Friend of the Sea is a project of the World Sustainability Organization for the certification and promotion of seafood from

sustainable fisheries A conventional idea of a sustainable fishery is that it is one that is harvested at a sustainable rate, where the fish population does not decline over time because of fishing practices. Sustainability in fisheries combines theoretical disciplin ...

and

sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

. It is the only certification scheme which, with the same logo, certifies both

wild Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...

and

farmed Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

seafood.

Overview

Friend of the Sea was started in 2008, by environmentalist and economist Paolo Bray, Director of International Programs of the Dolphin-Safe Tuna program and as a project of the

Earth Island Institute The Earth Island Institute is a non-profit environmental group founded in 1982 by David Brower. Located in Berkeley, California, it supports activism around environmental issues through fiscal sponsorship that provides the administrative and org ...

, the

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

which operates the successful International Dolphin-Safe project. Some of the main world retailers participate, such as

Carrefour Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The eighth-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, whic ...

, Coop Italia, Manor, Finiper, Aligro, Citysuper, Coldstorage, Conad, Despar, Esselunga, Fairprice, Lidl, Metro, Rewe, Spar, Walgreens, Walmart. Some important producers also have their products certified. Friend of the Sea's mission, in line with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

2020

Sustainable Development Goal 14 Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Goal 14 or SDG 14) is about "Life below water" and is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording is to "Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, sea ...

, is to use its ecolabel and conservation projects and campaigns to contribute to the health of the world's oceans. Friend of the Sea audits of seafood and omega3 products from sustainable fisheries and aquaculture are carried out only by qualified auditors of international certification bodies accredited by national accreditation bodies.Friend of the Sea is the only standard for sustainable fisheries to be recognized by the national accreditation bodies. Audits and surveillance are carried out every year. As of 2018, FoS certifies about 770 companies including both farmed and wild

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

including 44 approved

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...

and fleets, 3,000 products and 150 commercial species have been certified by FoS. As per the 2015 UN State of Sustainability Initiatives, its certified volumes have "grown at a rate of 91% per annum between 2008 and 2015, reaching 9.3 million metric tons of FoS certified wild catch seafood in 2015." Friend of the Sea, in collaboration with FEM2-Ambiente, has introduced the systematic use of

DNA Barcoding DNA barcoding is a method of species identification using a short section of DNA from a specific gene or genes. The premise of DNA barcoding is that by comparison with a reference library of such DNA sections (also called " sequences"), an indi ...

to avoid frauds and to confirm seafood and omega3 products sustainability.

Studies and recognitions

According to the “State of Sustainability Initiatives Review: Standards and the Blue Economy” published in 2016 by the

International Institute for Sustainable Development The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is an independent think tank founded in 1990 working to shape and inform international policy on sustainable development governance. The institute has three offices in Canada - Wi ...

(IISD), “FOS production has grown at a rate of 91% per annum between 2008 and 2015, reaching 9.3 million metric tons of FOS-certified wild catch seafood in 2015 (5.7% of global, 10.1% of total wild catch) making it the single largest source of certified catch on the global market.” Friend of the Sea is a Member Associate of Infofish, the project of the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

(FAO) of the United Nations, providing marketing information and technical advisory services to the fishery industry. The peer reviewed study “Evaluation and legal assessment of certified seafood” by Rainer Froese and Alexander Proelss concluded that “For the stocks with available status information, 19% (FOS) to 31% (MSC)

Marine Stewardship Council The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is a non-profit organization which aims to set standards for sustainable fishing. Fisheries that wish to demonstrate they are well-managed and sustainable compared to the MSC's standards are assessed by a t ...

had overfished stock sizes and were subject to ongoing

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in t ...

.” thus highlighting the performance of FOS standards. The report “De-Coding Seafood Eco-Labels: How the European Commission Can Help Consumers Access Sustainable Seafood” by Food and Water Watch Europe identified only 4 concerns regarding Friend of the Sea fisheries standard compared to 8 concerns regarding MSC.

Conservation projects and campaigns

In May 2019 Friend of the Sea managed to lead

Just Eat Just Eat (formerly known legally as Just Eat plc) is an online food order and delivery brand of Netherlands-based Just Eat Takeaway.com, and a former food delivery company. Just Eat was founded as a separate company in 2001 in Kolding, Denmark ...

Deliveroo Deliveroo is a British online food delivery company founded by Will Shu and Greg Orlowski in 2013 in London, England. It operates in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait ...

and

Menulog Menulog Pty. Ltd. (branded as simply Menulog) is an Australian and New Zealand online food and beverage ordering app and delivery service platform, headquartered and founded in Sydney in 2006. It was bought in 2015 by UK-based Just Eat, which ...

(Australia) to take off shark fin soups off their menu. FOS's Change.org petition to prevent ship strikes has obtained almost 50.000 signatures. FOS managed to lead the major members of the World Shipping Council to request the Sri Lankan government to shift the shipping lanes 15 miles South of current lanes, to reduce whales strikes by over 90%. Friend of the Sea collaborates with Tartalife project, introducing a Turtle Safe certification label to motivate fishermen and shipowners to deploy Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) and other turtle bycatch reduction measures. Friend of the Sea supports the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

Whale Shark Research Program (MWSRP), a research based conservation charity dedicated to whale shark studies and fostering community-focused conservation initiatives in the Maldives and the greater

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

. Friend of the Sea supports The Aquaculture Development for the Environment Organisation (ADE), a non-profit organisation that develops coral reef conservation and research projects in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

, such as reef rehabilitation with the involvement of the local community.

Compliance and criteria

Friend of the Sea's criteria compliance is verified by independent accredited certification bodies. Essential criteria for fisheries are: * the product should not originate from

overexploited Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term ap ...

(nor depleted,

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

or recovering) stocks * the fishing method should not impact the seabed * the fishing method should be selective (below the world average for

discards Discards are the portion of a catch of fish which is not retained on board during commercial fishing operations and is returned, often dead or dying, to the sea. The practice of discarding is driven by economic and political factors; fish which are ...

, which in 2005 was about 8%). * the fishery should respect all legal requirements. Article 30 of the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

Guidelines for Ecolabelling of Marine Fisheries Products requires that:

The “stock under consideration” is not overfished, and is maintained at a level which promotes the objective of optimal utilization and maintains its availability for present and future generations, taking into account that longer term changes in productivity can occur due to natural variability and/or impacts other than fishing. In the event that biomass drops well below such target levels, management measures (Code of Conduct Article 7.6) should allow for restoration within reasonable time frames of the stocks to such levels.

Friend of the Sea certified products from sustainable fisheries are in line with the FAO Guidelines for the ecolabelling of fish and fishery products from marine capture fisheries as they must comply with the following stricter requirements: * No

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

of endangered species (IUCN vulnerable or worse) * Compliance with regulation (no IUU, TAC, mesh size, minimum size, shark finning etc.) * Dolphin safe * Non entangling FADs *Trawler Excluder Devices in place *Albatross and turtle bycatch reduction measures in place *

Fuel efficiency Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device ...

Waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitorin ...

* Ghost fishing prevention measures * Social accountability

References

External links