Viewing: Uncategorized

World Ocean Day was June 8, and we loved hearing about all the inspiring projects and activists working to improve the health of our oceans. This year’s focus was “gender and the ocean,” a topic very dear to our hearts. Of course, work to protect marine environments and create thriving fisheries is a year-round job, so this week we’re continuing the appreciation for ocean advocates by giving props to some of our favorite women in fisheries. From tech to government, these amazing women are…

The fish tech space is growing, and fast. It was just a few years back that industry folks and nonprofits alike were trying to get their heads around what end-to-end traceability might look like and which technologies might be used to facilitate it. Since then, we’ve seen technologies such as blockchain, electronic monitoring, and machine learning make a splash in the seafood and ocean conservation spaces. With the exploding number of companies and initiatives, it can be hard to keep up. The good news…

In Peru, chefs are influencers. Armed with international training, Michelen-starred restaurants, and huge Instagram followings, Peru’s hottest culinary stars help drive the food scene and can elevate a humble ingredient or regional dish to cult status. This influence extends well beyond the country’s borders: gastronomic tourism is booming, and the World Travel Awards has named Peru one of the world’s top culinary destinations for seven years in a row. Of course, Peruvian cuisine is synonymous with seafood. From ceviche to grilled octopus, seafood is…

This is the first in a series of blog posts about fisheries system intermediaries. The world’s oceans are in crisis at a time when forty percent of the world’s population lives within 60 miles of the coast, and billions of people derive their nutrition and livelihoods from coastal fisheries. Communities, nonprofits, governments, and philanthropists have been working hard for decades to improve fisheries and seafood systems, but sustained systemic change has proven elusive. Why is this? And what can be done about it? THE…

Halfway through February, and 2019 is already full of oceans and fisheries developments. Whether its legislation in Chile to help combat illegal, unregulated and unreported fisheries; damage to the Great Ocean Cleanup’s plastic-catching system; or strong words and promised action from world leaders, oceans and fisheries are making headlines. Here at Future of Fish, we’ve been thinking about the “big things” to watch in 2019—those initiatives and topics that may be critical drivers of more sustainable fisheries and healthy ocean ecosystems. Given that no one intervention or action alone is…

Versión en Español a abajo by Iván Greco, Research Associate at FOF The last time we reported from our on the ground process, we told you about the characteristics of each Caleta with whom we embarked with on this adventure (blog: On the ground in Chile: Caleta Profile). During the months of October and November, we helped to create the space for co-design to occur, and with our partners we conducted 7 workshops across 4 caletas. These were spaces where we rolled out the red…

At Future of Fish, we’re proud of the work we do to help transition fisheries towards positive social, environmental and economic outcomes for coastal communities and their oceans. Whether we’re working in Chile, Belize, or in the US, our Fisheries Development Model helps us take a structured, design-focused approach to making long-term systemic change. In 2018, we dove head first into a new set of fisheries challenges, this time in Peru. Our focus there is on artisanal fisheries - an important traditional—and actively growing—sector of the…

Versión en Español a abajo Chile is taking a big step forward in the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing with the Chilean Senate’s approval of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (SERNAPESCA) modernization project. These new regulations modernize SERNAPESCA, giving it more power to fight illegal fishing and punish the supply chain players who trade in—and profit from—illegally caught seafood. The enforcement capabilities are coupled with a mandate that increases transparency in access to the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), and makes…

Versión en Español a abajo by Iván Greco, Research Associate at FOF We’ve been writing about our novel co-design process with the Chilean caletas (fishing coves) involved in the design and demonstration phase of the Fisheries Development Model in our previous blogs. We are proud to be collaborating with these fishing communities, and wanted to take the time to introduce them here. We have already begun to work with three of the caletas and associated actors to co-design innovations for the common hake fishery: El…

The organizations working on seafood sustainability and traceability are many, and they’re mighty. Historically, though, there’s been little support for them to work together to solve problems and amplify their efforts. This siloing—common across the nonprofit and NGO spaces—means that it’s harder for us to share our learnings, spend time working together, and collaborate for impact. Fortunately, the tide is turning: building on years of seafood traceability expertise, FishWise, Future of Fish, the Global Food Traceability Center, and World Wildlife Fund came together in…

My name is Emily Liang and I’m currently studying Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management as a Masters student at Wageningen University and Research (in Holland). I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California but am thankful to have my ethnic roots in Taiwan where some of the most delicious food in the world resides. While I’ve grown up only a 20 minute drive from the shores of the West Coast, my love and complete awe for the ocean didn’t begin until I was…

By Marah Hardt, Research Director The problem of overfishing and declining resources in the ocean is very serious—that is why introducing a little bit of play can be critical to designing effective solutions. Over the past two weeks, we’ve had the privilege of working with three different fisher caletas along Chile’s central coast to ideate solutions to the declining hake fishery and the poor pricing that threatens the livelihoods of these fishers and their communities. This was the third workshop in a series of…