The American National Fisheries Institute (NFI) has announced it will be home to the Global Shrimp Council as the group begins work to create a precompetitive partnership designed to promote United States (US) shrimp consumption. Co-founders David Castro, from Manta Bay Seafood, and Gabriel Luna, from Gluna Shrimp, announced in September plans for the group during the Global Shrimp Forum Foundation meeting in the Netherlands.
The goal in September was to be organized before the end of the year with a leadership team and funding arrangement in place. NFI already manages collaborative work as part of its council system for Tuna, Crab, Shrimp, Mexican Shrimp, Sushi, and Salmon.
There has already been nearly a year’s worth of preliminary work done on the effort guided by one of the architects of the Avocados from Mexico strategy. Governance, finance, and membership composition will be the first tenets addressed by NFI and the new group’s leadership.
Work begins on planned promotion coalition
“We are excited to get started on this work,” said Brandon Phillips, NFI’s Vice President of External Affairs and Councils. “Creating a structure for the group, collecting funding, and instituting a management structure aren’t quite as sexy as live-fire promotion and marketing. But it’s these foundational things that need to be done first. And they are getting underway,” he added.
“In the Netherlands we received initial funding commitments from some of the biggest shrimp producers in the world,” commented Castro for his part. “They see the need for this type of promotion and will be the driving force behind it. We are excited to work with them.”
Committed to sustainable management
According to them, for more than 75 years, NFI has been the leading trade association for the seafood industry whose members represent all aspects of the value chain from water to the table. The National Fisheries Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to education about seafood safety, sustainability, and nutrition. NFI promotes the US Dietary Guidelines that suggest Americans include fish and shellfish in their diets twice per week for longer, healthier lives.
NFI and its members are committed to sustainable management of the oceans and being stewards of the environment by endorsing the United Nations Principles for Responsible Fisheries. Their assure that their investment “in the oceans today will provide our children and future generations the health benefits of a plentiful supply of fish and seafood tomorrow.”
From responsible aquaculture, to a marketplace supporting free trade, to ensuring the media and consumers have the facts about the health benefits of fish and shellfish, NFI and its members support and promote sound public policy based on ground truth science.
In the other hand, and as Castro commented in Netherlands, “the Global Shrimp Council is an initiative with the intention to harmonize the interests of participants in this significant industry through a systemic vision. One of these interests is to introduce the global consumer to the benefits of consuming the finest sustainably produced protein sources, such as shrimp. Shrimp is a flavorful, healthy and nutritious protein, that is accessible, easy to prepare, has low carbon emissions in production and uses minimal consumption of freshwater. I am greatly look forward to seeing the outcome of our discussions and where this could take the industry.”
