On 3rd December 2024, Mr.Goodfish 3.0 joined an event organized by Oceana in Europe at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. The event was hosted and moderated by Thomas Bajada, S&D MEP from Malta, who directed an inspiring discussion on transparency and sustainability in seafood labelling. This initiative, called Follow the Fish, was named after the already existing movement which aims to tell EU decision-makers that people want to know where the fish we buy comes from, what species it is, how it was caught, as well as the vessel’s country of registration, and that this information should be available for all seafood products.

The initiative aimed to empower consumers by providing transparency at every stage of the seafood supply chain—making it possible to trace fish from the waters where they’re caught to the moment they’re served on our plates.

Voices Across the Seafood Chain

To explore this critical topic, experts from different countries and industry-related sectors were brought together representing every stage of the seafood chain. Their diverse perspectives painted a comprehensive picture of the challenges and opportunities in achieving transparency:

Small-Scale Fishers: Marta Cavallé, Executive Secretary of Low Impact Fishers of Europe, shared the importance of fishing with respect for ecosystems. She stressed the need for a fair and transparent value chain that rewards low-impact practices and provides consumers with high-quality seafood. She underlined how EU regulations are still in the dark when it comes to basic information on food, highlighting our aim to deliver high-quality products in a more sustainable, and low impact manner. From her words we understood how vital is the need for a more transparent value chain in order to be able to identify better and more responsible choices on food consumption. The long-term benefits stemming from this insight are:

  • To be more visible and fairly competitive
  • Get fair access to the market and make it more transparent and closer to real needs
  • Make consumers understand what they are eating and what benefits they are getting from their meals.

Seafood Retailers: María Luisa Álvarez Blanco, General Manager of FEDEPESCA, highlighted how digitalization could improve traceability in seafood markets. She emphasized that more transparency—especially in restaurants and catering services (HORECA)—would allow consumers to make better-informed choices.

She stressed how information keeps on being shared on paper nowadays and how the HORECA sector doesn’t use this information properly, delivering to the consumer a product that doesn’t comply with what is needed.

A highlight from her intervention was also about the importance of the information transmitted to the consumer. She underlined how much more information would help understand the difference in prices, but this matter remains hindered by big companies which don’t want to lose their competitive advantages.

In this regard, it is important to work on flagging our products and providing necessary information to the consumers, as they will definitely be brought to make more responsible and conscious choices, both for themselves and the society.

Seafood Companies: Irene Kranendonk, Impact Manager of Fish Tales, discussed the power of storytelling in seafood. Sharing details about where and how seafood is caught connects consumers to the fishers and highlights the importance of sustainability.

She herself shared with us the example of their products from Fish Tales, stressing the importance of specific information when shared and that it’s the responsibility of the brand to show what is in their product.

What’s more, she noticed how not only the consumers will benefit from these transparency good practices, but fisherpeople as well. People from the sector loved to know what’s behind a specific product, as they don’t usually get to see what’s going on beyond their fishing activities. This contributes to making us understand how vital a transparent and sustainable spread of information is for the entire seafood chain.

Chefs: Danielle Leoni, a chef and responsible seafood advocate, spoke of the struggles chefs face in sourcing sustainable seafood due to a lack of accessible information. She emphasized the need for clear labelling to empower chefs to serve seafood with pride and sustainability in mind. She made it clear that this is where policy comes into play, with the urge to help to simplify access to information because chefs don’t have ‘time and money’ to pay attention to the fact that  there is a need to make it more transparent.

She herself as a chef, says Danielle, wants to be able to have pride in sourcing and knowing where the seafood comes from. Chefs’ role is as well to ensure sustainability and, therefore, they must be asked to be curious and ask questions about it.

Eventually, the more chefs are trained to get and ask for information about the seafood they are preparing, the more sustainable and transparent meals will be served to consumers.

 The Transparency Challenge

The discussion revealed several key issues that urgently need addressing:

  • Traceability gaps: Almost 70% of the seafood consumed in the EU is imported, and critical details like species, origin, or fishing method are often missing.
  • Labelling in restaurants: Unlike supermarkets, restaurants and catering services are not required to provide seafood labelling, leaving diners without the tools to make informed decisions.
  • Inequities in the supply chain: Small fishers are required to provide detailed information about their catch, but larger producers often are not.

Paving the Way for Change

These challenges are why we are committed to advocating for an ambitious revision of the EU’s Common Market Organisation (CMO) regulation. By broadening the scope of labelling requirements to include all seafood products—fresh and processed—and extending these standards to restaurants and catering services, we can create a more transparent and equitable seafood market.

Transparency in seafood labelling isn’t just about providing information; it’s about enabling accountability, fairness, and sustainability. Consumers deserve to know where their seafood comes from and how it was caught.

What’s Next?

Together, we can turn this vision into reality by:

  • Supporting initiatives like Follow the Fish, which push for global standards in ethical and sustainable seafood markets.
  • Signing the Follow the Fish Statement, a collective call to action urging comprehensive seafood labelling reforms.
  • Exploring the findings of reports like Oceana’s Fishy Labels, which highlight gaps in seafood transparency.

By ensuring traceability and transparency at every step, we can restore trust in the seafood market, protect marine ecosystems, and support ethical practices. Let’s follow the fish, from sea to plate, and set a global standard for sustainable seafood.

Here are some key resources to dive deeper into the topics discussed:

We, as part of the Mission Ocean initiative and having signed the Follow the Fish statement, totally endorse the mission of delivering transparent information to consumers and ensure seafood sustainability.

Mr.Goodfish3.0 wants people to grow an ever better sense of responsibility when it comes to our sealife and this was only a step further to our future endeavours.

Stay tuned for more news about our project and don’t forget

Good for the sea, good for you!