FisheryProgress requires the following FIP documents to be completed by a qualified:
- Comprehensive FIPs’ pre-assessment
- Comprehensive FIPs’ related scoping document
- Comprehensive FIPs’ workplans
- Comprehensive FIPs’ three-year audits
Human Rights and Social Responsibility Consultant
- Risk assessment, if completed using the Social Responsibility Assessment Tool (SRA)
- Social workplan, if associated with an SRA
The information provided on this page is intended to help FIPs understand the qualifications needed for each of these documents and to find consultants that meet these requirements.
Please note that documents completed by individuals that lack the necessary qualifications will not meet the criteria laid out in the FIP Review Guidelines and, therefore, will not be approved to meet FisheryProgress’ reporting requirements. For this reason, FisheryProgress strongly recommends that you seek pre-approval for your FIP's selected consultant(s) prior to entering into a formal contract with them, even if they are already listed in the database below. This pre-approval will help avoid having to repeat the requirements should your consultant(s) not be qualified. Obtain pre-approval by contacting FisheryProgress at contact@fisheryprogress.org.
Database of FIP Consultants
If you are seeking consultants that meet the criteria detailed below, please contact us for a copy of the current database. Please note FisheryProgress does not endorse any of these consultants, and this list is updated every two months. However, consultants are approved on a rolling basis. If you wish to obtain a more recent version of the document, please contact us at contact@fisheryprogress.org.
Note that although the consultants presented in the database have been reviewed for their fisheries and/or social expertise, FIPs must also ensure that they meet FIP-specific requirements for language and/or conflict of interest requirements necessary for the work they are contracted to implement. For example, a consultant selected to implement the FIP's risk assessment must include someone with the necessary language skills to interview fishers in the FIP and all individuals on the assessment team must not be an employee, employer, or buyer with a financial or commercial interest in the FIP. Three-year audits must not be completed by individuals employed by one of the FIP leads or FIP participants within the past three years. This means that a consultant that is qualified to support one FIP may not be qualified to support another FIP.
FisheryProgress strongly recommends that you seek approval for your FIP's selected consultant(s). Obtain pre-approval by contacting FisheryProgress at contact@fisheryprogress.org.
Comprehensive FIP Consultants
FisheryProgress requires that comprehensive FIPs’ pre-assessment, related scoping document (if applicable), workplans, and in-person audits (required every three years) are conducted by a party experienced with applying the MSC standard (e.g., a registered MSC technical consultant or accredited conformity assessment body or has other demonstrated qualifications approved by the reviewer).
The following clarifies the third category – those with other demonstrated qualifications. It establishes criteria that FisheryProgress.org will use to determine if a consultant has the demonstrated qualifications necessary to complete an MSC pre-assessment and related scoping document (if applicable) or conduct a comprehensive FIP’s in-person audit of activity results and performance against the MSC standard.
Review the qualifications for consultants supporting Comprehensive FIPs here.
Human Rights and Social Responsibility Consultants
FisheryProgress requires that any risk assessment that uses the SRA tool and the development of any SRA-associated social workplan be undertaken by a qualified individual or team according to FisheryProgress’ requirements. As needed, a team of individuals that collectively meets the FisheryProgress requirements can be formed in lieu of a single person that individually meets all requirements. These individuals and teams are referred to as Qualified Human Rights and Social Responsibility (HRSR) Consultants.
Please note that FisheryProgress does not accept SRAs and associated workplans completed by individuals that lack the necessary qualifications. FisheryProgress strongly recommends that you seek approval from FisheryProgress prior to conducting the assessment in order to avoid having to repeat the SRA and/or SRA-associated workplan should your consultants not be qualified. Pre-approval will help ensure that your risk assessment and workplan meet the criteria laid out in the HRSR Policy and Social Review Guidelines.
The following resources are available to help FIPs find qualified HRSR Consultants: