Seafood Task Force Strengthens Collaboration with Marine Products Exports Development Authority - Feb '26
Partnership will Enhance Social Accountability & Traceability Across India's Seafood Supply Chain
INDIA -- The Seafood Task Force (STF) and the Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA) have reinforced their growing partnership through a series of high-level engagements aimed at building awareness whilst improving social accountability and traceability across India's seafood supply chain.
The collaboration builds on the STF's inaugural event in Mumbai in April 2024, which brought together STF buyer members and India's private and public sectors, including MPEDA representatives. This continued collaborative approach involving government agencies and industry stakeholders demonstrates the STF's commitment to creating sustainable, scalable solutions that address social accountability challenges across India's seafood sector. The partnership reflects growing recognition of the importance of multi-stakeholder cooperation in protecting worker welfare and strengthening the industry's reputation on the global stage.
Further key milestone occurred in 2025, with the STF and MPEDA convening their first India Working Group meeting in Visakhapatnam. Before further strategic meetings in Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Hyderabad as well as virtually during the STF's annual summit in Bangkok. These engagements have brought together MPEDA's Chairman and senior leadership team alongside STF buyer and supplier members and the STF leadership team, demonstrating both organizations' commitment to advancing social accountability practices and enhancing India's global credibility in seafood production.
MPEDA's active engagement has been further demonstrated through its participation in several STF-initiated capacity-building programs. In July 2025, representatives from MPEDA affiliates—the National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture (NaCSA) and the Network for Fish Quality Management and Sustainable Fishing (NETFISH)—attended the STF's Train-the-Trainer program in Visakhapatnam, which focused on addressing child labor and restrictions on freedom of movement at worker dormitories. Following the training, the STF and representatives from NaCSA and NETFISH discussed collaboration opportunities for capacity building with their officers.
During the STF's annual summit in Bangkok in October 2025, MPEDA representative presented virtually on India's shrimp export situation and addressed labor issues highlighted by international media, emphasizing that collaboration with the STF represents a key pathway to sustaining social accountability. Immediately following the summit, STF members and the leadership team met with MPEDA's Chairman and senior leadership in Hyderabad to establish next steps for the collaboration.
The partnership between the STF and MPEDA encompasses several key areas of cooperation, including building capacity for NaCSA and NETFISH officers on social accountability so they can improve awareness and implementation at small-scale farms enhancing farms’ social accountability awareness; providing inputs to strengthen MPEDA's Shaphari certification standards relating to social accountability; exploring MPEDA's existing grievance mechanism for collaboration opportunities; and facilitating government-level experience sharing on Thailand's management of electronic traceability and vessel behavior monitoring systems.
STF Executive Director, Martin Thurley said:
"We are excited to be working with MPEDA to support advancing social accountability across India's seafood sector. The Indian market is critically important to global seafood supply chains and a priority for STF. Through our partnership with MPEDA, we are working collaboratively to ensure that India's shrimp industry continues to meet the highest international standards. MPEDA's active participation in our training programs and strategic meetings demonstrates a shared vision for protecting worker dignity, ensuring fair labor practices, and enhancing traceability. Together, we are building sustainable frameworks that will benefit workers, industry stakeholders and consumers alike."
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About the Seafood Task Force:
The Seafood Task Force (STF) was established in 2014 to restore global confidence to trade, following concerns about social and environmental abuse in global tuna and shrimp supply chains. It is made up of over 50 major retailers, brands, food service companies and their supply chain partners.
The STF drives supply chain oversight at scale, pioneering a pro-competitive approach that makes it easier for its members to meet international standards and growing due diligence requirements.
The STF is a US-based, not-for-profit trade association established for the seafood industry by the seafood industry. Its vision is a future where its members’ seafood supply chains are fully traceable, free from the risk of human rights violations and free from environmental degradation.
For more information: https://seafoodtaskforce.global/