Investors are closely watching the sustainability of seafood. Creating indicators and a forum for dialogue to connect seafood companies with finance. (Part 1)

In recent years, one of the factors driving sustainability in the fisheries industry is the expansion of ESG investment in the financial sector. One of the sources of information that investment and lending organizations refer to when making ESG investments is the evaluation by FAIRR. The FAIRR Initiative is a non-profit institutional investor network that has been providing investors with sustainability indicators for food and corporate evaluations. Starting in 2024, they have been conducting the "FAIRR Seafood Traceability Engagement" with the theme of traceability of seafood, and in May 2026, they plan to release the "Coller FAIRR Seafood Index," which evaluates the sustainability of major fisheries-related companies. We spoke with Max Busche, Head of Nature and Marine Programs at FAIRR, about the current state of seafood sustainability from a financial perspective and future challenges.

Max Boucher
He has served as the Head of Nature & Marine Programs at the investor network FAIRR since 2021. Prior to joining FAIRR, he worked for Bloomberg for eight years as an equity research analyst, later developing an interest in ESG and sustainable finance. He is a graduate of the prestigious Canadian business school HEC Montreal and holds a CFE qualification.
FAIRR Official URL:https://www.fairr.org/

An event featuring Mr. Busche will be held on June 11th. Please join us!

Sustainability is a major theme in the financial industry.

—Could you tell us about the circumstances and background that led you to become involved in the sustainability of seafood in your current job?

My specialty is finance. I studied finance at university and worked in this field for nearly 10 years before joining FAIRR.

For me, working in finance was appealing because it allowed me to be involved in a wide range of fields. From baby products to luxury apparel brands, I learned about the business dynamics of various industries, collected and analyzed company information, and evaluated investment suitability, and gradually the importance of sustainability grew larger in my mind.

--Around what time was that?

It was the late 2010s. In 2018, sustainability and ESG became major topics in the financial industry. Bloomberg, where I worked at the time, was also beginning to expand its related initiatives. Since the areas I dealt with, such as chocolate, also had many sustainability-related issues such as human rights, child labor, and environmental protection, I became very interested and wanted to learn more about sustainability-related fields as financial risks.

—Was there a particular reason you joined FAIRR in 2021? 

What I realized while seriously trying to address sustainability in the financial industry is that collaboration is the only way to bring about change. FAIRR is precisely a platform for collaboration, reaching over 400 financial institutions and more than 100 companies. The collaborations initiated from here have tremendous power, and that was a major attraction for me.

Back in 2021, "nature" was an entirely new field for investors. Nobody knew how to handle it or incorporate it into their investment decisions.TNFDThis was a time when there was nothing, and no framework whatsoever.

Ms. Busche (second from the right) spoke at a panel session on investment and financing institutions and the traceability of fishery products at TSSS2025, held in Osaka in October 2025.

Risks in the seafood business from an investor's perspective and countermeasures

—Could you tell us about the basic objectives and operations of the organization FAIRR?

FAIRR is an investor network founded in 2015 by Jeremy Koller. Its origins lie in Koller's own experience as a private equity investor, particularly in the food industry, where he felt there was a lack of adequate sustainability information. He believed a system was needed to help investors understand sustainability and incorporate it into their investments—this was the starting point.

FAIRR is funded by the Jeremy Koller Foundation, where Jeremy Koller serves as Chief Investment Officer, so FAIRR members do not need to pay membership fees. Member investors have access to and participate in all of FAIRR's activities. These activities take various forms, including working groups, roundtables, internal training sessions, and engagement programs, and every member participates in some way.

FAIRR is a network of institutional investors whose purpose is to help them address risks and opportunities in the food sector. It has 450 participating institutional investors and a total investment of $75 trillion, giving it significant influence (image from FAIRR's official website).

──So, what sparked your interest in marine products?

Over the past five years, awareness of ocean-related issues has rapidly increased among our members. For many investors, the catalyst for turning their attention to the "nature" sector was climate change and greenhouse gases. This was followed by deforestation, and now the ocean is coming into view. While the ocean was an unfamiliar field for investors, the limits of fishery resources are clear with sufficient data, and in a sense, it is easier to understand than deforestation caused by agriculture.

—Where did your specific initiatives targeting marine products begin?

Initially, in 2020, the theme was aquaculture. In aquaculture, the wild fish used as feed can be a major business risk. In fact, there was a time when the price of sardines in Peru, which were used for fish oil, tripled in a year due to poor catches. In a business with small profit margins, it becomes difficult to make a profit if even a portion of the costs triple.

As an investor, I wanted to know if the aquaculture company was taking measures to mitigate this risk. Therefore, I conducted a fairly in-depth investigation and analysis of the feed ingredients and raw material sourcing.

—You launched traceability engagement for seafood in 2024. Why did you focus on traceability?

The first step in evaluation is to gather information and understand the big picture. If you don't know where the fish you're handling come from, it's difficult to achieve sustainability or eliminate human rights risks. Starting with traceability was inevitable.

FAIRR, in collaboration with WWF, the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), the World Benchmarking Alliance, and Planet Tracker, launched the "FAIRR Seafood Traceability Engagement" in 2024 with the aim of eliminating overfishing, illegal activities, and biodiversity loss from the seafood value chain. Four of the seven seafood-related companies targeted are Japanese companies. The images show the Phase 1 report and the Phase 2 interim report, both published in December 2024.click here to download

Supporting information dissemination and dialogue with investors for fisheries companies.

—In FAIRR's traceability engagement program, four out of the seven target companies were Japanese companies. What are your impressions of working with Japanese companies?

One characteristic I noticed is that Japanese companies tend not to disclose their initiatives until success is certain. This is in contrast to European companies. While caution isn't necessarily a bad thing, investors want information sooner. We accept cultural differences, but we also encourage proactive communication once we have gained their trust.

Secondly, there's a huge corporate group that isn't managed in a unified way. I think if they could identify best practices across the entire group and share them, it would benefit the whole group.

Also, overall, it seems that they are still not used to communicating with investors. On the other hand, several Japanese fisheries companiesSeaBOSParticipate in international collaboration organizations such asGDSTThe fact that they are involved in setting standards shows that change has begun. More recently, at TSS2025, where I also spoke, the establishment of JRSR was announced, creating a framework for Japanese companies to collaborate on traceability and due diligence, which further emphasized the speed and strength of this change. Japanese companies understand the necessity and effectiveness of these initiatives that go beyond existing frameworks. It seems that it is currently taking time for them to process this and put it into practice.

—What methods are there to encourage change in companies?

Support from investors is effective. We have been saying that "even if results are not yet visible, disclosing the initiatives that have begun sends a positive message to the financial markets," and compared to before, information disclosure is gradually progressing.

—Are you referring to the voices of individual investors, or as a group?

When FAIRR initiates an engagement, it shares the information with all members and invites their participation, but the number of participants in specific discussion forums is limited. This is because we want to focus on two-way dialogue. In these forums, FAIRR takes a step back and respects the dialogue between companies and investors.

However, the food industry is extremely complex, and financial professionals generally don't know much about the food business. Therefore, we support investors by sharing information on areas for improvement from the company's side, comparisons with competitors, and the latest industry trends, so they can engage in dialogue with a solid understanding. This kind of preparation is crucial for productive dialogue.

Of course, we also have large-scale webinars and medium-sized roundtables. We adapt the framework depending on the situation, topic, and goals we want to achieve.

In the FAIRR Seafood Traceability Engagement program, the seven companies (far left) indicated the degree to which they disclosed information for each of the items listed above, using a four-level scale: green, yellow, orange, and red (from the Phase 1 report).

Part2Now, let's discuss the Coller FAIRR Seafood Index for investors, which will be launched in 2026. We'll cover its mechanisms, procedures, its significance for both investors and companies, and how to bring about change in the fisheries industry.

Interviewed and written by: Keiko Ihara
He was in charge of design research and concept studies at a general design office until 2002. Since 2008, he has been involved in design research at infield design, and also works as a freelance writer and translator of design-related articles.