Developing Jurisdictional Initiatives for the Seafood Sector

The document outlines the concept of seafood Jurisdictional Initiatives (JIs) as place-based, multistakeholder efforts that combine policy reform and market-based incentives to address systemic sustainability challenges. It contrasts JIs with traditional certification, ratings, and improvement (CRI) projects, arguing that JIs are better suited for tackling cumulative impacts, climate resilience, and social equity across entire production geographies. The guide details a three-step implementation process—scoping, co-designing, and co-implementing—and emphasizes the critical roles of government leadership, private-sector engagement, and the inclusion of Indigenous peoples and local communities. It also provides guidance on establishing monitoring, reporting, and verification frameworks to ensure the credibility of sustainability claims.

• 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 ecological and political scales.
• JIs are presented as complementary to, rather than replacements for, certification, ratings, and improvement (CRI) efforts. While CRI focuses on individual fisheries or farms, JIs address systemic barriers such as cumulative environmental impacts, labor rights, and biodiversity loss that typically require policy-level changes.
• Successful JIs require several key enablers, including alignment with political and ecological scales, enabling legal frameworks, long-term financing (often using a blended finance approach), and strong commitment from governments, private-sector actors, and local communities.
• The implementation of a seafood JI follows a three-step process: Scoping (identifying sites and assessing enabling conditions), Co-Designing (creating a shared vision, goals, and an action plan), and Co-Implementing (executing policy and private-sector interventions and monitoring results).
• To maintain credibility, JIs must implement a monitoring and verification framework. Because JIs are long-term (often 8 to 20 years), stakeholders are advised to focus initially on 'structural' and 'action' claims before making 'performance' or 'outcome' claims.
• Traceability and transparency are essential for verifying sustainable practices and preventing seafood fraud or illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The guide recommends following the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) standards.
• 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.

APA

Apel, A., Bradley, S., Chu, C., Cross, A., Klinger, D., Macleod, M., & Obregon, P. (2023). Developing Jurisdictional Initiatives for the Seafood Sector. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/513/8nigyhaome_FINAL_Developing_JurisdictionalInitiatives_for_SeafoodSector_FullGu_bVwB0WY.pdf

Chicago

Apel, Ashley, Stephanie Bradley, Clarus Chu, Alison Cross, Dane Klinger, Merrielle Macleod, and Pablo Obregon. Developing Jurisdictional Initiatives for the Seafood Sector. WWF International, 2023. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/513/8nigyhaome_FINAL_Developing_JurisdictionalInitiatives_for_SeafoodSector_FullGu_bVwB0WY.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=Developing Jurisdictional Initiatives for the Seafood Sector |publisher=WWF International |date=August 2023 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/513/8nigyhaome_FINAL_Developing_JurisdictionalInitiatives_for_SeafoodSector_FullGu_bVwB0WY.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{apel2023developing, author = {Apel, Ashley and Bradley, Stephanie and Chu, Clarus and Cross, Alison and Klinger, Dane and Macleod, Merrielle and Obregon, Pablo}, title = {{Developing Jurisdictional Initiatives for the Seafood Sector}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2023}, month = aug, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/513/8nigyhaome_FINAL_Developing_JurisdictionalInitiatives_for_SeafoodSector_FullGu_bVwB0WY.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }