IPNLF has been officially registered in the United Kingdom as a charity (charitable organisation) since 2012. Their charitable objectives are focused on promoting sustainable development through ocean conservation and strengthening the ability of small-scale fishers to conserve biodiversity, build climate resilience and alleviate poverty. The organisations recognises that small-scale fisheries are often deeply rooted in the social and cultural fabric of coastal fishing communities, and are vital in supporting local economies and ensuring sustained food security.

To achieve their charitable objectives, IPNLF promotes the sustainable management of the world’s tuna fisheries while also recognising the importance of safeguarding the livelihoods they support. IPNLF’s work is to develop, support and promote one-by-one tuna fisheries –  which is subsequently fully aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:

Looking ahead to 2025, we believe effective and equitable global governance is essential to protect and restore the ocean, and this should be achieved by ensuring the participation of local and coastal communities in decision-making processes. However, environmental sustainability in tuna fisheries can only be fully achieved by also putting an end to the overfishing and destructive fishing practices that are driving the degradation of already threatened marine species, habitats and ecosystems. Markets will be an important driver to achieve holistic sustainability by purposefully supporting the most socially responsible and ecologically sustainable seafood choices.

– Martin Purves, IPNLF Managing Director.

In response to these challenges, IPNLF’s Strategic Plan 2020-2025 will continue to help drive the sustainable management of the world’s one-by-one tuna fisheries, and focus on cultivating an increased understanding amongst the seafood industry and wider public regarding the socially responsible and environmentally sustainable sourcing credentials of these fisheries. To achieve this, they have identified five Strategic Pillars that broadly cover the key areas of our work. These are: (1) Fisheries Support, (2) Business Development, (3) Marketing and Communications, (4) Financial Management and (5) Good Governance.

Download IPNLF Strategic Plan 2020-2025 here

Overarching Goals & Objectives

IPNLF wants to ensure that responsible small-scale fisheries have the opportunities they rightly deserve. The five strategic pillars and the high-level goals, objectives and strategies associated with them, offer a structured way to focus and align the IPNLF team on the key activities that are required to achieve their vision ‘A world with thriving fisheries that work in balance with nature by catching one fish at a time‘.

FISHERIES SUPPORT

“Fisheries Support is the largest and most public facing of the strategic pillars and our Fisheries Support pillar lies at the heart of what IPNLF does.” 

Support activities will vary from practical projects enabling small-scale fishers to implement best practices at sea, to ensuring due consideration of one-by-one fishers’ rights and needs in international fisheries management decision-making. The Fisheries Support workstream emphasises the application of modern innovations to promote the social and environmental benefits of one-by-one fisheries – and capitalises on this work to also improve market opportunities for these responsible one-by-one fisheries.

IPNLF Launches three crucial initiatives.

With the launch of IPNLF’s 2025 Commitment, their Sourcing Transparency Platform (STP) and their Fisheries Improvement Toolbox (FIT), IPNLF wants to give greater recognition to their members for the support they are providing to one-by-one tuna fisheries worldwide.

2025 COMMITMENT

Under IPNLF’s ‘2025 Commitment’, IPNLF is challenging their members to demonstrate their commitment to ensuring the production of responsible seafood, by providing them with the impetus, targets and tools to implement time-bound improvements in their supply chains in a structured way. This commitment is a collaboration between IPNLF and their Members to co-create a fair & equitable world.

“All IPNLF Members commit to drive transparency, social responsibility, and environmental sustainability in their one-by-one tuna supply chains while actively implementing improvements in at least 75% of their one-by-one tuna supply chains by 2025…”

STP

The Sourcing Transparency Platform (STP) will be the first global online platform to drive greater transparency in one-by-one tuna supply chains, whilst also publicly promoting and showcasing the responsible sourcing practices of the business community sourcing one-by-one tuna. IPNLF believes that because of this initiative, which will be made available to IPNLF members at no cost, they will contribute to shaping a more sustainable and fair future.

FIT

IPNLF’s Fisheries Improvement Toolbox (FIT) will help drive increased investments from the private sector to address traceability, seafood quality assurance, social-responsibility improvements, ecosystem and management improvements, and the attainment of plastic neutrality in their own supply chains. The safeguarding of the health, well-being, and fundamental human rights of all workers in one-by-one supply chains, in line with international standards and recommendations, will be a key priority.

IPNLF MEMBERS

With a network of industry leaders (commercial companies and civil society organisations) and one-by-one fisheries, IPNLF works to drive change and encourage and support improvements at sea and throughout the supply chains connected to them. Their growing membership is testament to the interest from the marketplace in supporting their charitable objectives, and in the process linking initiatives of IPNLF members to markets through credible improvement pathways, thereby driving more responsible procurement of one-by-one tuna. Through partnerships with the seafood sector, IPNLF helps catalyze their journey towards responsible tuna sourcing, improving the market recognition of one-by-one caught tuna products and providing a lasting contribution to the U.N.’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Marketing and Communications

IPNLF’s Marketing and Communication will be a key aspect in raising awareness of the holistic sustainability of our one-by-one fisheries, thereby helping our beneficiaries – the small-scale fishers and communities connected to them – to have a voice in decision-making. IPNLF has a renewed focus to reach consumers directly and to educate a wider audience about the protection, enhancement and rehabilitation of coastal and marine environments, demonstrating how their ethical seafood choices can contribute to sustainable development.

LOOKING AT THE FUTURE

While the global impacts of COVID-19 are still unfolding it is difficult to fully comprehend how the pandemic might impact on IPNLF’s work. In this unchartered territory, small-scale fisheries are particularly vulnerable with livelihoods at risk, and with impacts felt throughout entire seafood supply chains, from harvesting to processing and marketing.

“We have seen severe impacts on the ground; in some  of the one-by-one tuna supply chains where we work with our members, and also with our staff and the projects they implement. However, we have also seen ingenuity, generosity, and resilience. This has brought us joy, strength and hope, and re-energised us to continue to work for the benefit of the fishers and fishing communities that depend on them. It has also inspired us to initiate a new collaboration with partner organisations that will be focused on a post-Covid-19 recovery and a rethink of what the world should look like so that we can sustainably manage the world’s tuna fisheries while also safeguarding the livelihoods they support.”

Martin Purves – IPNLF Managing Director