It is widely recognized that Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) are an important tool for developing public-private alliances to engage commercial fisheries in long-term sustainability projects. However, a lack of understanding of the market from the FIP implementors (primarily NGOs) could undermine the opportunity to develop such partnerships and, as a result, hamper the growth of FIPs in their total numbers and the seafood volume involved in the project. In addition, competition among NGOs in certain fisheries for funding resources from philanthropy and a need for incentives to collaborate among them and with industry to grow the ecosystem of FIPs creates a challenging environment for new, more extensive, and more robust projects that have leverage in the markets.
This panel will bring together experts from NGOs, philanthropy, and industry to discuss solutions to expand understanding of the market and move together to expand the use of this tool. The panel will include the participation of seafood buyers, including importers from the US who are part of the larger ecosystem of actors engaged in sustainability that could incentivize investment in more extensive projects for export markets.
