Achieving fundraising with full-chain traceability in line with international standards

For fisheries-related companies to comply with the environmental and human rights information disclosure requirements of investment and financing institutions, it is essential to establish full-chain traceability. By visualizing the entire supply chain,IUU (illegal, unreported, unregulated) fishingWe need to consider how to attract sustainable finance while eliminating risks such as corruption and human rights violations.

On the second day of the Sustainable Seafood Summit in Osaka (TSSS2025) on October 2, 2025, a panel discussion entitled "New fundraising methods led by supply chain visualization" was held, inviting five people involved in finance.

After announcing their respective initiatives,We discussed the positioning of nature positivity and ocean issues within financial institutions.

For investors,Sustainability standards announced

FAIRR is a global network of institutional investors established to assess risks and opportunities related to sustainability in the food sector. It has over 420 investors from around the world and over 90They have joint assets of over a trillion dollars. They are also working to improve the traceability of seafood, and in 2024 will release a report assessing seven companies, including four Japanese companies. In 2025, they will release sustainability standards for the world's 20 largest listed seafood companies, which are scheduled to be released in 2026.We have begun creating the Coller FAIRR Seafood Index.

This standard allows financial institutions to understand the preparedness of seafood-related companies to address risks and opportunities specific to the industry. Companies are evaluated based on 16 criteria, including climate, social, health, and opportunity. Investors can use the Seafood Index to comprehensively understand a company's efforts, integrate their investment methods, and engage with the company.Max Boucher of the FAIRR Initiative said,Among investorsThere is growing awareness of the financial importance of sustainability and traceability, and we are working with companies to find appropriate solutions."

Attracting the attention of financial institutions and investorsInternational standardization of seafood traceability

The Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) is a business-to-business platform established to create a global seafood traceability standard that will secure new funding through supply chain transparency. Data sharing is practical for establishing traceability, but standardization also enables sharing of inconsistent or incomplete data.

As of September 2025, 112 partners are participating in the GDST, and they are discussing what data should be collected, when to collect it, what data format it should be in, how to share it, and other issues in order to standardize data. Currently, the focus of standardization is on the digitization of data, and Hugh Thomas of the GDST says:"Mr."Digitalization is revolutionizing data management for companies and governments, enabling efficient sharing and advanced analysis. What's important is that all parties can access data even from different systems, and that it is compatible and interoperable (the ability to exchange and interpret data without human intervention)," he said.

Financial institutions' efforts to support traceability for small and medium-sized businesses

While it is said that 25 trillion yen in funding is needed annually to achieve SDG 14, "Conserve and sustainably use the oceans and seas," the total amount of blue economy-related loans in 2022 was only 4,400 billion yen. In order for fisheries companies to receive loans from financial institutions, they must be able to appropriately manage risks in addition to the feasibility of their business, making traceability and data disclosure important. Furthermore, because traceability in the fisheries sector is costly, companies are subject to strict scrutiny of whether they are making a profit even if they are making environmentally friendly efforts.

Efforts to ensure traceability in the fisheries sector are becoming increasingly important from the perspective of eliminating IUU fishing, but the reality is that this places a heavy burden on small and medium-sized businesses. The issue is how costs and incentives should be handled, and it is hoped that a model will be developed that pools ideas and utilizes mechanisms for cost sharing and value creation. Mizuho Financial Group and As a financial example, Mizuho Bank's Kotaro Sueyoshi shared how they are working across the entire supply chain by utilizing a fundraising mechanism called "supply chain finance," which allows small and medium-sized suppliers to quickly collect cash by purchasing the accounts receivable of large buyers. He also said, "There is data that shows that blue bonds grow in scale of investment more than four times faster than green bonds, and we would like to continue to actively engage in blue finance."

Issues facing the fishing industry as seen through support in the natural capital sector and the future of investment management

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management, an investment management company, focuses on water resources, forest protection, marine plastics, and human rights issues in the supply chain in the field of natural capital. Among these, a natural rubber plantation in Thailand, which Ken Wada of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management engaged in, faces a variety of issues similar to those in the fishing industry, including child labor and human rights violations against migrant workers, and it is believed that influencing multiple stakeholders could lead to changes in corporate behavior.

Wada said, "In recent years, there has been an increase in shareholder proposals overseas in the field of natural capital, including the fisheries industry. In response to this, we will support companies' efforts toward full-chain traceability and call for companies to take responsibility for traceability. In November 2025, the general meeting of the PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment), of which we are a member, will be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30) will be held in Belém, also in the same country. I believe that through these events, many asset managers and asset owners will become interested in the field of natural capital, and that the fisheries industry will also attract more attention."

Discussion: Framework for financial support for small and medium-sized fisheries businesses and trends in ESG investment

Following the presentations by the four students,Kawaguchi Mariko pointed out that "Investors' investment targets are basically listed companies, and major banks have a structural problem in that it is difficult to directly lend to local small and medium-sized businesses without the backing of major corporate buyers." In particular, it is extremely difficult to evaluate what and how to evaluate businesses related to the ocean, so traceability must be in place even more than on land.He said that mechanisms like GDST and FAIRR will be important.

Professor Fujita Kaori of Tohoku University and Nikkei ESG Senior Editor asked, "Why is nature positivity attracting attention among financial institutions right now, and what position does the ocean hold within that?" In response, Sueyoshi replied, "Nature is attracting the attention of financial institutions as an area that offers both opportunities and risks." He touched on the future potential of the ocean, saying, "The ocean area has the potential to turn environmental value into economic value, just like carbon credits." Furthermore, Wada, in his role as an investment management company tackling climate change, is currently offering "CO2"We are interested in seeing this reduced," he said, indicating the possibility of contributions in the area of ​​climate change.

In response to Fujita's question, "There is an anti-ESG movement in the United States, but what are Western investors' true feelings toward ESG and biodiversity?", Max replied that while political movements around the world, including the United States, are changing, investors' commitment to ESG and biodiversity efforts remains largely unchanged. As the world's population and economy grow, seafood is attracting attention as a low-carbon food source with low greenhouse gas emissions, but on the other hand, there are issues such as overfishing and safety, and Max pointed out that one way for financial institutions to address these issues is to work with companies.

Hugh said that a survey he conducted about five years ago found that British retailers had identified around 180 sustainability issues related to seafood, and that these issues must be addressed carefully as demand for sustainability increases.At the same time, he emphasized that as demand for the seafood industry in the global market is also increasing, standardization through digitalization is necessary and also presents business opportunities.

This session confirmed that establishing traceability in accordance with international standards is attracting attention from financial institutions and is an essential element for Japanese seafood businesses to survive in the international community.

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