Readers of AFMA News may be aware that AFMA regularly hears from international guest speakers on the latest of fisheries management in their country.
In January Dr Alex Caveen from Seafish UK (a UK Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) set up by the Fisheries Act 1981 to improve efficiency and raise standards across the seafood industry) visited Australia for the first time and took time out of his busy schedule to chat to AFMA staff about the UK’s Risk Assessment for Sourcing Seafood program (RASS).
RASS is a database that provides objective, scientifically derived environmental information on fish stocks to commercial buyers of seafood in the United Kingdom (UK).
Currently the database has 360 profiles of wild caught seafood providing risk scores on four key environmental categories; stock status, stock management, bycatch and habitat impact.
The database was launched in 2014 by Seafish UK with an aim to provide commercial seafood buyers in the UK with objective information to aid in their responsible sourcing decisions.
Dr Caveen said the uptake of the RASS database by commercial seafood buyers in the UK had been strong and continued marketing, particularly to smaller businesses will increase awareness of the benefits the tool offers.
“RASS provides time-poor commercial seafood buyers with a simple tool to access science based information so they can quickly assess their business’ exposure to corporate social responsibility risk,” Dr Alex Caveen said.
“Providing impartial information allows businesses to better manage their reputational risk around its impact on fish stocks and the wider marine environment.”
Whilst RASS is a Seafish UK initiative and the target audience of the tool is UK seafood businesses, Dr Caveen noted there is potential for the program to be of international interest.
“This type of tool could be of interest to seafood businesses in other countries. It would be great if interested parties could come together to develop protocols ensuring the information underpinning the risk assessments is credible and based on the best available science”.
Thank you to both Dr Caveen for taking the time to present to AFMA and also the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) who organised the presentation.
For more information on Seafish UK’s Risk Assessment for Sourcing Seafood program (RASS) visit www.seafish.org/rass.