Headlines from our Inaugural India Summit - Mumbai - April '24
We took a major step in expanding our geographic reach earlier this year by holding our inaugural India Summit in April. This marked the first formal engagement with the burgeoning Indian seafood industry, where eleven new members have joined STF as commercial members since October 2023, including the country's largest shrimp exporter.
The summit couldn't have been timelier, coming on the heels of recent media reports alleging labour abuse, environmental degradation, and banned antibiotic use in Indian shrimp production. These allegations echo the very issues that the STF's formation a decade ago sought to counter, amidst similar claims around the Thai industry.
Major Indian shrimp producers attended the Mumbai event, alongside key government stakeholders like Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), the Export Inspection Agency, and regional fisheries departments. The agenda focused on introducing the STF's core approaches and experience of driving transformative change;
Engaging all supply chain actors in a collaborative, step-by-step improvement process
Sharing proven best practices and the STF's value proposition
Presenting baseline data from 25 pilot social, traceability & environmental assessments
Setting clear 2024 workplan expectations around supply chain mapping, assessments, capacity building, and remediation.
Our new Indian members see the need for change and are commended for taking the lead. Therefore, our approach is to take realistic, achievable steps that create the conditions for global companies to trade Indian shrimp and tuna products confidently.
With 66 additional assessments planned for this calendar year across India, this summit was vital in terms of laying the groundwork for replicating our tried and tested model. Tackling a new market underscores our vision for fully traceable, ethical, and environmentally responsible seafood supply chains across all major sourcing regions.