Mainstreaming sustainable seafood from Qingdao, China （Part 2）
INTERVIEW
Wang Songlin established the environmental NGO Qingdao Marine Conservation Society (QMCS) and serves as its president. In Part 1, he reflected on his experiences at various international NGOs’ China offices and the establishment and major initiatives of QMCS. (<Read Part 1)
In Part 2, Mr. Wang, who has appeared as a speaker at the Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Summit (TSSS) on multiple occasions, shares his vision for cooperation and collaboration in the Asian region, as well as how he remains optimistic even in difficult situations.
— I heard that besides QMCS, which is an NGO, you also run a company called TaoRan. What is the relationship between the two?
TaoRan is a private company with a role distinct from QMCS. I use TaoRan to connect Chinese players promoting marine conservation and sustainable seafood with international players. As TaoRan is a for-profit environmental consulting company, it’s much easier to collaborate with the seafood industry. We can take on various tasks such as supply chain investigations, and companies feel that TaoRan is a more reliable client.
TaoRan is similar to a social enterprise because we also provide consulting and specialized services to like-minded NGOs. In other words, I consider QMCS and TaoRan as a double engine.
Recently, I moved TaoRan’s base to Hong Kong.
— Are you expanding your business in Hong Kong?
Yes. One major reason is to promote cooperation and collaboration in the Asian region. I think this is an interest we share with Seafood Legacy.
I believe Hong Kong can be a good base for the Asian region. Of course, Tokyo is also an excellent base. Since Hong Kong is a gateway connecting China with the rest of the world, it has the potential to become another strong hub for the sustainable seafood movement.
We are currently discussing with stakeholders about holding an international conference on sustainable seafood in Hong Kong early next year.
— Next year?!
It’s still in the early planning stages, so it’s an expectation rather than a decision. Seafood Legacy is also one of the joint applicants. In the future, we might be able to hold the Sustainable Seafood Summit alternately between Hong Kong and Tokyo.
— Are you also considering holding it in Qingdao?
That’s a long-term goal. I would like to someday revitalize Qingdao as a venue for international conferences for the responsible seafood movement and marine conservation. It would be an honor beyond my expectations if I could serve as a host.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the China Fisheries & Seafood Expo was held annually in Qingdao, and in terms of scale, it was a major seafood trade show comparable to the Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona and the Seafood Expo North America (SENA) in Boston. However, it was severely impacted by the pandemic, being scaled back in 2021 and cancelled in 2022. Furthermore, affected by the war between Russia and Ukraine since 2022, recent trade frictions and rising tariffs, the expo has not yet recovered to its previous scale.
— This is a very vague question, but generally speaking, do Chinese people know about sustainable seafood? Are they interested in the sustainability of fishery resources?
Frankly speaking, I think most Chinese consumers prioritize quality and price. They are probably not so different from Japanese consumers in that respect. Of course, they also value taste, but Chinese consumers’ seafood preferences are quite different from Western consumers. That’s because the food culture is different. For example, Western consumers seek boneless, firm white or red fish meat, while Chinese consumers prefer soft fish meat, some very bony fish with tender white meat are highly sought after.
Currently in China, tuna is not very popular except at Japanese restaurants. Salmon was also largely unknown for most Chinese consumers until Norwegian enterprises started promoting farmed Atlantic salmon in the late 1980s, and now while salmon — commercially called San-Wen-Yu (including ocean-raised trout) — has become increasingly popular, the dominant majority of Chinese consumers see the only appropriate way to eat salmon is the Japanese style — either sashimi or sushi.
Regarding issues of fishery resource sustainability, I feel that awareness among the younger generation is increasing. They are concerned about marine ecosystems. At QMCS, we implement projects to evaluate the sustainability of Chinese seafood and publish scientific articles about seafood, fisheries, and aquaculture. Although it’s a small number compared to China’s population, QMCS’s social media has about 4,000 followers. Currently, it’s only in Chinese, but we have translated more than 10 science-based assessment reports into English and published them on our website. We plan to engage in more information dissemination in the future.
— At the latest Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Summit (TSSS2024), the goal was set to “Make sustainable seafood mainstream by 2030.” What do you think is needed to achieve this?
That is a “question” that is always on my mind. We have been promoting the sustainable seafood movement, but it is still in its infancy. Growth is too slow.
One reason, I believe, is that the sustainable seafood movement across the entire East Asian region relies quite heavily on Western solutions. When we talk about sustainable seafood, we often talk about MSC- or ASC-certified seafood. However, most Chinese consumers associate eco-labels with imported products like wild caught tuna and cod or farmed salmon and regard the labels as a kind of certification of origin and quality assurance. They don’t think of them as related to domestic seafood in most cases.
While this is wonderful in itself, I think it’s unfair and unrealistic to rely solely on Western eco-labels and certification schemes. Of course, such eco-labels are necessary, but I don’t think we can rely on them alone.
In other words, I believe sustainable seafood initiatives should find solutions at local and national levels, then achieve results across the entire region, and finally have global partnerships and influence, and we need to build tools for that.
I don’t yet clearly know what kind of tools might be possible. For example, we could build a mutually recognizable toolkit system covering both environmental and social aspects for the East Asian region. This could support the vast number of small-scale producers, medium-scale producers, and even individual fishers and fish farmers in the East Asian region.
We need to recognize that the East Asian region —- that is, Japan, China, and Korea combined —- produces and consumes more than 40% of the world’s seafood. That’s probably more than 500 native species. On top of that, hundreds of imported species are also found in our markets.
That’s why I feel it’s time for us to jointly consider building tools that work in the East Asian region. The general public in the region also needs to have a sense of ownership in such new tools and schemes. I think this would create a genuine movement. It’s not a movement imported from the West to our region, but rather aligning incentives and innovations from the East Asian region with the global responsible seafood movement.
— In that sense, what do you expect from the Japanese seafood industry?
While it would be wonderful to participate in the process of creating a new framework, organizations like Seafood Legacy will need to take the lead for that to happen. From my understanding, most large companies want to commit to something simple and ready-made. They have commitments to MSC, ASC, and to some extent BAP, but I have yet to see anyone who wants to commit to creating new schemes.
Since the 1990s, companies and NGOs have collaborated to establish MSC and ASC, but today’s business leaders prefer to rely on these existing tools. My hope is to see collaboration among change seekers who want to create lasting change and something creative and effective, even if it’s just a small group.
— You have spoken at the Sustainable Seafood Summit (formerly the Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Summit; TSSS) multiple times and mentioned the importance of cooperation in Asia.
Yes. Although affected by various issues, trade in the East Asian region is extremely important.
China and Japan are among each other’s most important seafood partners. Why don’t we establish regional roundtables where industry, fishing communities, researchers, and NGOs gather to discuss sensitive issues related to, for example, tuna, squid, eel, sea cucumber and shellfish – the commodities that are most active in our bilateral trade? Can we “implant” higher sustainability and traceability standards in our seafood trade flows? Also, how about discussing how our region’s seafood industry and fishing and aquaculture communities can work with our civil society organizations to contribute to the global blue food security, climate change and biodiversity agenda by harnessing our technical solutions and empirical knowledge?
Instead of just waiting for Western leaders to recruit us, why don’t we have an Asian roundtable and cooperate with our Western counterparts? This is a more multilateral approach to addressing global challenges, but it’s still just a dream.
— How do you deal with complex and difficult challenges?
The best way is to remain optimistic, at the very least. In difficult times, you need to maintain an optimistic attitude to survive. Both NGOs and consulting companies face funding challenges, and you can hardly avoid worrying. After all, the majority of funds we can secure are only for one to two years, maximum three years. Fortunately, I am blessed with wonderful colleagues and many supportive funders. They probably worry more than I do regarding our future, but they keep a positive outlook to encourage me. I do the same.
To grow an organization, you need the right people. It’s like the Japanese manga “ONE PIECE.” Finding the right colleagues with diverse talents and bringing them on board as a real team is a key to success.
Also… I think we always need to prepare for the worst-case scenario. For example, what would happen if rising tariffs ultimately kill our FIPs? If funding and commitment from U.S. buyers disappear, where can we find the funds to keep moving on? Or can we temporarily suspend some projects? We always try to have some kind of backup plan.
And the most important thing is to find good partners. That way, you won’t feel isolated. I cannot emphasize enough that Seafood Legacy is our most important partner in Japan.
— What sustains your motivation?
It’s very rewarding to see improvements in the fishing and aquaculture communities we support, and in the biodiversity we want to protect. Especially when my efforts are contributing to this.
Working in the field of sustainable seafood and marine biodiversity gives me opportunities to continuously learn new skills and knowledge, visit places with different cultures, meet fascinating people, and engage in interesting conversations. I think that is really like adding different sauces or seasonings to your soup. And there’s also a chance to have a bite of more sustainable seafood. Not many environmental conservationists get to eat and taste some of the target species they’re working to protect. That’s a really enjoyable aspect.
Wang Songlin
Wang Songlin has 20 years of experience in research and practical work in marine conservation and sustainable seafood initiatives in China. He has built his career at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF China and WWF International), Paulson Institute, and Ocean Outcomes. In 2017, he established the Qingdao Marine Conservation Society (QMCS) and has served as its president since then. He studied marine ecology at the Ocean University of China and later obtained a master’s degree in environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
Interview and text by Chiho Iuchi
After working at the Japan Finance Corporation for Small and Medium Enterprise (currently the Japan Finance Corporation) and the English-language newspaper The Japan Times, Chiho Iuchi became a freelance writer in 2016. In 2024, she completed a master’s program in sustainability studies at the Graduate School of Public Policy and Management, Hosei University. She is a board member of the Japanese Association of Science & Technology Journalists. She writes articles mainly on culture and technology in both English and Japanese.
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