The Seafood Ethics Common Language Group

The Seafood Ethics Common Language Group (SECLG) provides a safe meeting space to discuss the key ethical issues faced by the international seafood industry. The group looks at social welfare issues that affect the UK seafood supply chain, whether in the UK or seafood imported into the UK. This covers human trafficking, labour abuses, child labour, debt bondage, forced labour, migrant workers, and modern slavery. It is an opportunity to share new ideas or best practice case studies from around the world.

The group is led by our industry and we take responsibility for running the SECLG. The Group has met twice a year since 2014. The SECLG brings together seafood industry representatives from major supermarket chains, smaller retailers, processors, foodservice and the catching sector.  Other people who attend are not-for-profit voluntary groups, welfare charities, consumer groups, government and social research scientists.

SECLG meetings and bite size meetings

There are generally two meetings a year. The presentations and minutes from the most recent meetings are below. Presentations and minutes from previous meetings are available from Karen Green.

Due to Covid-19 we are running shorter online bite-size SECLG meetings in 2020 and 2021

Next meeting

The next meeting will be in January 2021. Contact Karen Green for further information. 

Previous meetings

See the presentations from SECLG bite-size - 12 November 2020. Facets underpinning a socially resilient seafood industry. This bite-size meeting looked at some of the key factors underpinning a socially resilient seafood industry and focussed on the work of three organisations supporting the industry to drive behavioural change:

• Ending slavery. Jessica Sparks, the University of Nottingham Rights Lab. 
• Gender equity. Marie Christine Monfort, Women in Seafood.
• Financial resilience. Tina Barnes, Seafarers UK.

See the presentations from SECLG bite-size - 2 September 2020. Dynamics around setting and benchmarking at-sea baseline social criteria. This meeting explored the principles that are helping to shape this conversation to see if it is possible to adopt one common way to assess at sea social criteria and agree what that includes. This looked at the initiatives currently underway; explored whether certification is the answer; if a simpler model can support the introduction of best practice and due diligence; and if benchmarking can bring all this into alignment. See the presentations:

• Social Responsibility Assessment Tool for the seafood sector. Charlotte Opal, FisheryProgress.org.
• MSC policies on forced and child labour. Leah Buckley, Marine Stewardship Council. 
• The CGF Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI)/Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) social compliance criteria for At-Sea Operations. Thomas van Haaren, Consumer Goods Forum.

See the presentations from SECLG bite-size – 8 July 2020. At-sea social criteria. This meeting looked at new initiatives and standards to ensure all commercial fishers have minimum standards and decent conditions of work on board fishing vessels, as well as an effective means to voice any concerns.

• GSA RFVS Transition Program. Mike Platt, RS Standards/Global Seafood Assurances.
• FisheryProgress draft social policy for Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs). Kristin Sherwood, Fish Choice.
• GSA Fishery Worker Voice Project. Melanie Siggs, Global Seafood Assurances.

See the presentations from CLG bite-size – 27 May 2020. ILO 188 Work in Fishing convention. This meeting looked at how the ILO Work in Fishing Convention (C188) has been adopted by the UK fishing industry and the issues created by COVID-19. See the presentations from this session: 

• The Maritime and Coastguard Agency Marine Guidance and Information Notes. 
• The Scottish White Fish Fishermen’s Association new recruitment agency initiative. 

Terms of Reference and archive

SECLG meeting notes and minutes

• Notes on SECLG bite-size meeting. 12 November 2020
• Notes on SECLG bite-size meeting. 2 September 2020
• Notes on SECLG bite-size meeting. 8 July 2020.
• Notes on SECLG bite-size meeting. 27 May 2020.
• SECLG meeting notes 28 January 2020 

• For more information on this work and to download Seafish briefing papers, visit our Social Responsibility in Seafood webpage 

Our social responsibility work

• Social responsibility is a key work area for us. As well as running the SECLG we also support the seafood industry in a number of key areas to help eliminate unethical practices from UK seafood supply chains. To find out more read our Social Responsibility in Seafood briefing note 

Contacts