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Responsible Fishing In the markets for food and fish, consumers have never been more knowledgeable, aware, discerning and interested about the products they buy than they are today. Today's consumer does not only require high quality fresh fish, but is also seeking reassurance that their fish has been caught in a responsible manner. These consumer demands place pressure on retailers, large or small, and on the supply chain in general; to be able to demonstrate that their products can indeed satisfy these requirements. Major retailers throughout the world now take the business of their corporate responsibility very seriously. Businesses and organisations now draw up policies clearly stating their position with respect to their impact on environment, waste and recycling, and codes of conduct for product sourcing. These policies influence board decisions on how businesses are run and affect both the medium and long term strategy of the business. All stakeholders expect and demand that these policies and codes be followed. The running of a fishing vessel can be thought of in similar terms to any other business, and therefore vessel operators should be aware of the changing demands of their customers and seek ways in which to satisfy them. At an operational level for fishing boats, there has, up until now, been no single recognised standard of good practice which can be used to demonstrate to the supply chain how the fish has been caught. The operational responsibility of a vessel can be thought of as having to satisfy a number of stakeholders: • the people and businesses to which the boat supplies its catch • the financial shareholders of the boat • the environment • the crew and the communities in which they live. The development of the specification of good practice for fishing vessels, a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) written on behalf of industry by the British Standards Institution (BSI) provides an industry guide from which the Responsible Fishing Scheme (RFS) has been developed. The RFS can be used as a tool in both the catching sector and the supply chain to raise standards, and demonstrate that the supply of fish has been caught by a vessel which complies with current good practice. The Scottish pelagic industry fully supports this scheme as a means by which the pelagic industry can provide reassurance to customers; the supply chain, the ultimate consumer and society in general of their ability to follow good operational practice. The Scottish industry recommends that all pelagic vessels work within the scheme to demonstrate a recognised standard of good practice and provide the supply chain with the reassurance that pelagic products have been fished responsibly. The benefits of the Responsible Fishing Scheme to pelagic vessels are that they can: • demonstrate that they operate to industry good practice guidelines. • provide assurance that the fish from the vessel has been caught responsibly. • provide a tool to differentiate the fleet in the global marketplace. The industry realises that this scheme has been developed to recognise good practice and that it will, over time, require modification and improvement in order to keep it practical, relevant and meaningful to pelagic fishing operations. It is therefore willing, able and keen to participate in further development processes to forward and strengthen such tools which help to raise standards and seek continuous improvement for the benefit of the industry. |