Sea Pact, an innovative alliance of seafood industry leaders, announced the opening of its request for grant proposals (RFP), the fifth time the group has opened up applications for worthwhile projects.
Sea Pact is a group of leading North American seafood companies dedicated to driving stewardship and continuous improvement of social, economic, and environmental responsibility throughout the global seafood supply chain. The group achieves these goals in part by using its collective power to advance environmentally sustainable fisheries and aquaculture practices and provide the building blocks of a long term and sustainable seafood industry by financially contributing to improve the fishing and fish farming systems from which they procure.
“To date, Sea Pact has funded 11 grants to 9 projects in 7 countries, with over $225,000 USD in direct support and with additional funds generated of almost $1 million USD across these projects,” says Rob Johnson, managing director of Sea Pact. “Through this grant funding process we are working together to increase the supply of sustainable seafood and affect change in the industry through getting involved and supporting pragmatic, solutions-focused projects that deliver results and create lasting impact.”
Through this RFP, Sea Pact aims to select a project in line with their goals; fishery and aquaculture improvement projects, habitat restoration efforts, scientific research and other projects are encouraged to apply. Sea Pact continues to focus on projects dealing with bycatch reduction, innovation in aquaculture, or social responsibility within the seafood supply chain.
“We’ve learned a lot from our previous grant proposal requests,” adds Guy Dean, vice president/CSO of Albion Farms and Fisheries Ltd, and chair of the Sea Pact Advisory Committee. “We’ve begun to recognize where our contributions can make the greatest impact on creating positive change within our industry. We are excited about a more focused RFP process relevant to current issues affecting the seafood industry and look forward to the submissions we receive.”
To apply for funding, organizations are asked to fill out the RFP application available on the Sea Pact website.
Projects impacting the top seafood species consumed on a global level are preferred. Applications are due September 9. Sea Pact will announce the grant recipients in late 2016.
