It was presented on March 12, 2018 at the Seafood Expo North America in Boston (USA), with the aim of making Ecuador a world example of sustainable shrimp production. This is an initiative of the Sustainable Shrimp Partnership (SSP) that has achieved significant progress in the industry in five years.

Its director, Pamela Nath, recalls that the initiative originated from a group of Ecuadorian shrimp producers who came together with the same goal: to ensure that in the coming decades, current and future generations can enjoy healthy seafood.

Ecuadorian shrimp will be the first in the world that customers will follow

“The SSP is a clear example of how the industry can operate in a pre-competitive manner, where its members share goals and develop clear and ambitious plans to take the global shrimp industry to a higher level in terms of responsibility and sustainability,” says Nath..

Among the achievements that SSP has achieved for the national shrimp industry is, for example, the development of the most demanding protocols for shrimp production, with the support of the SSP Advisory Council, which was formed by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) and the Management Council aquaculture (ASC); and hand in hand with the Colombian Institute for Technical Standards and Certification – (ICONTEC).

In addition, SSP was a pioneer in traceability issues in its category. It implemented blockchain technology, after joining the IBM Food Trust ecosystem, with the aim that the consumer is informed, knows the origin of the product and its traceability, just by scanning the QR code displayed on the box. In this way, SSP leads the fight against food fraud that occurs at all levels and in different chains.

SSP has also prepared 22 shrimp farms to access the International Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification, with the encouragement of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) through an improvement program so that medium and small producers can meet the requirements of the standard and demonstrate greater environmental protection and social impact.

Another achievement of the initiative was the first “shrimp field tour and seminar” with international buyers, which SSP jointly organized with ASC with 20 representatives of US and Canadian seafood retailers and distributors in July 2022.

The shrimp industry is looking to strengthen its exports to the retail segment of the United States and Canada

The goal was to show important seafood distributors how shrimp are grown in Ecuador and that they can demonstrate the producers’ commitment to respect the highest standards of quality, social and environmental responsibility required by ASC certification, ensuring special care at every stage of the production cycle.

Meanwhile, María Fernanda Vilches, head of the SSP process, added that the initiative also promotes social responsibility plans with international organizations, revealing that they are working on a carbon footprint measurement project led by IDH and in collaboration with other industry stakeholders.

“You want to identify what are the critical points in the production of SSP shrimp and work on solutions to reduce them. In addition, we are looking for aquaculture certifications to standardize this measurement in the medium term,” said Vilches.

Also, this year SSP plans to hold the second “Shrimp Summit” meeting where major seafood suppliers experience the good practices and commitment of shrimp farming in Ecuador.