Blue Ventures receives SeaWeb Seafood Champions Award in Hong Kong
October 2012, Hong Kong - SeaWeb last month announced Blue Ventures as one of nine winners of the 2012 Seafood Champions Awards at the 10th International Seafood Summit in Hong Kong.
The annual Seafood Champion Awards honor those who have made significant strides in improving practices and awareness of responsibly produced seafood. Seafood Choices established the award in 2006 to honor those in the seafood industry whose past or present contributions demonstrate a commitment to sustainability that leads to change.
"We are truly honored to present Blue Ventures with the 2012 Seafood Champion Award," said Dawn M. Martin, President of SeaWeb. "They serve as an important ambassador and their hard work to ensure a sustainable fisheries community is a great model for the rest of the industry," she continued.
The 2012 Seafood Champion Awards marks an important benchmark for the awards program. SeaWeb is celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Seafood Summit and is hosting the Summit in Asia for the first time. The Champions announcement is made direct from Hong Kong during the opening ceremony of the Summit.
Blue Ventures commented: "We could not be more thrilled to be name a Seafood Champion. It is extremely rewarding to know that our team's hard work and dedication to the sustainable management of Madagascar's octopus fishery has been recognized. We are honored to be awarded amongst so many other impressive organizations and know that together our actions can lead to meaningful change within the seafood industry."
Blue Ventures is an award-winning social enterprise that works with local communities to conserve threatened marine and coastal environments, both protecting biodiversity and alleviating poverty. Over the past decade, Blue Ventures' marine conservation work in Madagascar has focused on establishing temporary closures for fisheries to increase the sustainability of landings of highly valued, internationally traded species.
SeaWeb's Seafood Choices program established the award in 2006 to honor those in the seafood industry whose past or present contributions demonstrate a change in practices that help to ensure a permanent and sustainable supply of seafood for future generations, and that that this valuable resource is delivered to consumers in a socially, economically and environmentally responsible manner.
Nominated by the seafood community and judged by a panel that includes previous winners, the awards have been bestowed upon individuals, companies and organizations from the fishing, aquaculture, seafood supply and distribution, retail, media, restaurant and foodservice sectors. Winners of this award have a proven influence over the marketplace with regard to the sourcing of ocean-friendly seafood.
"Seafood Champions represent leaders in the seafood community who are going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure a sustainable future for fisheries," said Martin. "These Champions demonstrate true dedication and are evidence that sustainability is not only possible, it is inevitable because once people begin to understand what is at stake, there is no going back," she remarked.
SeaWeb is the only international, nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to strategically communicating about ocean issues. We transform knowledge into action by shining a spotlight on workable, science-based solutions to the most serious threats facing the ocean, such as climate change, pollution and depletion of marine life. We work collaboratively with targeted sectors to encourage market solutions, policies and behaviors that result in a healthy, thriving ocean. By informing and empowering diverse ocean voices and conservation champions, SeaWeb is creating a culture of ocean conservation. www.seaweb.org
Seafood Choices is an international program of SeaWeb that provides leadership and creates opportunities for change across the seafood industry and ocean conservation community. We seek to create synergies and help identify creative solutions to long-held challenges. By building relationships and stimulating dialogue, Seafood Choices is encouraging and challenging all sectors of the seafood industry along the road toward sustainability. www.seafoodchoices.org
'Editors notes':
Blue Ventures is an award-winning marine conservation organisation dedicated to conservation, education and sustainable development in tropical coastal communities. Through our marine expeditions, volunteers from around the world join us on career breaks, student gap years and internships, working closely with our field research teams, in partnership with local communities.
Blue Ventures' projects are focused in environmentally and culturally sensitive regions of the world. All project visitors are required to be aware that we are privileged guests in our host countries, towns and villages. We insist that all team members, acting as ambassadors to Blue Ventures, adapt their behaviour to recognise local cultural sensitivities. We have a responsibility to minimise negative impacts on local environments and communities where we work, as well as to provide tangible benefits to our host communities.
To find out more about Blue Ventures Expeditions visit our volunteer pages on our website.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
