Impact Report

The seafood industry is facing challenges that one company cannot tackle alone. That is why SeaBOS is so important – it brings together likeminded businesses to achieve positive change on a global scale. Collectively, and grounded in science, we have the strength and reach to make a difference. Thai Union’s own goals and ambitions align with those of SeaBOS, and together we want to protect our oceans, ensure fisheries around the world are sustainable, and protect workers across the entire industry. After it’s launch in 2016, SeaBOS has a clear vision, but much work remains. It is crucial that the work of the individual member companies remains aligned with that of SeaBOS, with equal ambitions. As this Impact report shows, we have achieved good progress on some of our goals, and less on others. Seven years in, we need to continue delivering on our ambitions on ocean stewardship, work together and do our part to make further progress in our operations and supply chains to positively influence the industry as a whole.

In 2016, eight keystone actors answered our call from science to discuss their possible engagement in global ocean stewardship. In 2017, two additional companies joined, and scientists were asked to identify key geographical areas of IUU fishing and labor abuse. By 2018 companies agreed to focus on these challenges, antibiotics use and plastics, and to substantially advance transparency. In 2019 they added climate change and resilience as focus areas. By 2020, companies set time bound goals and started to share sensitive data with us, on their possible exposure to IUU fishing and labor abuse, use of antibiotics, plastics, and climate emissions. By 2022 they published their first progress report. Today, they share publicly, in ways they have never done before, their achievements, challenges and ambitions. They have come a long way and have far to go. I am proud to be part of this movement towards ocean stewardship and encourage the seafood industry to follow their lead.

SeaBOS is firmly established as a unique collaboration, with exciting and challenging opportunities ahead, to deal with some of the biggest problems in the seafood sector. We have developed trust between and amongst science and industry members from wild-catch, aquaculture, fish feed producers, and processors. We have aligned ourselves with a common vision, commitments, and time bound goals. Having developed the fundamentals of trust across our group, we have been able to hold ‘constructive dialogue’ about potential solutions and challenges, develop collaborations across our group and broader, and this Impact Report is a mechanism to hold both ourselves accountable to our stated goals and collaborations, as well as demonstrate publicly what we are doing. There is still much to achieve, but this report demonstrates there has been valuable progress, and we will continue efforts to speed up and deliver on our vision.