Monterey Bay Aquarium
Seafood Watch
Business Program Collaborator
Contents
About Seafood Watch® ............................................ 1
Seafood Watch Recommendations ......................... 1
Seafood Watch Business Program ........................... 2
Become a Seafood Watch Collaborator ................... 2
Business Program Benefits....................................... 3
Collaborator Requirements ..................................... 4
Steps to Joining ....................................................... 5
About Seafood Watch®
The mission of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the oceans.
Seafood Watch, a program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, engages and empowers
consumers and businesses to purchase seafood that is fished or farmed in ways that
minimize their impact on the environment or are in a credible improvement project with
the same goal. The program, launched in 1999, continues to research and evaluate the
sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture operations worldwide. We share the resulting
seafood recommendations with the public, businesses and other interested parties in
several forms, including pocket guides, smartphone apps, and online at
seafoodwatch.org.
Seafood Watch is part of a broader sustainable seafood movement working to ultimately
transform the U.S. seafood marketplace in favor of environmentally responsible
fisheries and aquaculture operations. We believe that leveraging market forces is a
powerful and effective strategy in driving ocean conservation, ultimately helping to
sustain wild, diverse and healthy ocean ecosystems that can exist long into the future.
Seafood Watch Recommendations
Seafood Watch defines sustainable seafood as "coming from sources, whether fished or
farmed, that can maintain or increase production without jeopardizing the structure and
function of affected ecosystems."
In keeping with our definition of sustainability, we refer to guiding principles to illustrate
the qualities that fisheries and aquaculture operations must possess to be considered
sustainable. These guiding principles inform the criteria and scoring methodology used
to assess fisheries and aquaculture operations that drive reports and recommendations.
Recommendations are science-based, peer reviewed, and use ecosystem-based
criteria. For detailed information on the criteria used to assess environmental
sustainability, please review the following documents found on the website.
Recommendation Criteria for Wild-Caught Seafood
Recommendation Criteria for Farmed Seafood
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Seafood Watch Business Program
Our full suite of seafood recommendations is shared with thousands of businesses
across North America interested in ensuring a sustainable seafood supply for the
future. We invite you to learn more about the Seafood Watch Business Program—a
program that helps transform the marketplace in favor of environmentally responsible
fisheries and aquaculture operations.
Our Business Program Goals
•
Increase industry demand for environmentally responsible seafood
•
Recognize businesses that make a commitment to source environmentally responsible seafood
or that commit to provide source fishery and sustainability information to those businesses
•
Raise consumer awareness about the importance of environmentally responsible seafood
Become a Seafood Watch Collaborator
Consumer awareness of ocean issues and sustainable seafood is steadily growing.
Today, over 50% of U.S. consumers say that buying sustainable seafood is personally
important and many are willing to pay a premium 1. Making a commitment to source
environmentally responsible seafood is not just an important action to drive positive
environmental change, but is good for business too.
For businesses to successfully implement a sustainable seafood commitment, they
need to be informed of the source fishery information and sustainability rating of their
products. Seafood producers and suppliers play a key role in educating their customers
of which items meet their sustainability criteria.
To become a Seafood Watch Business Collaborator we ask that seafood producers
and suppliers identify and communicate the sustainability rating of their products and
provide accurate Seafood Watch information to all customers.
Seafood Watch defines environmentally responsible as seafood from sources that are:
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•
Rated Seafood Watch “Best Choice” or “Good Alternatives”;
•
Certified by a credible eco-certification scheme whose standard has been
identified by Seafood Watch as equivalent to at least a “Good Alternative” rating;
or,
•
Engaged in a credible Fishery Improvement Project as defined by the
Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions.
http://supermarketnews.com/sustainability/survey-consumers-want-sustainable-seafood
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Business Program Benefits
Seafood Watch Recommendations
Seafood Watch is regarded as the most credible source of information in North America, with
more than 2,500 science based-recommendations used by thousands of businesses to identify
environmentally responsible seafood. Seafood Watch reports, and their accompanying
recommendations, are dynamic and updated as new information becomes available.
Educational Tools and Resources
Working with Seafood Watch gives your business access to powerful educational tools and
training modules to engage your staff and customers about the issues facing the oceans, and
the role each of us has in creating a market for sustainable seafood.
Branded Pocket Guides
Collaborators can receive up to 1,000 pocket guides per year free of charge. Additional guides
can be ordered at $0.10 per guide. If ordering over 2,500 pocket guides at one time
Collaborators can include their logo on pocket guides.
Recognition
As a Seafood Watch Business Collaborator we will recognize your business on the Seafood
Watch website, and provide language that you can use to share your commitment and
collaboration with your customers.
Seafood Watch Brand
Becoming part of the Seafood Watch Business Program will enable your brand to be associated
with the most credible and recognized consumer-facing sustainable seafood program in North
America. Businesses will be provided with Brand Guidelines containing language and logos that
can be used to describe your relationship with Seafood Watch.
Webinars
Businesses will have access to our regularly scheduled webinars; an educational series focused
on upcoming industry developments, updated science recommendations and educational
opportunities.
Online Workspace
Business Program Members are invited to join this private online workspace to find important
resources and updates or to ask questions and engage in conversations about sustainable
seafood with Seafood Watch staff and fellow Seafood Watch Business Program members.
Aquarium Business Member Events
As a program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we invite businesses to attend business-focused
receptions, featuring networking opportunities, recognition for ongoing commitments and
educational lectures.
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Collaborator Requirements
Core Requirements
o Identify and communicate the sustainability rating of products and provide
accurate Seafood Watch information to customers.
o Assist the Seafood Watch Program in quarterly research prioritization exercises.
We appreciate your input as to what species are important to the market place
and on the usability of Seafood Watch reports.
o Demonstrate ongoing success of identifying and communicating accurate
information to customers.
o Ensure that Seafood Watch recommendations are identified individually at the
product level and not displayed in a manner that indicates all items have an
environmentally responsible recommendation.
o Support the Seafood Watch program through an annual program fee of $1,000.
Your support will ensure that the Seafood Watch program continues to create
and maintain timely and appropriate seafood reports and recommendations.
Additional Requirements and Guidelines
o Designate a primary point of contact to work with Seafood Watch staff. This will
ensure all of your commitments are met and all materials and information are
distributed.
o Ensure that all Seafood Watch intellectual property (i.e. recommendations,
pocket guides, logos, etc.) is up-to-date and that the most recent version of any
provided materials is being distributed.
o Act at all times as a good environmental steward.
o Adhere at all times to the Seafood Watch Brand Guidelines.
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Steps to Joining the Seafood Watch Business Program
1. Submit an application To let us know you are interested in becoming a Business
Program Collaborator, please complete the following Program Application Form.
If you have any specific questions or would like to discuss the overall program in
greater detail prior to submitting an application, please connect with a Seafood
Watch staff member by emailing [email protected].
2. Provide seafood assessment To demonstrate your ability to identify and communicate
the Seafood Watch ratings of your products, please provide a sample product
sheet or other intended marketing material that will be used to communicate your
product and its corresponding Seafood Watch rating to your customers. You may
use the online Seafood Calculator to create a product report. To perform an
assessment you will need detailed knowledge of your products, including the
species name (i.e. Gadhus morhua = Atlantic cod) as well as how and where it
was caught, or farmed.
3. Sign agreement Signing the agreement demonstrates your business’ commitment
to identify and communicate environmentally responsible recommendations on
product listings.
4. Minimum annual program fee The business program fee directly supports the
Seafood Watch program and the continued production and maintenance of
seafood recommendations.
5. Seafood Watch Brand Guidelines and assets After your signed agreement and payment
are processed, you will receive Brand Guidelines, digital logos, educational
materials and collateral used to demonstrate your commitment and the Seafood
Watch Business Program relationship to your customers.
6. Start seeing the benefits Seafood Watch will recognize and provide a link to your
business on the Seafood Watch Business Program web page.
For further information, please contact the Seafood Watch Business Program at [email protected]
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Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch®
Making Choices for Healthy Oceans
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