What is Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP)?

Updated

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) is a nonprofit that works on improving fisheries and aquaculture by bringing industry, NGOs, governments, fishers, scientists, and academics together. Its guiding principle is industry leadership: SFP holds that lasting sustainable seafood solutions must involve the market, and it works with retail partners and their suppliers to drive change across the seafood value chain. If you are a seafood buyer, supplier, or producer looking for tools and expert guidance on sustainability, SFP is oriented toward you.

What SFP does

SFP describes its role as convening different stakeholders at the same table, then offering tools and expertise so they can jointly find solutions that benefit nature, industry, and people. The organization frames this as shared responsibility — everyone who benefits from marine resources has a role in sustaining them.

Impact areas

SFP organizes its work around two stated impact areas:

Impact area What it covers
Fisheries Governance & Livelihoods Promoting shared responsibility among stakeholders to support healthy oceans, resilient fisheries, and thriving coastal communities
Biodiversity & Nature Connecting companies that want to protect biodiversity and nature with organizations doing work on the ground and in the water

The underlying logic SFP states: thriving fisheries only exist in healthy habitats, so biodiversity and nature work is treated as connected to fishery health rather than separate from it.

Who it is for

SFP positions itself as a resource for:

  • Major seafood buyers — retailers and others whose purchasing decisions can move suppliers
  • Suppliers — companies in the value chain responding to buyer sustainability requirements
  • Producers — those operating at the fishery or farm level

For these groups, SFP offers tools, resources, and expert guidance intended to support management of fisheries and aquaculture regions for long-term sustainability, and to help elevate existing sustainability commitments.

How to engage

SFP's site points to a few entry points depending on your role:

  • Start your sustainability journey — for companies beginning or formalizing sustainability commitments
  • Meet our Industry Partners — to see which companies work with SFP
  • Impact Stories — case examples of how SFP brings people together on fisheries and aquaculture improvement
  • News and updates — SFP offers an email signup for ongoing updates

SFP also states that it supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

What to keep in mind

SFP is a partnership and convening organization, not a certification body — its stated approach is to work through industry leadership and multi-stakeholder collaboration rather than to issue its own seafood labels. If your goal is to understand what sustainability commitments look like in practice, or to find a partner for fishery or aquaculture improvement work, SFP's tools and partner network are the relevant starting points. If your goal is a consumer-facing certification mark, you would be looking at a different type of organization.