Coming March 18: Ocean science-based targets for the seafood sector

27/02/2025

On March 18, 2025, at the Seafood Expo North America, SBTN will release its first ocean science-based targets for the seafood sector.

Ahead of this exciting launch, here’s a sneak peak of why science based targets are important for the seafood sector, what the new targets will entail, and how you can learn more.

Why are science-based targets important for the seafood sector?

The ocean is critical for all life on earth and foundational to the world’s economies. For the seafood sector, healthy ecosystems and stable fish stocks support resilient supply chains.

The seafood industry has made significant progress in environmental sustainability through certifications, corporate targets, and responsible sourcing commitments. But as environmental pressures intensify and regulatory expectations evolve, companies must go further. A science-based, whole-value-chain approach for assessing and addressing corporate impacts is essential to ensure long-term resilience and competitiveness.

Ocean science-based targets for the seafood sector provide a globally recognized, standardized framework that ensures a consistent and comparable approach to corporate target-setting and enables companies to drive meaningful impact beyond traditional sourcing commitments.

What will the new targets focus on?

These new targets help seafood companies take measurable action to reduce business risk and strengthen resilience:

The Avoid and Reduce Overexploitation target covers wild fisheries, helping companies avoid reliance on commodities derived from overexploited stocks and engage in seascapes and jurisdictions to improve stock health and reduce overfishing.
The Protect Marine Habitats target covers wild fisheries and aquaculture sites, helping companies avoid and reduce impacts on structural habitats in marine and transitional environments.
The Reduce Risks to ETP Species target addresses impacts to endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) marine wildlife from wild capture fishing and aquaculture.

This methodology can be applied to both wild capture and farmed seafood, addressing key drivers of nature and biodiversity loss.