Glossary

Active FIPs are currently at Stage 2, 3, 4, or 5 and are reporting progress to FisheryProgress. Active FIPs can be either basic or comprehensive (defined below under FIP types). (Source: CASS Guidelines for Supporting Fishery Improvement Projects) 

Basic FIPs are a good entry point for fisheries to begin addressing specific environmental challenges to improve their performance against the Marine Stewardship Council Fisheries Standard. Basic FIPs complete a needs assessment to understand the challenges in the fishery. (Source: CASS Guidelines for Supporting Fishery Improvement Projects)

Taking, in good faith, all reasonable steps with the goal and assumption of reaching the desired end. It includes doing everything known to be customary, necessary, and proper for ensuring the success of the endeavor. (Source: FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy).

Completed FIPs have provided independent verification that they have completed all of their objectives or become MSC certified. (Source: CASS Guidelines for Supporting Fishery Improvement Projects) 

Comprehensive FIPs aim to address all of the fishery’s environmental challenges necessary to achieve a level of performance consistent with an unconditional pass of the Marine Stewardship Council Fisheries Standard. Comprehensive FIPs engage a party experienced with applying the MSC standard to complete an MSC pre-assessment to understand the challenges in the fishery and must have independent, in-person audits of progress against the MSC standard every three years. (Source: CASS Guidelines for Supporting Fishery Improvement Projects)

The table below presents the full set of SRA performance indicators (PIs). The PIs highlighted in blue and noted with an asterisk (*) are the Core FisheryProgress SRA Indicators. These are a subset of SRA performance indicators that need to be assessed (as applicable) for FIPs that meet one or more of the criteria for increased risk of forced labor and human trafficking. See Appendix A of the Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy for a full list and additional detail.

The estimated weight of the product a FIP catches at the time of landing, in metric tons. The estimated landings of the FIP is a subset of the Estimated Total Fishery Landings; however, only the landings from FIP participants or landings sold to FIP participants in the FIP’s Unit of Assessment should be considered. (Source: FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines)

The estimated weight of the product a fishery catches at the time of landing, regardless of the state in which it is landed (e.g., whole, or gutted or filleted). The estimated landings of the fishery should match with the scope of the FIP’s Unit of Assessment, which is defined as 1) the target stock(s); 2) the fishing method or gear; and 3) the fleets, vessels, individual fishing operators, and other eligible fishers pursuing that stock. (Source: FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines)

A workplan includes a list of actions the FIP will undertake to meet its environmental objectives, a breakdown of specific tasks under each action, organizations or people responsible for completing each action, and a month and year deadline for completing each action. Each action must be linked to the MSC indicators it means to address. (Source: FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines)

FIPs must provide evidence of progress on actions in the workplan and evidence for increases in indicator scores. See Section 4.4 of the FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines for additional detail and examples.

Individual(s) in charge of making changes to the FIP profile on the website. They are the primary contact(s) to whom FisheryProgress and the FIP Reviewer direct questions and report feedback. (Source: FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines)

The individual or organization designated as the main point of contact for the FIP for FisheryProgress. Users may contact the FIP lead with questions about the FIP or to learn more about engaging with and/or sourcing from the FIP. (Source: FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines)

Objectives define the near-term scope of the FIP and must be specific, measurable, and time-bound. Basic FIP objectives address a specific set of the environmental challenges identified in the needs assessment to improve the fishery’s performance against the MSC standard. Comprehensive FIP objectives address all of the fishery’s environmental challenges necessary to achieve a level of sustainability consistent with an unconditional pass of the MSC standard. FIPs may also define objectives around social improvement progress, but it is not required. (Source: FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines) 

Any entity that actively participates in a FIP by contributing financial or in-kind support to the project and/or working on activities in the workplan. FIPs are required to have active participation by companies in the supply chain. Other important participants include government, fishery managers, and nongovernmental organizations. (Source: CASS Guidelines for Supporting Fishery Improvement Projects)

FisheryProgress recognizes six FIP stages of fishery improvement project progress, defined below, along with four status definitions. While the path to improvement is not always linear, these stages and status descriptions help groups and companies evaluate improvement projects and make decisions about engagement and/or sourcing. See the CASS Guidelines for Supporting Fishery Improvement Projects for a list of stages and additional detail.

FIP status helps identify where the FIP is in its process and whether it is actively reporting on FisheryProgress.org. FIP statues include Prospective, Active, Inactive, and Completed. FisheryProgress only tracks progress on active FIPs. (Source: FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines)

FisheryProgress tracks two types of active FIPs – basic and comprehensive. The primary differences between basic and comprehensive fishery improvement projects are the level of scoping to inform development of the workplan, the objectives, and the verification required. Both basic and comprehensive FIPs must conform to the requirements outlined in the FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy. (Source: FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines)

Any person of any age or gender employed or engaged in the capture or gathering of seafood, either from shore or from a fishing vessel. Fishers also include persons employed or engaged in any capacity or carrying out an occupation on board any fishing vessel, including persons working on board who are paid on the basis of a share of the catch but excluding pilots, naval personnel, other persons in the permanent service of a government, shore-based persons carrying out work aboard a fishing vessel and fisheries observers. (Source: FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy)

A description and evidence of the FIP’s efforts to make fishers aware of their rights under the Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy, including the FIP’s commitment to improvement under its Policy Statement and the availability of grievance mechanisms and how to use them. See Requirement 1.3 of the Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy for additional information. 

An independent specialist authorized by fishery regulatory authorities to collect data to assist in the monitoring of commercial exploitation of marine resources (e.g., species caught and discarded, area fished, gear used). At-sea observers join the vessel during fishing trips but do not normally engage in fishing activities; they observe fishing practices as a third party, and report scientific and regulatory enforcement information to the management authority. (Source: FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy)

Any voyage during which fishing takes place. The duration of a fishing trip includes all time spent away from the port(s) of origin. That includes but is not limited to time spent at-sea, docked in foreign ports, soak time, and time spent resting in remote areas without access to communications. (Source: FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy)

A formal, legal, or non-legal complaint process that can be used by fishers that are being negatively affected by certain business activities and operations. (Source: FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy)

An ongoing risk management process followed by a company in order to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how the company addresses its adverse human rights impacts. It includes four key steps: assessing actual and potential human rights impacts; integrating and acting on the findings; tracking responses; and communicating about how impacts are addressed. (Adapted from the https://www.ungpreporting.org)

Inactive FIPs are those that suspended work before achieving their objectives, have missed reporting deadlines, or have not reported results in three years. See the FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines for additional information.

An independent evaluationis an in-person review of a FIP’s action results and performance against the MSC standard (e.g., changes in fisheries policy, management, or fishing practices and ultimately the health of the fishery) by someone who has demonstrated experience applying the MSC standard and is independent from the organization implementing the FIP. Independent audit reports are required for comprehensive FIPs every three years, and encouraged for basic FIPs. (Source: FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines)

When a FIP reports that it is complete and provides independent verification for the final claim it’s making about the environmental performance level it has achieved, the reviewer will move it to the Completed section of the website. See the FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines for additional information about claims and appropriate verification.

A permanent number assigned to ships for identification purposes. (Source: IMO)

Vessels that weigh 10 gross tons or more, or measure 12 meters or longer. (Source: FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy

A Memorandum of Understanding is one way of demonstrating the participants in a FIP. It should clearly identify the FIP scope or name, names and organizations of participants, specific terms of agreement (e.g., funding/in-kind support and/or activities to be conducted by each participant), and end date, and include confirmation that all parties have signed the MOU. FIPs are encouraged to include their policy statement(s) in the MOU. (Source: FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines)

A needs assessment is an evaluation of a fishery that covers the three principle areas of the MSC standard to determine environmental challenges and improvements needed in the fishery. It may not assess the fishery’s performance against every MSC performance indicator at a detailed level. (Source: CASS Guidelines for Supporting Fishery Improvement Projects)

A documented agreement a FIP and/or its participants employ to publicly disclose responsibilities, commitments, and/or expectations regarding, at a minimum, human rights and social responsibility. The policy statement may come in the form of a code of conduct, commitment, policy, guidelines, standards, or other document. (Source: FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy)

A pre-assessment is a preliminary evaluation of a fishery against all MSC performance indicators to provide a picture of the fishery’s baseline environmental performance and challenges. A pre-assessment allows a fishery to identify any areas that need to be improved to reach an unconditional pass of the MSC standard. A pre-assessment must be completed by someone experienced with applying the MSC standard (e.g., is a registered MSC technical consultant or accredited auditing body). (Source: CASS Guidelines for Supporting Fishery Improvement Projects) 

FIP Progress Ratings, developed by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, use time benchmarks to quickly understand the rate at which a fishery is improving on its environmental indicators. Each progress rating is associated with an alphabetic rating, ranging from A (Advanced Progress) to E (Negligible Progress). See Sustainable Fisheries Partnership’s FIP Evaluation Program for additional detail and methodology.

FIPs report twice per year, during a six-month and annual report. The report due dates vary by FIP, based on when they were listed as an active FIP on the site, and are noted on each FIP’s overview page. Six-month reports are when FIPs report on action progress. Annual reports are when FIPs report on action progress and provide an update on all of the FIP’s indicator scores, along with relevant updated documents. Reporting on HRSR Policy requirements may also be due during the six-month or annual reports - see the FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy for additional detail. (Source: FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines)

Prospective FIPs are currently at Stage 0 or Stage 1 and intend to meet the requirements for basic or comprehensive FIPs and complete Stage 2 within one year. (Source: CASS Guidelines for Supporting Fishery Improvement Projects). 

RFMOs are international bodies made up of countries interested in managing fish stocks in a particular region. These include coastal countries whose waters are home to part of an identified fish stock and distant water fishing countries whose fleets travel to areas where a fish stock is found. To identify what RFMO a FIP might be in, visit the FAO website by clicking here.

The process of providing remedy for a human rights abuse and the substantive outcomes that can counteract, or make good, the negative impact of the abuse. See Remedy. (Source: Based on Shift/Mazars LLP)

Actions taken to resolve and prevent future negative human rights consequences resulting from business activities and operations. Actions may take a range of forms such as apologies, restitution, rehabilitation, financial or non-financial compensation, and punitive sanctions (whether criminal or administrative, such as fines), as well as the prevention of harm through, for example, injunctions or guarantees of non-repetition.

In the context of the FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility (HRSR) Policy, a detailed assessment intended to identify social, labor, and human rights risks and challenges within a FIP and the context in which the FIP operates. Under the HRSR Policy, FIPs may submit an on-site evaluation conducted by a qualified professional of the indicators in the Social Responsibility Assessment Tool (SRA) or submit evidence of an alternative social assessment such as audit results from a social standard or certification, an academic research study, or another social risk assessment. See Requirement 2.1 of the FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy for additional detail.

A desktop evaluation of a set of situational factors that increase the risk of forced labor and human trafficking in a fishery. The self-evaluation is typically completed by the FIP lead. FIPs that meet one or more of the criteria must complete Component 2 of the Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy, including a risk assessment which will reveal the true degree of risk in the FIP. See Requirement 1.5 of the FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy for additional information.

The fisher having command of a fishing vessel. (Source: FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy)

Vessels which weigh less than 10 gross tons and are shorter than 12 meters. (Source: FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy)

A list of actions the FIP will undertake to address areas of risk identified by the FIP’s social risk assessment. For FIPs that have completed an SRA, the workplan must include the organizations or people responsible for completing each action and a month and year deadline for completing each action. It may also include a breakdown of specific tasks under each action. For FIPs that have submitted evidence of an alternative assessment, the workplan must relate to the findings of the alternative assessment. See Requirement 2.2 of the FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy for additional detail.

The unloading of goods and/or fishers from one ship and their loading into another to complete a journey to a further destination. Note that for Requirement 1.5 of the HRSR Policy, the risk criterion focuses on transshipment that occurs at-sea between large vessels only. (Source: FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy)

A FIP is a multi-stakeholder effort to improve the sustainability of a fishery. The Unit of the FIP (UoF) delineates the boundaries of the project, defined by the characteristics of the fishery and the supply chain actors that are involved in the improvement project. The UoF includes:

1. The target stock(s),
2. The fishing gear type(s),
3. The defined subset of fishing and transshipment vessels or individual fishing operators pursuing that stock (listed in the FIP’s vessel list), and
4. The supply chain actors identified as FIP lead(s) and participants.

(Source: FisheryProgress FIP Review Guidelines) 

A global unique number that is assigned to a vessel to ensure traceability through reliable, verified, and permanent identification of the vessel. (Source: FAO)

A vehicle used to catch or transport fish or fishers. That includes transshipment vessels. FisheryProgress defines vessels by their size, as outlined below. All vessels fishing or transporting catch within a FIP are included in the scope of the Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy regardless of whether they are formal participants in the FIP. See large vessels and small vessels. (Source: FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy)

The individual or legal entity that has assumed the responsibility for the operation of the vessel from the owner and who, on assuming such responsibility, has agreed to take over the duties and responsibilities imposed on owners. The vessel operator may be the vessel owner, the captain, skipper, manager, agent, or bareboat charter. (Based on the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 definition for shipowner)

The vessel may be owned by one or several entities, including legal owners and/or beneficial owners that own or control the legal owner. (Source: FisheryProgress Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy)