Fishta Seafood, Inc. signs a partnership agreement with USAID Fish Right and SeaTrace International, Inc. on May 31, 2022, at Discovery Primea, Makati, to promote responsible local seafood sourcing. The event also highlighted the importance of responsible sourcing in protecting the seas and fish population through improvements in gathering methods, processes, and programs.
According to USAID Fish Right, the Philippines is losing about 68.5 billion pesos to IUU (illegal, unreported, and unregulated) fishing and other unlawfully sourced seafood products every year.
Hence, the partnership between Fishta Seafood, USAID Fish Right, and SeaTrace International will help address this growing concern by influencing and engaging supply chains to adopt and implement responsible sourcing policies, providing market access for the seafood products, and by pursuing traceability and transparency for institutional customers and consumers.
“We have been forced to study our supply chains and make improvements on traceability through documentation and have conversations with our suppliers to educate them on the concept. We are still in the process of creating our RSS Policy to achieve 100% Traceability & Transparency in our supply chain.”, Carina Ong-Tan, general manager of Fishta Seafood shared.
This commitment is aligned with Fishta Seafood’s vision to provide traceable quality “Fish for every Filipino” and its mission of contributing to the sustainable inclusive growth of the Philippine aquaculture and fisheries sector. Fishta Seafood believes that achieving a sustainable seafood industry requires healthy relationships and cooperation among industry partners, government units, fishing communities, and other stakeholders to share innovations and efforts.