SSI (Seafood Stewardship Index )
The SSI, published by the World Benchmark Alliance (WBA), rates the sustainability efforts of the 30 seafood companies that have the greatest global influence on five key indicators: basic social indicators, social responsibility, ecosystems, traceability, and governance and strategy. Skretting rose from 7th place in 2019 to 5th place in 2021, positioning us as the best-placed food supplier. While progress indicates that we are on the right track, we recognize that there is still room to do more, better and faster.
We invite the Benchmarking Alliance to share its reflections on the relevance of public disclosure and transparency in our Sustainability Report.
Transparency as measured by the Seafood Management Index
Leading companies in the seafood sector can make a significant, unique and practical contribution to the UN SDGs. One way to encourage companies to be better stewards and to transition to a more sustainable and responsible seafood industry is by parameterizing their sustainability performance. The benefits of parameterization are embodied in two ways. First, companies can use a benchmark to understand how their activities are in line with the broader environmental and social agenda set by the SDGs and therefore identify where there are gaps. Second, when disclosed, the benchmark can be used by any stakeholder (civil society organization, financial institution, policymakers, and the general public) to hold companies accountable for their impact on the environment and society.
The Benchmarking Alliance's Seafood Management Index sets the benchmarks of social and environmental performance, of the 30 seafood companies that have the most influence on their contribution to the SDGs. To be more precise, the index uses publicly available information to measure the company's performance on four broad themes: governance and strategy, ecosystems, social responsibility, and traceability.
Dissemination and transparency are essential elements to have a robust responsibility and therefore trust between companies and their shareholders. This is why the index has integrated an expectation of dissemination and transparency throughout its 48 indicators. However, we know that not all dissemination is created equal. For dissemination to be credible and robust, it must be science-based, verified, and cover all operations, products, and supply chains, not just apply to a subgroup. This is a real challenge for companies, particularly large companies that have numerous, complex and global supply chains. Indeed, the 2021 Seafood Management Index showed that despite the fact that corporate transparency has steadily increased in the seafood sector, there are still gaps in relation to the disclosure of the origin of products and their associated impacts.
The good news is that there are already several solutions that are being implemented in certain parts of the sector. For example, traceability and data management software can help companies collect this information in a comprehensive and consistent manner. There are many experts, pre-competitive initiatives, and civil society organizations that can help companies with this issue, including the Global Dialogue for Seafood Traceability (GDST), SeaBos, GSI, Ocean Outreach Project, and FishWise to name a few.
Transparency doesn't just focus on accountability. Also It focuses on trust. This is true for all social relationships, including those between companies and their shareholders.
Transparency is not only about accountability. It is also about trust. This is true for all social relationships, including the one between companies and their stakeholders. Even though trust is an intangible capital that can be hard to measure in dollar terms, it is at the core of any business. As stakeholders are increasing their expectations towards companies not only to deliver safe but also environmentally and socially responsible products, transparent disclosure on all aspects of a business operations will become essential to maintain trust and thus stay in business. Transparency ie, sharing the good and the bad, is not easy. This is why we, companies and their stakeholders, must work together to reward transparency, whatever the performance. Because transparency is the first step for acknowledging the problem and to start looking for solutions in partnership with others.
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Identify and mitigate environmental, social, and governance risks
The global intensification of aquaculture is rapidly increasing its environmental and social footprint, and therefore identifying and mitigating environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks is now high on the agenda for investors and the entire value chain.