WWF Basket: Marine

Currently, we are taking too much seafood from wild sources that are not sustainably managed, and at the same time raising farmed aquatic species on unsustainable feed. This is contributing to the decline of the marine environment.

It’s vital that we act to put seafood production on a sustainable footing, including minimising impacts on vital marine habitats, and on endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species.

WWF Basket - Key Metrics for Marine

What is the target?

marine target

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WWF Basket tracks two key metrics in order to monitor progress towards ensuring seafood production is sustainable and species and habitat impacts are minimal.

Firstly, the WWF Basket tracks data on the percentage volume of wild caught and farmed seafood sold in the UK that is third-party certified. This metric has been selected because certification is a widely accepted means to assess the sustainability of seafood sourcing, and an important tool for ensuring that seafood species are from well managed fisheries and aquaculture farms.

However, as certification alone is not enough to stop overfishing or prevent the threats to marine and freshwater wildlife from seafood production, the WWF Basket also tracks data on the percentage of wild caught resources that adhere to all aspects of the Seafood Jurisdictional Initiative.

This approach takes into consideration a broader range of ecosystem and fisheries’ impacts, in order to eliminate threats to ETP species, tackle overfishing, address social welfare issues, and reduce the climate impacts of seafood production and consumption.

This metric was initially developed and implemented for tuna, which faces particular sustainability challenges. It is being developed to suport reporting for other wild caught species.

The WWF Basket ambition is that 100% of the wild caught seafood sold in UK supermarkets adheres to the Seafood Jurisdictional Initiative by 2030. You can learn more about the Seafood Jurisdictional Initiative here.

When it comes to farmed seafood, we also need to reduce demand on wild caught species to supply a growing aquaculture industry. The WWF Basket will track this through data on the average Forage Fish Dependency Ratio (FFDR) of fishmeal, fish oil of fish feed.

The FFDR gives an indication of the number of wild-caught species that are used to produce farmed seafood. The lower this number the better in terms of marine sustainability, and the WWF Basket outcome is for this to be less than 1 by 2030. Find out more about WWF's work on aquaculture here.

You can find out the latest WWF Basket data on marine sustainability in our 2023 report, What's in Store for the Planet: the Impact of UK Shopping Baskets on Climate and Nature - 2023.

You can find out more about the WWF Basket ambition for marine sustainability in the Blueprint for Action and WWF Basket Outcomes and Measures.

What's in store for the planet: The Impact of UK shopping baskets on climate and nature 2023

Read the 2023 report

Resource bank

Tuna Sourcing Issue Identification Checklist

The first step to supporting seafood the jurisdictional initiative is to have a better understanding of specific tuna value chains that companies are sourcing from.

This involves checking with the downstream and/or upstream stakeholders to seek evidence, verifying the availability of existing information and identifying any gaps in information.

WWF has developed a checklist of key issues within tuna sourcing which can help tuna value chain stakeholders to identify the strengths and shortcomings of a specific supply chain against selected elements of the seafood jurisdictional initiative approach. Find out more here.

Wild-Caught Seafood Sourcing Issue Identification Checklist

The first step to supporting seafood the jurisdictional initiative is to have a better understanding of specific seafood value chains that companies are sourcing from. This involves checking with the downstream and/or upstream stakeholders to seek evidence, verifying the availability of existing information and identifying any gaps in information. WWF has developed a checklist of key issues within wild-caught seafood sourcing which can help wild-caught seafood value chain stakeholders identify the strengths and shortcomings of a specific supply chain against selected elements of the seafood jurisdictional initiative approach. Find out more here.

Risky Seafood Business

WWF is working with companies to adopt the recommendations outlined in the recent Risky Seafood Business report towards reducing the global footprint of the UK’s seafood consumption.