Agreement Clears Way for Launch of China’s First Comprehensive Marine FIP
MOU teams Industry, In-Country Association, and NGO
April 18, 2018 Washington, DC –The NFI Red Crab Council, China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance (CAPPMA), and Ocean Outcomes (O2) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding designed to launch and implement a Red Swimming Crab Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP) in China.
The founding members of the NFI Red Crab Council include Asian Pacific Seafood, Bumble Bee Seafoods, Carrington Foods, Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods, Newport International, Stavis Seafoods, Supreme Crab & Seafood, and Twin Tails Seafood Corporation.
A first-ever MSC pre-assessment of the Chinese Red Swimming Crab fishery was completed in 2013, with a second finished in 2015. The NFI Red Crab Council, CAPPMA, and O2 began planning FIP efforts based on the results of these pre-assessments after collaborating on a stakeholder workshop in Dongshan, Fujian Province in 2016.
“Extensive time and research have gone into planning this complex Fisheries Improvement Project,” said NFI President, John Connelly. “The NFI Red Crab Council grew out of the most successful pre-competitive crab sustainability collaboration to date, in the original NFI Crab Council. And now with this collaboration between CAPPMA, O2, and the NFI Red Crab Council, coupled with the Chinese government’s renewed focus on Red Crab sustainability, opportunity is ripe to begin implementing this work.”
Stakeholder workshop in Dongshan, Fujian Province in 2016.
“This MoU links up a shared vision of sustainability from both ends of the Red Swimming Crab supply chain,” said CAPPMA President Dr. He Cui. “And our collective action will help secure the future of the fishery and a more prosperous China-US seafood trade, which effects thousands of Chinese fishers, processors, and US consumers.”
Thus far the FIP has been funded by the NFI Red Crab Council and generous support from the Gordon and Betty Moore foundation.
“It’s a joy to see dedicated industry leaders, fishing communities, and foundations come together to help us address the sustainability challenges of our Red Swimming Crab fisheries,” said O2’s China Program Director Songlin Wang. “We’re excited to grow these efforts and others of commercially important Chinese fisheries.”
While project development has been underway for years, the FIP is set to officially launch in early August and a prospective FIP profile is now publicly available on fisheryprogress.org.
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