In Mexico, between 12 and 13 kilograms of fish and seafood are consumed per capita per year and it is one of the 20 largest producers in the world, according to the study Perceptions of the Mexican Consumer, carried out by the civil organization Mexican Council for the Promotion of Fishery and Aquaculture Products (Comeesca) in partnership with Collective Impact for Mexican Fisheries and Aquaculture, a space for dialogue between fishing actors.
Although Mexico is a country rich in fish and aquaculture production and has 59 species that are sustainable or in the process of being sustainable, a large part of the fish product that is consumed, including the certified product, comes from import.
To explain the challenges of supplying supermarkets with sustainable fish products and Mexican fishermen to be supermarket suppliers, Causa Natura Media interviewed Iván Gómez, commercial liaison coordinator at Comeesca, dedicated to the promotion of the consumption of Mexican fish products.
The interview with Gómez has been edited for clarity.
— How do you currently define what is and isn't sustainable fishing and aquaculture?
— Talking about sustainability in fishing and aquaculture is complicated because there are many criteria to take into account, such as respecting restrictions, fishing gears, temporalities, minimum sizes and also very limited geographical areas. As well as the water footprint, carbon footprint, impact on biodiversity, impact on marine ecosystems, and sometimes measuring all these issues in the same fishery or in an aquaculture project is complicated.
In Collective Impact, a network of organizations that Comeesca is part of, we define sustainable fishing as one that has some type of certification such as Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP), the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Also to fisheries and aquaculture, which are on track to achieve sustainability with Fair Trade Certification, fisheries improvement projects and those that have a Seafood Watch buying guide.
— Is it common for supermarkets to have a definition of sustainability, policies and seek sustainable fish products?
—It's very variable, really, each self-service is a different company, so everyone has their own policies. At Comeesca and Pesca con Futuro we have found that unfortunately there are self-services that do not yet have sustainability policies and we are working with them to start developing them.
Those who are already implementing them are governed, at best, by certifications because they are recognized worldwide, which doesn't matter if it's a Tilapia that comes from Chiapas, or if it comes from Asia, in the end the standards are the same, the indicators that are measured are the same and that makes up what is called sustainable.
— Why do you think there is resistance from supermarkets to incorporate domestic products, whether certified as sustainable or not?
Talking about sustainability doesn't just mean working on the environmental side, it also involves working on the social side and the economic side, and it represents respecting a fair price from capture and throughout the supply chain.
For companies and individuals who are responsible for production, implementing sustainability schemes and certifications also entail a cost for annual planning, salaries for employees and also for auditors, and a cold chain to carry it well preserved from the coast to the consumer's plate. And sometimes even certifications come at a cost for the use of the seal, the bags, etc.
All of this implies higher expenses that are reflected in the price of the product. This is why many self-service companies sometimes do not want to include these products because they are not profitable, since in Mexico we start from a context in which Mexicans hardly consume fish and seafood and one of the main limitations for consumption is price.
There are some self-service companies interested in promoting the local economy and sustainability, which is why they buy Mexican products and certified products. But what many self-services have done is to resort to imported products that come from countries that are major producers worldwide because they make use of these economies of scale and can lower costs in good quality products.
— What is the main constraint on the part of local producers to be able to market their products in supermarkets?
Supermarkets fall into a special buyer category because they are high-volume buyers. So sometimes a supermarket cannot buy locally because its minimum purchase is one ton a week and local producers are very small even if they group together their production, unlike China, which is a production monster.
Or they fail to meet the health filters that supermarkets ask for. The truth is that the filters of small producers in Mexico are not enough, which is why many self-service companies do not buy directly from local producers.
In Mexico, we have only two companies with the BAP certification for tilapia and one of them is large enough to meet the volumes required to supply supermarkets. Even so, certified Mexican tilapia cannot compete in price with imported uncertified tilapia with a difference of up to almost 100% of the value between each one, despite the fact that the latter includes its associated production and operating costs and tariffs.
— What are the challenges for Mexican producers to have their products consumed locally?
— Mexico is a major producer in terms of fishing and aquaculture in terms of volume and quality. The curious thing is that Mexico imports a large number of products of not so good quality, and what is produced in Mexico of very good quality is exported to the best European, American and Asian international markets.
Consuming locally is always a better option, but we also cannot say that it is the only way to achieve sustainability when that product in the domestic market cannot reach the values it achieves in the international market.
We are not a developed country with these salaries that are adequate for that consumption or that level of purchasing. For example, lobster is a high-value product that is unfortunately not available to many Mexicans and more than 90% is exported. That's why it's a little difficult to achieve that the products are consumed locally.
— What other criteria should be taken into account to evaluate whether a product is sustainable?
— When we talk about fishing, the main criterion must be that it is a legal product because in Mexico a large part of the product that is caught comes from illegal fishing and we cannot talk about sustainability if it does not meet the basic requirements of the legislation. Then, the impact that his capture had on the marine environment, I talk about the impact on the ecosystem and on biodiversity. And finally, the water footprint and the carbon footprint.
— How can potential buyers know which domestic fish products are certified or are in the process of doing so?
— Pesca con Futuro was created in 2017 by ComePesca as a communication campaign to promote the consumption of sustainable Mexican fish and seafood and is now an internationally recognized movement.
We have a map to publicize the products that come from sustainable or in the process of being sustainable fishing and aquaculture. If any potential buyer wishes to purchase sustainable products, they can contact us to send them the contact details of the producers.
— Why is the commitment of companies to consume sustainable or at least responsible products important?
— The decision to consume has an impact on the environment and there self-services have a great responsibility for the volumes they handle. So, as they also increase that supply with sustainable products for their consumers, perhaps they too can influence themselves in a certain way and change their chip.
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