Sustainable Seafood Forum at the China Fisheries & Seafood Expo - The perfect time and place to talk seafood sustainability

Various live coral reef species common to the Indo/Pacific region in a Hong Kong fish market. Julie McGowan, Timana Photography, 2006/Marine Photobank

(Qingdao, China)      Moving the seafood industry towards sustainable practices has grown in scope and popularity over the last 20 years. The sustainable seafood movement has most notably taken hold in Europe and North America, from producers to retailers to consumers. But with a growing middle class in China and the increasingly important role of East Asia in the global seafood industry, focus is shifting to how the current and future stages of the sustainable seafood movement will play out in this area of the world. This was highlighted during the 3rd Annual Sustainable Seafood Forum at the China Fisheries & Seafood Expo in Qingdao, China.

Organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and Sea Fare Expositions, and sponsored by SeaWeb and WWF, the program offered a forum for presentations and discussion on topics regarding the seafood industry in China. The focus of the forum’s presentations centered on the current challenges and opportunities in sustainable seafood. As pointed out by SeaWeb’s Philip Chou, Chinese consumers’ sustainability consciousness is rising, which presents opportunities for stakeholders in the Chinese seafood industry to develop their business along this growing demand.  Some of these opportunities can be found in increasing the supply chain transparency and seeking third party certification of their products, as pointed out by Iain Pollard, Fisheries Economist at MRAG. In taking such steps, seafood producers and sellers might be able to appeal to both domestic consumers and buyers for international markets.

Retailers presenting at the forum exemplified these views in their positive outlook to increase sustainable products in their Chinese outlets and through their initiatives with Chinese producers to increase the amount of certified product. Presenting retailers included Yasun Yamamoto of Aeon Topvalu, Lewis Allen of Sainsbury, and Clotilde Pallier of Carrefour China.

As a counterpoint, Dr. Leng Chuanhui - Liaoning Ocean and Fishery Research Institute and Chris Hanselman, Managing Director of Pacific Rich Resources Group conveyed the difficulty faced by Chinese producers and processors to produce sustainably certified product because, to date, production of those products have not yielded additional economic benefits over traditional products.

Organics are an area that already setting China apart from other countries. Audun Lem, Senior Fishery Industry Officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) discussed how China not only constitutes the bulk of the world’s aquaculture products, but is also the largest producer of organic aquaculture products. With 72 operations nation wide having received organic certification and the number of farm raised species up to 30 (including at least 15 fish species) as of 2009, China is proving that it’s a critical part of the sustainable seafood discussion. 

Leading up to the Seafood Summit in Hong Kong next September, the Sustainable Seafood Forum in Qingdao demonstrates that China is a great setting to see and discuss the current developments around seafood sustainability.

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