance’s Seafood Sustainability Index have little to no commitment to protect human rights in their operations and supply chains.
“Seafood companies are performing poorly on critical human and labour rights issues,” added Ashley Apel, seafood partnerships manager at Conservation International.
“With new human rights due diligence legislation emerging around the world, there is an urgency to gain visibility and better understand social risks in seafood supply chains.”
Other initiatives will include social risk assessments and actionable recommendations for how the sustainable seafood movement can better incorporate social-risk data into decision-making.
