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Sustainability Assessment

Sea Port sources its Cuttlefish from India.  Because Cuttlefish species have relatively short life spans and grow to reproductive age quickly, their populations are thought to be somewhat resilient to moderate levels of fishing pressure and long as they are not targeted during mating times.  Cuttlefish are also much less fecund than other cephalopods such as squid and octopus so overfishing must be guarded against. The short life span and unpredictable nature of factors such as egg survival and the influence of environmental conditions make it difficult to assess most all Cuttlefish populations using conventional stock assessment methods. In many cases, effective management of Cuttlefish fisheries is lacking. Additionally, certain Cuttlefish fisheries also carry a risk of severe habitat impacts from the fishing gear used (e.g., bottom trawling on sensitive habitats such as cobble and coral). Improvements in data collection and management are necessary to mitigate the risk of negatively impacting populations through overharvesting.  There is a growing interest to source Indian Cuttlefish that is caught using traps because of the reduced negative impacts to the ocean floor habitats and the increased selectivity of this method that avoids unwanted bycatch.

Environmental Impact: Moderate to Moderately High

Because population fluctuations seem to be closely tied with environmental factors, year to year Cuttlefish biomass is difficult to accurately predict. Management of the resource is inadequate in many major Cuttlefish fisheries. Additionally, some Cuttlefish are caught by bottom trawling, which can negatively impact ocean floor habitats.

Sustainability Improvements Needed

Improvements in the amount and types of data collected are needed in order to accurately establish fisheries trends and further develop stock assessment models specific to Cuttlefish. Specific management measures for Cuttlefish also need to be developed in many fisheries in order to prevent overfishing. Research into mitigation of habitat impacts by bottom trawling (e.g., gear modifications) is also needed.  The greater use of pots and traps may also improve the sustainability of the Cuttlefish fisheries of the world.

Actions that Sea Port is Undertaking

Sea Port is requiring that their suppliers provide fishing vessel identification (when available), catch methodology, and catch area information.  In doing so, Sea Port may be encouraging the Cuttlefish fisheries to collect additional harvest data, which could set the stage for future fishery management improvements.  Sea Port is also encouraging the greater use of pots and traps in this fishery.   Sea Port believes that, in aggregate, choosing from a diverse variety of seafood is better for sustaining the world’s seafood resources and that Cuttlefish should be a part of this variety.

We created the sustainability assessments for each of our seafood items in order to reveal the existing and potential environmental impacts and risks that are associated with producing them for human consumption.  This allowed us to establish the starting position for each of our seafood items along our progressive Go Blue! Seafood Sustainability Spectrum®.   These assessments are only a single snapshot in time and because of this, we will continue to assess and update the critical sustainability needs associated with our supply sources and issue updates to the Go Blue! Seafood Sustainability Spectrum® as needed.  There is a growing global awareness for the need to assure the sustainability of farmed and wild caught seafood and because of this; all around the world positive changes are rapidly occurring at all levels of the seafood supply chain.  We will continue to spread this growing awareness and work with our many industry partners to improve the sustainability of all seafood, which we believe is the ideal protein of choice to feed an ever growing world population.  Our Go Blue! Seafood Sustainability Spectrum® serves as our compass and yardstick as we strive to move all our products forward to becoming more sustainable.  Please join us in this committed quest and Catch Our Wave® to sustainability by choosing a diverse variety of responsibly produced seafood as part of your diet.