Seafood Sector Research Articles

The EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Issue linkages and its implications for fisheries management and trade in seafood

This article analyses the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and its implications for the seafood sector. More specifically, the study focuses on how the TCA represents important institutional changes especially through its creation of various modes of issue linkages. The analysis identifies issue linkages within the TCA, as well as external issue linkages between the TCA and other post Brexit trade and fisheries management agreements. The article addresses whether issue linkages make it easier for conflicts in one area to spill over into another, or if these are key to ensuring and stabilising cooperation between the parties.

Antimicrobial Efficacy of Quercetin against Vibrio parahaemolyticus Biofilm on Food Surfaces and Downregulation of Virulence Genes.

For the seafood industry, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, one of the most prevalent food-borne pathogenic bacteria that forms biofilms, is a constant cause of concern. There are numerous techniques used throughout the food supply chain to manage biofilms, but none are entirely effective. Through assessing its antioxidant and antibacterial properties, quercetin will be evaluated for its ability to prevent the growth of V. parahaemolyticus biofilm on shrimp and crab shell surfaces. With a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 220 µg/mL, the tested quercetin exhibited the lowest bactericidal action without visible growth of bacteria. In contrast, during various experiments in this work, the inhibitory efficacy of quercetin without (control) and with sub-MICs levels (1/2, 1/4, and 1/8 MIC) against V. parahaemolyticus was examined. With increasing quercetin concentration, swarming and swimming motility, biofilm formation, and expression levels of related genes linked to flagella motility (flaA and flgL), biofilm formation (vp0952 and vp0962), and quorum-sensing (luxS and aphA) were all dramatically reduced (p < 0.05). Quercetin (0–110 μg/mL) was investigated on shrimp and crab shell surfaces, the inhibitory effects were 0.68–3.70 and 0.74–3.09 log CFU/cm2, respectively (p < 0.05). The findings were verified using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), which revealed quercetin prevented the development of biofilms by severing cell-to-cell contacts and induced cell lysis, which resulted in the loss of normal cell shape. Furthermore, there was a substantial difference in motility between the treatment and control groups (swimming and swarming). According to our findings, plant-derived quercetin should be used as an antimicrobial agent in the food industry to inhibit the establishment of V. parahaemolyticus biofilms. These findings suggest that bacterial targets are of interest for biofilm reduction with alternative natural food agents in the seafood sector along the entire food production chain.

What would it take to establish a take‐back scheme for fishing gear? Insights from a comparative analysis of fishing gear and beverage containers

AbstractThe problem of marine litter represents a significant global challenge and illustrates the harmful consequences of an economic model that is based on disposability. The seafood sector is not only among the culprits, but is also among the most affected by this threat to the marine environment. Earlier research has pointed to fishing gear take‐back schemes as a measure to mitigate the problem, and policymakers have embraced the idea. The Norwegian scheme for beverage containers has been hailed as a benchmark for the application of Extended Producer Responsibility. Through the lens of business ecosystems, we draw parallels between the existing take‐back scheme for beverage containers and the latent system for fishing gear to answer the question: “What would it take to establish a take‐back scheme for fishing gear?” We elaborate upon four factors that are well established for beverage container take‐back schemes, but lacking or unclear in the case of fishing gear: (i) politico‐institutional support, (ii) the system's value proposition, (iii) the system integrator, and (iv) operational factors (i.e., a network of collection points and procedures, and material variety and complexity). Our findings highlight that when innovations are not based on the usual market mechanisms, unconventional conceptualizations of value itself and how value is mapped and distributed are required. Meaningful engagement of the private sector depends upon either explicit articulation of value capture or policy instruments to enforce responsibility; both are currently either unclear or lacking in the context of fishing gear.

Decent work in a seascape of livelihoods: Regional evaluation of the shrimp and groundfish fishery of the Guianas-Brazil shelf

With growing evidence of labor violations and exploitative working conditions in fisheries, ensuring decent work is imperative to protect fishers and fishworkers in the global seafood sector. This study provides the first evaluation of decent work in a shared, transboundary fishery – the shrimp and groundfish fishery of the Guianas-Brazil Shelf. Decent work in fisheries has gained increasing attention and research, yet gaps exist in our understanding of the elements of decent work, how we evaluate it, and how to enable decent work. To date, there has been limited analysis of decent work in a range of geographies and diverse fisheries contexts, including small-scale fisheries and transboundary fisheries. This study will address this gap by evaluating decent work, utilizing a new fishery-specific, holistic evaluation framework drawing from existing frameworks including the ILO Work in Fishing Convention (C188), the Monterey Framework for Social Responsibility, and the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries. This evaluation details country-level challenges that put fishers and fishworkers at risk in their occupation, including illegal fishing, vessel safety, and worker representation. This paper concludes with recommendations, to be advanced with a transboundary, regional approach, to ensure decent work and strengthen existing progress, including 1) addressing widespread illegal activities, 2) adopting fisheries-specific standards like C188, 3) implementing and enforcing policies at the country and regional level, and 4) ensuring worker representation and participation leveraging cooperatives and collectives.

Country-specific food culture and scientific knowledge transfer events – Do they influence the purchasing behaviour of seafood products?

A positive perception of aquaculture products is essential to boost production by using more sustainable and eco-friendly solutions. However, consumer perception and resulting purchasing decisions remain poorly understood. In most European countries, the consumer perception tends to be rather negative, which is reinforced by knowledge gaps and misleading information from the media. This is believed to have the greatest impact on the current low consumption rate of farmed fish across Europe. Previous research has suggested that consumers may often be reluctant to change their seafood purchasing behaviour despite having a solid scientific understanding of aquaculture products and their mode of production. In this study, we investigated the extent to which country-specific contexts and degree of scientific knowledge contribute to the purchasing behaviour of consumers across Europe. To this end, interactive poster surveys and semi-structured interviews were conducted at eight different knowledge transfer events (KTEs) across three countries, targeting 383 participants. The application of a yet underutilized method, an interactive poster survey, underscored the need to use new approaches to tackle consumer behaviour.Our results indicate that increased scientific knowledge does not lead to changes in purchasing behaviour per se. Perceptions and purchasing habits are very contextual and vary from culture to culture. This points to the highly interlinked nature of country-specific marine food culture that ranges between individual awareness, scientific knowledge, and socio-cultural contexts, all of which renders in resulting individual purchasing decisions. Our results suggest focusing more on the sustainability of a product and emphasising the ongoing transition towards a circular economy approach in the aquaculture sector may be a promising pathway to foster more sustainability-driven purchasing decisions in the seafood sector. Our findings also question whether trying to educate the public about more sustainable purchasing criteria is really the key to foster more sustainable consumption patterns or whether we are working from misleading assumptions that lead to wrong approaches. In conclusion, a lack of clear and easily accessible information appears to be the main barrier to social acceptance of sustainable aquaculture products in Europe.

The 11 sins of seafood: Assessing a decade of food fraud reports in the global supply chain.

Due to complex, valuable, and often extremely opaque supply chains, seafood is a commodity that has experienced a high prevalence of food fraud throughout the entirety of its logistics network. Fraud detection and prevention require an in-depth understanding of food supply chains and their vulnerabilities and risks so that food business operators, regulators, and other stakeholders can implement practical countermeasures. An analysis of historical criminality within a sector, product, or country is an important component and has not yet been conducted for the seafood sector. This study examines reported seafood fraud incidents from the European Union's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, Decernis's Food Fraud Database, HorizonScan, and LexisNexis databases between January 01, 2010 and December 31, 2020. Illegal or unauthorized veterinary residues were found to be the most significant issue of concern, with most reports originating from farmed seafood in Vietnam, China, and India. For internationally traded goods, border inspections revealed a significant frequency of reports with fraudulent or insufficient documentation, indicating that deceptive practices are picked up at import or export but are occurring further down the supply chain. Practices such as species adulteration (excluding veterinary residues), species substitution, fishery substitution, catch method fraud, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing were less prevalent in the databases than evidenced in the scientific literature. The analysis demonstrates significant differences in outcomes depending on source and underlines a requirement for a standardized and rigorous dataset through which food fraud can be scrutinized to ensure enforcement, as well as industry and research resources are directed accurately. Practical Application: Levels of historic food fraud in a product, sector, supply chain node or geographic location provide an indication of historic criminality, the methods used and the location of reported frauds. This study provides an overview of historic levels of seafood fraud that can be used to inform seafood fraud prevention and mitigation activities by the food industry, regulators and other stakeholders.

Illuminating the mechanisms to mitigate forced and child labour risks within Marine Stewardship Council certified fisheries

Growing concern about forced and child labour abuses in the fishing industry has led to calls to integrate social issues within the sustainable seafood sector. While abusive labour practices in fisheries are increasingly studied, and consensus is building on overarching principles and benchmarks, few studies have reviewed the practical mechanisms available to mitigate forced and child labour risks. This paper provides an overview of labour risk management practices reported by fisheries certified to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard, representing over 15% of the world’s marine capture fishery production. MSC-certified fisheries have been required to submit forced and child labour statements since 2018. The statements were analysed to examine the mechanisms to mitigate forced and child labour across different fishery contexts. Results indicated where MSC-certified vessels were broadly in line with expectations from international, private, and NGO standards or guidelines on labour issues, but also illustrated where there were departures. These could be explained by differences in how policy and practice are applied in different regulatory and cultural contexts, such as the requirement for use of written contracts in countries that have ratified ILO C188 versus the preference in some cases for the use of verbal share agreements. This reflects the challenge of creating culturally-appropriate, adaptable standards that are able to detect real risks of labour violations. To fully consider these nuances, our proposed framework captures key aspects of setting, implementing, and monitoring and enforcement of requirements alongside the roles of government, companies, and civil society. We propose this framework could be applied more broadly to evaluate fisheries’ practices.

Plenty more fish in the sea? - is there a place for seafood within a healthier and more sustainable diet?

Fish and other seafood species play an important nutritional, economic and social role within current diets worldwide, providing significant amounts of protein and micronutrients for an estimated 3billion people. Advice to consume fish is a common feature of dietary guidelines globally, including in the UK. However, increased global demand for seafood has led to overfishing and environmental damage linked to aquaculture expansion; issues, which are exacerbated by climate change. This raises the question of whether future demand for seafood can be met sustainably. In this article, we provide professionals working in diet, nutrition and health with an insight into the challenges facing the seafood sector and offer advice on how consumers may include seafood within a healthier and more sustainable diet. While a complex and multi-faceted challenge, fisheries scientists estimate that successful implementation of better management practices (for farmed and wild-capture fisheries) can meet future demand, allow fish stocks to rebuild to sustainable levels, help mitigate environmental effects of aquaculture, and ensure profitable fisheries to support the ~60million people employed by the seafood sector globally. Those working within the UK food system, including nutrition and health professionals, and businesses, can support the transition towards a more sustainable future for seafood by: encouraging consumption of a wider variety of species by UK consumers; increasing awareness of and knowledge about 'ecolabel' certifications designed to help consumers identify more sustainable choices; and engaging with multi-stakeholder initiatives addressing sustainability challenges facing the seafood sector.

From catch to plate

From catch to plate

TBT Stipulations and Stakeholder Responses: Repercussions in the Sea Food Sector of India and the Tuning up Process in the State of Kerala

Sea food is a globally traded product. The trading is mostly from the developing to the developed countries. The very basic factor beholding this is the income elasticity driven demand from the affluent consumers of the developed world. The rich fishery resource availability of the developing countries has helped to become the major beneficiaries of this trade process. The rich resource of India and Kerala have indeed helped in reaping this benefit. However, the post WTO period also witnessed big transformation in the fishery trade with more stringent restrictions, regulations and quality assurance practices mostly imposed by the importers of seafood. These include strict quality standards stipulations, technical barriers and non-tariff barriers imposed by the developed economies towards seafood exports. In these, TBT measures and SPS standards have differently been treated by different importers in the EU, Japan and the US and this is stipulated mostly for the prime export item of Kerala the shrimp. Though it has affected every seafood exporter globally, its repercussion in India and Kerala is also big as these measures have been detrimental to the progress of the export sector. India could soon try to galvanize these issues. The result is that India has come out from the shackles of TBT conundrums. But the fact is that when one of the issues is settled, the EU and the US are coming with newer stipulations. The paper tries to addresses the fisheries trade with the existing theoretical framework. It also gives an overview of various agreements prevailing in the seafood export sector with the aid of secondary information. Keywords: Fishery Trade, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Non-Tariff Barriers (NTB), Trade agreements, Sanitary and Phytosanitary, Codex, WTO. DOI: 10.7176/JESD/13-10-07 Publication date: May 31 st 2022

Fad, Food, or Feed: Alternative Seafood and Its Contribution to Food Systems

Aquatic foods, or “seafood”, are an integral part of the global food system that contribute significantly to many dimensions of human wellbeing, including livelihoods and food and nutrition security. Fish, molluscs, crustaceans, algae and other aquatic foods are of particular importance in low- and middle-income countries as a source of employment, income, and nutrition for many poor and vulnerable people, including women. Global concern over the ability of fisheries and aquaculture to sustainably meet future seafood demand is driving improvements in technology and management. It has also inspired the emergence of plant-based and cell-based seafood, collectively termed “alternative seafood”. Growing investment, consumer demand, and participation by major food companies in the alternative seafood sector necessitate an evaluation of potential opportunities and challenges alternative seafood poses to food systems. This paper explores key economic, social, and environmental implications associated with production, distribution, and consumption of alternative seafood and its interactions with fisheries and aquaculture over the next decade, with specific emphasis on low- and middle-income countries. Available data on current supply and projected growth suggest that alternative seafood may account for almost eight percent of global seafood supplies destined for human consumption in 2030. Assuming current production techniques and expected technological development, the sector has potential for reduced environmental impacts relative to the existing fisheries and aquaculture sectors. However, its potential to impact livelihoods, food and nutrition security, and the environment remains largely a matter of conjecture due to the lack of robust data. Mechanistically, it is believed that growth of alternative seafood supplies will lessen demand for “conventional” seafood and/or meat, a scenario with implications for livelihoods, food and nutrition security, and the environment. Such changes are contingent on technological development, human and institutional behavior, market forces, and ecological linkages and as such, remain speculative. Nevertheless, as a novel sector, new food, and potential alternative to conventional seafood and/or meat, society has an opportunity to shape the growth of alternative seafood and its contribution to national and global development goals. This paper identifies knowledge gaps that require further research to inform inclusive, equitable, and sustainable development and governance of the emerging alternative seafood sector.

Achieving Sustainability of the Seafood Sector in the European Atlantic Area by Addressing Eco-Social Challenges: The NEPTUNUS Project

Fisheries and aquaculture are becoming a focus of societal concern driven by globalization and increasing environmental degradation, mainly caused by climate change and marine litter. In response to this problem, the European Atlantic Area NEPTUNUS project aims to support and inform about the sustainability of the seafood sector, boosting the transition towards a circular economy through defining eco-innovation approaches and a steady methodology for eco-labelling products. This timely trans-regional European project proposes key corrective actions for positively influencing resource efficiency by addressing a life cycle thinking and involving all stakeholders in decision-making processes, harnessing the water-energy-seafood nexus. This paper presents inter-related objectives, methodologies and cues to action that will potentially meet these challenges that are aligned with many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and European policy frameworks (e.g., Farm to Fork, European Green Deal).

California aquaculture in the changing food seascape

California consumes the most seafood of all the states in the United States, and is thus an important influence on the national seafood landscape. Like the nation as a whole, California relies on trade for seafood, which can have effects on livelihoods, food security, human rights and environmental justice. Expanding aquaculture could contribute to food supply and security and provide a more sustainable way to produce food in the future. The United States has recently expressed an interest in increasing domestic production of seafood, in the Executive Order Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth, with the direct desired results of increased local and sustainable food, decreased foreign dependence, and increased jobs. California is re-examining its seafood sector and needs to reconcile disparities in production and consumption as the state navigates a changing seafood landscape. Understanding the current seafood landscape is necessary for making informed decisions to secure a resilient, sustainable, and equitable seafood sector. To reflect the goals recently stated in the Executive Order, we ask 1) what is the state of seafood production and consumption in California, 2) what is the trade landscape for seafood within California, both domestic and international, and 3) how have people in California experienced this interaction between production, trade, and consumption, through the lens of employment. We find California consumes upward of three times more seafood than it produces by volume, and relies heavily on international imports to make up the production gap, with roughly half of imported production likely coming from aquaculture. This reliance has radiating effects, such as displacement of environmental burden to other, often poorer and less regulated countries, and to places where seafood production is likely associated with human rights violations. Wild capture is unlikely to increase, so any increase in domestic production will come from aquaculture. To meet this call, California has a choice along a spectrum of increased state production via aquaculture or increased dependence on aquacultured imports, both foreign and domestic. Currently, the state has the capacity to be proactive rather than reactive as it charts a path forward.

Overcoming Catch Data Collection Challenges and Traceability Implementation Barriers in a Sustainable, Small-Scale Fishery

The seafood sector faces both socioeconomic and environmental sustainability challenges, as well as pressure to demonstrate progress from governments, NGOs, retailers, and consumers. To document data elements necessary in verifying key sustainability attributes and fishery progress, the sector needs to implement traceability systems accessible to fishers and other vulnerable near-shore actors. Implementation must overcome a suite of technological, social, and economic barriers. We assessed and reviewed the efficacy of several approaches attempted in a Philippines yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) fishery. The current prevailing approach is a centralized, analog method of catch recording, both broadly across the Philippines and specifically in this MSC-certified fishery, where they have implemented enumerator-facilitated catch certificate recording. The fishery has begun developing, testing, and piloting new decentralized digital models, including NFC cards, RFID tags, and an app-based smartphone catch data capture. All approaches encountered barriers to uptake, and the most recent estimates suggest up to 44% of the catch in the Philippines remains unreported. We discuss additional systemic considerations necessary to advance sustainability outcomes and their documentation through traceability systems in the seafood sector originating with small-scale fishers.

Shifting Matter and Meanings in Japanese Seafood Assemblages: Fish as Functional Food Cyborgs and Emblematic Cultural Commodities

ABSTRACT Despite the central role of seafood in Japanese cuisine, domestic fisheries are facing a severe crisis. Based on anthropological field research in fishing communities in southwestern Japan as well as on a sampling of cultural representations of fish, this contribution examines the changing cultural and socio-economic meanings and matter of fish in Japanese seafood assemblages: from sentient beings and commons cohabitants under existential threat from anthropogenic environmental change to their use as food for human consumption and their role in the livelihoods of fishers and coastal communities. The analysis finds a growing polarisation in the Japanese seafood sector as the cyborg fish of highly-processed food products and globally traded commodities inundate markets and dinner plates, while locally caught animals turn from basic foodstuff into folklorist stars of a vanishing rurality, a symbol of authenticity and national identity advertised as cultural commodities in romanticising campaigns to revitalise rural areas.

Mild processing of seafood-A review.

Recent years have shown a tremendous increase in consumer demands for healthy, natural, high-quality convenience foods, especially within the fish and seafood sector. Traditional processing technologies such as drying or extensive heating can cause deterioration of nutrients and sensory quality uncompilable with these demands. This has led to development of many novel processing technologies, which include several mild technologies. The present review highlights the potential of mild thermal, and nonthermal physical, and chemical technologies, either used alone or in combination, to obtain safe seafood products with good shelf life and preference among consumers. Moreover, applications and limitations are discussed to provide a clear view of the potential for future development and applications. Some of the reviewed technologies, or combinations thereof, have shown great potential for non-seafood products, yet data are missing for fish and seafood in general. The present paper visualizes these knowledge gaps and the potential for new technology developments in the seafood sector. Among identified gaps, the combination of mild heating (e.g., sous vide or microwave) with more novel technologies such as pulsed electric field, pulsed light, soluble gas stabilization, cold plasma, or Ohmic heat must be highlighted. However, before industrial applications are available, more research is needed.

A practical take on the duty to uphold human rights in seafood workplaces

Too many fishing crew have died aboard vessels known for fisheries crime. The purpose of this paper is to raise awareness of the ‘fundamental’ rights of all people working in the seafood sector and the business duty to prevent rights violations, as it is organized as minimum workplace procedures that are legally-established in international law, in customary use and effective. The authours searched for workplace guidance for respecting rights and then conducted research to identify the legal minimums that states have signed and ratified as essential, and are also in scope of the business duty that is set out in the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, 2011. The result is a short list of workplace procedures which are: (1) intended to prevent rights violations particularly forced labour, (2) suited to diverse types of operations in different languages, customs or circumstances, (3) appropriate to all people in a seafood workplace whether they hold a contract or not, and that allow for (4) tracking labour conditions in ways which could be verified by the people working therein or their representatives. To uphold fundamental rights in seafood workplaces, employers are to provide rights training for all new recruits in a language they understand, a safe, responsive channel for workplace grievances linking into the line of command, provisions for safe work in hazardous conditions, and among others, safe passage for individuals choosing to leave. At sea as on land, every individual has fundamental rights to legally-established assurances in seafood workplaces.

Sustainable regional industry development through co-evolution - the case of salmon farming and cell-based seafood production

Norway is the largest producers of aquaculture salmon in the world, and the Bergen region is the centre of Norwegian salmon production. In this article we explore the opportunities and obstacles in introducing cell-based seafood as a new related industry niche in the region through coevolution with the established salmon farming industry. Introducing a new industry niche to this region could contribute to a comprehensive renewal of existing seafood-related activity and represent a major step towards sustainable seafood production. Cell-based seafood may eliminate sea lice, escapee and excess nutrient impacts on the surroundings by enabling highly controlled and contained seafood production. We found that coevolution between the cell-based seafood sector and the salmon industry in the Bergen region will be difficult to materialize at the present time. There are two main explanations. First, coevolution is challenging when the dominant path (i.e., salmon farming) is in a stable state. High profitability and a stable state mean that this industry absorbs investors, technology suppliers and research milieus that may otherwise have been on the lookout for alternatives and supplementary business opportunities. It also means that incumbents within the dominant path will not be looking for diversification alternatives. Secondly, there are distinct differences between the two industry paths when it comes to knowledge base, innovation mode and geographical configurations, making actor mobility, knowledge spillovers and resource sharing between the two industry paths challenging. We also find that coevolution may occur in the future through industrial convergent evolution mechanisms of downstream value chains as the cell-based seafood industry matures.

How to achieve the sustainability of the seafood sector in the European Atlantic Area?

Climate change, globalization or marine debris are on the spot of concerns for the most society. Particularly, fisheries are impacted by these and other issues. On the framework of the European Atlantic area, NEPTUNUS project (EAPA_576_2018) tries to provide opportunities for the transition to the circular economy of the seafood and aquaculture sectors by means of a consistent methodology for products eco-labelling and defining eco-innovation strategies. Furthermore, this project will provide key actions for resource efficiency based on life cycle thinking and the nexus water-energy-food, incorporating producers, policy makers and consumers in the decision-making process. This review addresses, therefore, the threats and challenges of the current Atlantic fisheries, the methodologies and actions to be face them and the expected results of the NEPTUNUS project

Rapid Assessment of the COVID-19 Impacts on the Galician (NW Spain) Seafood Sector

This paper aims to develop a rapid assessment of the COVID-19 impact on the Galician (NW Spain) seafood sector, one of the most important maritime regions in the world. Here, we focus not only on the immediate COVID-19 impacts on the extractive fisheries sector, but also on the capacity of the aquaculture and the canned industries to supply seafood markets before and during the pandemic. We synthesize multiple data sources from across the seafood supply chain to show the relative initial responses and variables of recovery during a pre-COVID-19 period (2015–2019) and during the pandemic (2020). Our study shows that seafood sectors and trade were disrupted by abrupt shifts in demand, supply and limitations on the movement of people and goods, with a wide range of impacts and consequences for the seafood sectors. We find that domestic landings, Galician aquaculture production and imports and exports of seafood products (fresh, live and frozen) in 2020 showed an important decrease. In contrast, the canned production and the imports and exports of prepared and preserved seafood products followed an increasing trend during the COVID-19 pandemic. We record a change in the consumption behavior of the Galician population, which significantly increased expenditure in fresh and canned seafood products during the first confinement. Overall, the Galician seafood sectors were able to ensure the supply of seafood products to the population during the period of confinement decreed as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Proximity to markets, investment in domestic or nearby supply chains and the development of new technological innovations helped to avoid food shortages and loss of livelihoods in Galicia. Fishers and fishing enterprises have also acted collectively to reassert their rights to provide essential and high quality seafood products to the Galician population, their livelihoods and safe working conditions, and have leveraged relationships and collaborations with their government counterparts to continue fishing.