Citizen 3 – Chief Kei, village chief and retired fisher
Our marine resources are now managed to create sustainable fisheries through our traditional management systems, which have been combined with modern approaches within Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMA). Our village uses a spatial and temporal tabu (no-take) system. I have worked with the community to set up tabu areas for the next few years and we expect to be rewarded for our commitment to conserving our fisheries resources through a feast once the tabu is transferred to another area. Tonight, we are bringing everyone in the village together to celebrate the end of a tabu of one of the reefs, we even caught some big snapper that I have been eyeing off over the last few months.
Pathway 3 - Reduced impacts from production and consumption
Mariculture production has become more sustainable, through increased production of highly nutritious, high quality products over shorter timeframes, and a reduced environmental impact, through improved feed inputs and farming practices (Gephart et al. 2020; Stentiford et al. 2020). Efficiencies in mariculture have improved through intensifying strategic research and identification of more efficient culture species. The increased availability and variety of sustainable mari-feed (aquaculture feed specifically for mariculture) sources, for example from farmed insects and microalgae, has ended conflicts between mariculture and terrestrial production systems (Hua et al. 2019) without increasing pressure on wild capture fisheries as feed sources. A variety of commercially viable production systems, including IMTA (Buck et al. 2018), are operational, improving the quality of the products through filtering by bivalves and macroalgae around the pens (Chen et al. 2017) (Box 3). Work is ongoing to minimise production impacts and further expand sustainable production, including research into understanding the ecological consequences of using mariculture technology to restore heavily overfished stocks (Taylor et al. 2017).
Greater recognition of links between wild capture fisheries and mariculture have resulted in improved management of diseases and parasites (Godwin et al. 2020; Hayward et al. 2011). Seafood waste and loss of quality and nutritional value have been markedly reduced as a result of both improved fishing practices and consumer education (Bogard et al. 2019b). There is a more diverse range of species available on the market and a more stable supply of seafood products as a result of improved fisheries management and the more effective use of species that might have been underutilised or discarded in the past (van Putten et al. 2019). Management improvements have included enhanced access to marine forecasting and operational technologies that support flexibility in targeting, better gear-selectivity on boats, and greater utilisation of catch (including materials once considered waste, such as frames). Fishing pressure is applied across more of the system, although more lightly than in the past, meaning both production and sustainability have benefited. Supply chain technology has improved transport times to consumers and supply chain management and technology has improved, including improved shelf-life of products where cold chains do not function efficiently (Global Panel 2020; HLPE 2014a). Waste has been reduced through education of consumers to eat a broader range of products and waste less through more appropriate purchasing and portion size (Papargyropoulou et al. 2014). This broad-scale change in consumer demand has created feedbacks with a wider range of species and products including marine algae and bacteria, and a broader range of lower trophic level species now considered edible and acceptable as both human food and mariculture feeds.
Technology is readily available to link consumers with buyers through connected supply chains and consumers have broader access to sustainability information for products from increased traceability. Consumer pressure on companies has helped to transform food production, distribution, processing and consumption to be more environmentally and socially sustainable, with the incorporation of waste reduction into sustainability platforms of large corporations and certification groups. Established corporate programs, such as WaSeaBi (waseabi.eu) and SeaBOS (seabos.org) have been expanded and investment guidelines are now developed with stricter requirements for reinvestment that considers nutrition and sustainability issues in line with the SDGs.