TSSS 10th Special Feature : Completing a Massive Jigsaw Puzzle Spanning the Entire Society for Sustainable Seafood Worldwide(Part 2)
INTERVIEW
Jim Cannon of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) is advancing efforts toward the sustainable, large-scale, and long-term use of marine resources by collaborating with a broad range of stakeholders. In the first half, Cannon emphasized the importance of listening to feedback from the on-site parties and discussed creating frameworks for sustainable and enduring engagement within the complex, intertwined seafood supply chain. (Read Part 1)
In the second half of the interview, we will cover Jim Cannon’s motivations behind founding SFP, the roles of both government and private sectors in managing marine resources, feasible actions in real-world settings, and his expectations for the “Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Summit” set for October 2024.
――Can you tell us more about your motivation and inspiration in founding the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) in 2006?
My immediate reason for founding the SFP was that we needed a separate organization to support a project we were trying to implement at that time. Most of it was for practical reasons, but the underlying motivation was something that had been developing for years.
One of my early tasks at the first NGO was to attend meetings to establish marine protected areas in the North Sea. As I took my seat, I noticed that the minister across from me was flanked by bureaucrats whispering in his ear. Behind those bureaucrats were representatives from the fishing industry, who were also whispering to them. Witnessing this, I realized that with such a structure, meaningful dialogue was unlikely to happen.
Talking to the minister was clearly not going to amount to anything. The likelihood of that minister still being in position a few years later was low, and most fisheries ministers worldwide would likely prefer to focus on what they consider more important agendas, such as finance, rather than fishery issues.
After the meeting, I directly talked with the fishery stakeholders, as they are the ones who are truly concerned about this issue. I asked them why they opposed a certain idea, and they replied why this and that were unacceptable. I told them that wasn’t what we were asking for, but then they pointed out something we wrote. I then suggested an alternative, which they agreed to. I couldn’t help but wonder why no one had ever engaged in this dialogue before. The NGO and industry had become too accustomed to their opposing positions.
At its roots, my motivation was to engage in genuine dialogue with those who truly care and to connect and collaborate with them.
――The government has been your long-time partner in your work. However, why does it look like you’ve been working more with corporations instead in recent years?
I had a Mexican classmate who sat next to me during my doctorate studies. This person became the head of the national fisheries management agency after they returned home, and from the late 1990s to around 2005, Mexico made significant progress in fisheries management. This made me realize that many governments have the potential to establish modern fisheries management systems.
However, after the 2008 crisis, many countries fell into debt, hindering their capacity for fisheries management. Although marine scientists knew the situation was dire, they couldn’t deploy research vessels due to a lack of funds, even for fuel. On top of this, the regions where we were working to improve fisheries often had unstable governments. With ministers changing every six months, consistent decision-making was unlikely. In some cases, initiatives that progressed even began to regress.
After observing this trend for several years, I realized that effective, modern fisheries management requires a stable government that can uphold and execute its responsibilities. Sadly, establishing a stable government was too much for SFP to handle.
However, despite all this, we can still achieve something by collaborating with private companies. For example, many seafood businesses gather substantial amounts of data as part of their operations. By sharing some of this data, to the extent it doesn’t interfere with their business, they can greatly contribute to assessing marine resources and building an objective, scientific understanding of fisheries.
Water companies can also participate in discussions on establishing new regulations. In my opinion, these kinds of collaborations give rise to the best and most effective regulations. Rules are much easier to implement when they are fair, understandable, agreeable, and drafted with direct input from those involved.
――I see that the private sector has its own way of engaging and helping.
That’s right. I also want to bring up their involvement in monitoring systems. One of the projects I worked on as a fisheries management consultant back in 1991 was to assess fisheries resources in Scotland.
While inspections of fishing vessels and ports were being conducted, they were not effective in deterring problematic practices. Boarding vessels at sea for inspection is expensive and limited in frequency, often resulting in civil lawsuits. Furthermore, the courts handling these security cases tend to be hesitant to prosecute anglers due to political reasons. In other words, this system was failing on multiple fronts.
Then, one person raised an idea: to implement a permit system for fish transport. If anglers could not prove their catch was legal, their permits would be revoked. At that time (1991), around half of the fish landed in Scotland were caught illegally and transported directly to London by truck. This approach aimed to increase accountability in the fishing industry and reduce illegal fishing practices.
The administrative agency responsible for enforcing this was the highway police. Officers would pursue trucks in patrol cars and apprehend the drivers. This approach was very effective and had immediate results. For me, it was a remarkable innovation.
Since involving highway police to enforce regulations on seafood products was effective, what if we could implement this in other countries as well? For instance, who would act as the “highway police” for importers of frozen tuna into Japan? It could be the customs authority in the exporting country. Businesses themselves might even take on this responsibility.
For example, declaring that a company will only purchase from clean, legal suppliers is a form of joint management by businesses. In other words, it would be best if someone could act as the “highway police” and monitor transactions. There are many ways within the entire food production/distribution system that can support fisheries management.
Naturally, we must respect the fact that all fisheries fundamentally belong to the local communities and the countries in which they operate. However, once domestic laws are established on-site, there are various ways to support them.
――So you’re saying that two steps are needed: creating regulations and making them effective?
Aside from those, we also need scientific data to create regulations. I believe that scientific data, establishment of regulatory systems, and their enforcement and effectiveness constitute the three pillars that support fisheries management. The reality is that many countries still have to start by strengthening each of these pillars one by one, which requires collaboration among researchers, the industry, NGOs, and the government.
While many retailers use their own sustainability labels, SFP provides supporting public information, a global sustainability level and scale for comparison, and appropriate disclosure measures. SFP is also working on a standardized individual fish “ID” system across the seafood industry. (from SFP’s 2022-23 annual report The Business of Sustainable Seafood. Full article here).――You’ll be speaking at this year’s TSSS (Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Summit) for the first time in five years since 2019. Reflecting on the summit from five years ago, what impressions did you have at that time, and what are your thoughts on the developments that have occurred since then?
At the 2019 summit*, I felt that the participants were at the initial stage as they were thinking about what they could do. I believe it was a fantastic platform for creating valuable connections as well as meeting various companies and people from different positions working on sustainable seafood. There were discussions about launching new initiatives, leading to several partnerships.
Things have advanced significantly since then. The projects and partnerships formed then are now maturing and delivering results. To highlight an example, large corporations have begun structuring long-term initiatives.
The next step is for Japanese distribution companies and suppliers to join forces and participate more proactively in fishery improvement solutions, and even this is already underway. I think this is wonderful, and I feel optimistic that more Japanese companies will continue to get involved in the future.
At the 2019 Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Summit, Jim Cannon participated in the session “Role of Retailers: Driving the Sustainable Seafood Initiatives” and the luncheon “Tuna Sustainability Overview: Introduction to the Supplier Roundtable.” The photo shows the luncheon session. On the left is Jim Cannon, and in the center is Kathryn Novak, who was also Global Market Director at SFP at the time.
――And what are your expectations for this year’s summit?
I hope it can convey a new message while continuing the flow of previous discussions. This summit is a place where Japanese companies, NGOs, and government agencies can align their awareness, and I believe it’s especially important for companies to learn from each other’s experiences.
If I tell Japanese companies how to do things, they’ll likely respond with something like, ‘I see. You might be right since you’re an expert.’ However, if a competitor shares their success and suggests they try it, the message takes on a whole new weight. What I’m trying to say is that it’s important for peers in similar positions to interact and exchange ideas.
It is also important to create a place where stakeholders from various positions can come together—a platform for exploring what we can share and agree upon, finding collaboration opportunities, and taking action.
――Lastly, what would you like to convey in this upcoming summit?
Ultimately, fishery companies need a stable supply of raw materials to survive, and achieving this requires a stable ecosystem. No matter how well organizations manage a single fish species, if the ecosystem becomes unstable, the sustainability of the fishery will be compromised.
Scaling up efforts to encompass the entire ecosystem will surely be no easy task. It is not something that can be accomplished solely by the fisheries industry or the Minister of Fisheries. It will require long-term initiatives that span multiple sectors of the economy and society.
What I want to communicate to consumers, retail companies, and everyone else is that it’s not a problem of products. Environmental organizations have long claimed that products are the issue, urging us to choose green products. However, I want to emphasize that consumers should also buy from good companies that promote change to address environmental issues.
Global change requires decades of collaboration among relevant companies, and supporting them means buying from those companies. However, conveying this message has always been a challenge. Naturally, buying green products is not a bad thing, and if you don’t know which companies are good, it’s better to choose good products. However, this approach is not the most optimal option.
──I see. To ensure that change can continue in the long term, it is important to purchase from companies that are addressing environmental issues.
That’s right. As we discussed earlier, everyone agrees that proactive company activities, long-term contributions, and collaboration are important. However, when I follow it up with, “Based on that logic, we should buy from them,” many people find themselves taken aback.
However, unlike our past environmental initiatives, this is the first time that our advice to consumers aligns with our message to companies and environmental activists. The existing international certifications primarily focus on product certifications rather than company certifications. While this is a good system, I believe it needs a different perspective for further improvement.
Jim Cannon
Jim Cannon is the founder and CEO of SFP. He used to work at Conservation International, where he was a fish sourcing advisor for McDonald’s starting in 2002 and later an advisor on seafood sustainability for Walmart from 2004. From 2005 to 2008, he was a member of the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) Technical Advisory Board. Cannon studied ecology at the University of Cambridge and pursued environmental economics and fisheries management at Imperial College London.
Original Japanese text: Keiko Ihara
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