Handbook for Developing Jurisdictional Initiatives for the Seafood Sector

The document defines seafood jurisdictional initiatives (JIs) as place-based efforts combining policy and market-based approaches to achieve holistic sustainability. It argues that traditional certification, ratings, and improvement (CRI) efforts are insufficient for global scale and systemic issues. The handbook outlines a three-step implementation process: scoping, co-designing, and co-implementing, emphasizing the necessity of government leadership, multistakeholder collaboration, and long-term blended finance.

• Seafood jurisdictional initiatives (JIs) are defined as place-based efforts in key commodity-producing regions that use both policy and market-based approaches to achieve holistic improvements in seafood production at relevant ecological and political scales.
• Traditional certification, ratings, and improvement (CRI) efforts, while impactful, are limited because they focus on individual farms or fisheries and often fail to address systemic barriers like labor rights, climate change, and cumulative environmental impacts that require policy-level changes.
• Successful JIs require several key enablers, including an appropriate jurisdictional scale, enabling legal frameworks, institutional capacity, and long-term financing, often utilizing a blended finance approach.
• Government leadership is critical for the durability of JIs, as they provide the regulatory authority needed for systemic change; however, initiatives must be designed to withstand political turnover through long-term financing or buy-in from technical agencies.
• The implementation of a JI follows a three-step process: Scoping (identifying sites and assessing enabling conditions), Co-Designing (creating a shared vision, contextual analysis, and action plan), and Co-Implementing (executing policy and private-sector interventions with regular monitoring).
• The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) in the Western Central Pacific Ocean serves as a primary example of a successful JI, where eight governments created a tuna management regime that increased revenues from US$60 million in 2010 to nearly US$500 million in 2018.
• JIs aim for a 'triple bottom line' of outcomes: environmental sustainability (including climate and biodiversity resilience), social resilience (equity and labor rights), and economic profitability for local fishers and workers.
• The handbook recommends using specific diagnostic tools for contextual analysis, such as the Social Responsibility Assessment Tool for the Seafood Sector (SRA) for social risks and MSC or ASC standards for environmental benchmarking.

APA

Apel, A., Bradley, S., Chu, C., Cross, A., Klinger, D., Macleod, M., & Obregon, P. (2023). Handbook for Developing Jurisdictional Initiatives for the Seafood Sector. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/571/6je9bbb459_FINAL_Handbook_Developing_JurisdictionalInitiatives_for_SeafoodSect_tkh6nWw.pdf

Chicago

Apel, Ashley, Stephanie Bradley, Clarus Chu, Alison Cross, Dane Klinger, Merrielle Macleod, and Pablo Obregon. Handbook for Developing Jurisdictional Initiatives for the Seafood Sector. WWF International, 2023. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/571/6je9bbb459_FINAL_Handbook_Developing_JurisdictionalInitiatives_for_SeafoodSect_tkh6nWw.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Apel |first1=Ashley |last2=Bradley |first2=Stephanie |last3=Chu |first3=Clarus |last4=Cross |first4=Alison |last5=Klinger |first5=Dane |last6=Macleod |first6=Merrielle |last7=Obregon |first7=Pablo |title=Handbook for Developing Jurisdictional Initiatives for the Seafood Sector |publisher=WWF International |date=August 2023 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/571/6je9bbb459_FINAL_Handbook_Developing_JurisdictionalInitiatives_for_SeafoodSect_tkh6nWw.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{apel2023handbook, author = {Apel, Ashley and Bradley, Stephanie and Chu, Clarus and Cross, Alison and Klinger, Dane and Macleod, Merrielle and Obregon, Pablo}, title = {{Handbook for Developing Jurisdictional Initiatives for the Seafood Sector}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2023}, month = aug, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/571/6je9bbb459_FINAL_Handbook_Developing_JurisdictionalInitiatives_for_SeafoodSect_tkh6nWw.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }