An Overview Of Our Solution
Gulf Wild™
Who is this solution impacting?
Ecosystem
Oceanos/Costa
Ambiente Urbano/Construído
Community Type
Urbano
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: América do Norte
Problem
Describe the problem
To keep fishing communities in the Gulf of Mexico viable following the Deepwater Horizon explosion, proactive fishermen in the region developed a sophisticated program to safety inspect fish harvests, stabilize or sustain the resource with advanced conservation practices, and provide a transparent view of each fish’s original harvest location, vessel and fisherman. The program, called Gulf Wild™, is first and foremost a consumer confidence initiative forged to promote safety-inspected, genuine and sustainably harvested fish from the Gulf of Mexico. Individual fish are tagged with unique, trackable numbers so consumers can find their specific fish’s credentials at the innovative myGulfWild.com, and know their fish is safe, domestic, and actually is what its packaging and label says it is.
Biodiversity Impact
A key goal of Gulf Wildâ„¢ is to ensure ongoing conservation improvement in reef fish fisheries. Gulf Wildâ„¢ fishermen believe more can be done in the these fisheries to improve accountability and data collection, reduce discards, and meet stock rebuilding timelines in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Gulf Wildâ„¢ seeks to highlight the advances in management that are already fostering the rebuilding and maintenance of healthy fish populations. Our Conservation Covenants reflect the additional, voluntary steps that the fishermen and vessel owners participating in the Gulf Wildâ„¢ campaign are willing to take in pursuit of that accountability. An objective of the Alliance and Gulf Wildâ„¢ initiative is to bring all the reef fish (19 species) into a commercial, fisherman approved management practice thus improving sustainability and the supply of fish for public consumption. It is essential to integrate all reef fisheries into better fishery management plans, to make new conservation-based management complementary with the established commercial fishery management, and to develop concepts that can serve as models for improved management not only in the Gulf but in other public consumption fisheries worldwide.
Solution
At this time the Alliance catches approximately 50% of the grouper and red snapper catch and because of the conservation management measures supported by Alliance members, red snapper and the grouper complex are rebuilding and through this campaign. We are positioning ourselves to open new markets as the populations rebound. Consumer demand and interest in knowing where the consumerƒ??s food came from is currently very high. All across the United States, communities are strengthening their connections to ƒ??local foodƒ? and ƒ??local farmingƒ?. Because the fish are tagged and can be linked back to individual fishermen, they have a strong incentive to ensure quality product, which will ultimately lead to profitability and differentiation in the marketplace. By implementing a sustainability component to Gulf Wildƒ?› and addressing the issues of the Gulf fishery, Gulf Wildƒ?› is proactively putting a product on the market that caters to sustainability-minded chefs, retailers and consumers seeking to purchase environmentally-responsible seafood products. Currently, nearly all of the top super market chains in the US and Canada have partnered with a conservation-based NGO to advise them on their seafood sourcing to ensure they are only buying products that are or will be sustainable. // Gulf Wildƒ?› is implemented by Alliance fishermen in the State and U.S. Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. More than 70 million adults across the United States are considered New Consumers, defined less by demographics than by shared values. Early adopters and ƒ??box turnersƒ? increasingly concerned with productsƒ?? impact on the planet and its people, these shoppers are twice as likely to try new things, share their opinions online and reward brands based on corporate practices. The 2010 Seafood Business US Food Service Report indicated that sustainability of harvested food sources and all the related issues are the top concern facing the food service industry. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that 80 percent of fisheries are fully exploited, overfished, depleted, or recovering from depletion.
Replicability
How many years has your solution been applied? 1 year // Have others reproduced your solution elsewhere? No // The Gulf Wild™ tracking program is based on the application of sequentially-numbered gill tags to individual fish during fishing operations. Each unique tag number is then tied to vessel, captain, 10-mi2 catch grid, and landing port/fish house. The number of tags committed on a per annual basis, and the trackability of these tags to specific consumers’ zip codes will indicate to the increase in product sales as well as sales to new regions. The data is displayed to the end user through a web-friendly interface at MyGulfWild. Each fisherman maintains ownership over their own catch data, which in addition to powering the consumer-facing website, can be used for secondary fisheries science applications. In addition, the program can be expanded to fit other models and incorporate new technologies (e.g. barcode, QR code) as time goes on. The web portal for Gulf Wild™ is a third party storing house for data collected for the front-end public use as well as additional data stored at the time of entry. This data can be used by Gulf Wild™ for management, industry performance, marketing, and science. The data can be developed into smart and efficient systems that can use the data in multiple ways. This type of electronic real time system can creates opportunities for industry to empower itself by collecting and managing their own data for multiple purposes.
Human Well Being and Livelihood Impact
Poor fish farming practices can cause negative impacts ranging from water pollution to altered ecosystems. With seafood growing in demand, it’s critical that sustainable fishing practices are followed if wild-caught seafood is going to be available in the future. Additionally, Gulf Wild™ has contracted public health and toxicology experts from the University of Alabama-Birmingham to evaluate federal seafood safety standards/protocols and their potential to protect human health in the wake of the BP oil disaster. Their analysis includes a review of the current NOAA/FDA protocol and test results to date, with a comparison to seafood contamination events following other oil spills; a summary of the toxicology of relevant oil-based pollutants, including PAHs, Corexit dispersants, BTEX and heavy metals; an assessment of the adequacy of current protocols in estimating risk to vulnerable populations; and recommendations about the potential bioaccumulation including short and long-term risks. A supplemental third-party seafood testing of participants’ fish are conducted by an accredited laboratory, Eurofins, in Louisiana, and samples a representative cross section of species, size, and catch and landing locations. // Leading the Gulf Wild™ development and implementation is Tj Tate, Executive Director of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders' Alliance. Based in St. Augustine, Florida, Ms. Tate manages the Alliance both proficiently and profitably, growing the organization in membership 150% and nearly tripling income in three short years of service. She has been an environmental professional for over 15 years and has worked to strengthen our nation’s fisheries since 1998. As Executive Director, she works closely with the Alliance’s Board of Directors and diverse groups of fishermen, communities, environmental groups, and decision-makers to define and implement the Alliance’s priorities and goals of strengthening the reef fish industry to achieve sustainability, accountability and profitability for fishermen. She has the privilege of serving on several Gulf Council advisory panels, current and past. The Gulf Wild™ program does not involve a standard CEO setup because it is offered by a non-profit trade organization whose leadership is in its executive director and governing board of directors. Leadership of the board is provided by successful,local, active fishermen. Each board member is an accomplished business man, fisherman and member of the Alliance; collectively they provide hundreds of years of on-the-water success plus bricks-and-mortar business experience. Additional leadership is provided on the brand level with the following individuals agreeing to serve as voluntary advisers to the Gulf Wild™ project.