Friend of the Sea, the leading international certification standard for marine products and services, has partnered with the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) to advance best practice in sustainable fishing and aquaculture.
Based in Italy, the organisation is a project of the World Sustainability Organization that certifies marine-related products and services. The certification awards sustainable practices in fisheries, aquaculture, fishmeal and omega 3 fish oil and also promotes projects related to sustainable shipping, dolphin- and whale-watching and ocean conservation.
Friend of the Sea is the only seafood certification programme for both fishery and aquaculture products to have gained accreditation from a member of the International Accreditation Forum and of the network of EU national accreditation body, Accredia.
They run a series of training modules to support and teach certification bodies on how to undertake yearly onsite audits to strict environmental sustainability criteria.
“We at Friend of the Sea are proud to collaborate with IMarEST. By joining forces, we will be able to achieve even better results in ocean conservation." Paolo Bray, founder and director of Friend of the Sea.
“Now more than ever, it is crucial that we push for more sustainable ocean enterprises and I am delighted to partner with Friend of the Sea, who is such a strong advocate of ocean sustainability. The partnership comes at an exciting time as we launch new special interest groups in both fisheries and aquaculture and I am looking forward to utilizing their expertise as we shape the agenda of the new groups.” Dr Bev Mackenzie, Technical and Policy Director, IMarEST.
The Partnership will look to utilise the expertise in accreditation and certification of both organisations to improve the standards and sustainability of marine activities around the world through collaboration with the IMarEST’s Global Fisheries Improvements Special Interest Group (SIG) and Aquaculture SIG.
The IMarEST’s NGO Partnership scheme is open to all non-governmental organisations operating in the marine science and conservation sector and supports capacity building and professional development through access to complimentary membership benefits, knowledge-sharing, online promotion and free membership for volunteers. They are designed to help support the work of NGOs to positively contribute towards the delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (in particular SDG14 Life Below Water).
By IMarEST
