THE SOURCING TRANSPARENCY PLATFORM

The Sourcing Transparency Platform. IPNLF’s Sourcing Transparency Platform (STP) is an online tool that drives greater transparency in one-by-one tuna supply chains.  It’s a world-first that publicly promotes the responsible sourcing practices of businesses supporting one-by-one tuna fisheries.

Using the STP, companies are able to showcase the alignment of their sourcing strategies with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thereby also demonstrating how their business operations help contribute to lasting benefits to the environment and society.

In short, the STP is the first platform to facilitate the differentiation of responsible one-by-one tuna. It celebrates and promotes best practice implemented by companies to both consumers and the industry.

What is the STP?

The STP is a highly visual and dynamic digital platform that makes understanding the journey of tuna products from deck to dish more accessible for consumers.

The STP operates with data provided by individual members. IPNLF will offer close consultation and appropriate resources to members throughout the initial STP onboarding process. From there, IPNLF will be on-hand to co manage data entry and dashboard management as required.

The STP is a crucial component of IPNLF’s broader 2025 Commitment. The IPNLF aims to collaboratively drive a range of improvements among one-by- one tuna fisheries and connected supply chains by the end of 2025. The STP supports this process by tracking and showcasing historic and ongoing improvement trends among IPNLF members, presenting highly valuable insights for all parties

Proactively improving the transparency of seafood products is highly desirable to both consumers and producers. However, one-by-one and small-scale tuna fisheries often lack the financial resources required to effectively tell the story of the premium, sustainable seafood they produce, and can be marginalised in certain seafood markets as a result.

IPNLF aims to change this dynamic by suitably informing consumers and offering a cost-effective solution to its commercial partners to evidence the benefits of the one-by-one fisheries they source from. This will be vital in ensuring that the one-by-one tuna sector innovatively keeps pace with ever changing market demands in order to flourish and continue supporting coastal fishing communities.

The STP is a complimentary service provided to IPNLF Members, in accordance with IPNLF’s overarching goal to support:
1. Safe & fair working environments,
2. One-by-one fisheries that have a minimum impact on marine ecosystems,
3. Transparency of supply chain operations.

How does it work?

The public-facing front-end connects consumers with the fisheries that supply their tuna products, enabling them to gain the knowledge and insights required to make a more informed purchasing decision.

The ‘Open Access Area’ is designed to educate consumers and industry on the social and environmental sourcing credentials of one-by-one tuna fisheries; creating increased trust, and showcasing responsible one-by-one fisheries throughout the globe in a fully transparent manner.

The secure area of the platform is exclusively accessible to the companies on-boarding information onto the STP. It facilitates additional brand exposure, highlights important industry insights, and offers direct marketing support.

To ensure easy and adequate data management for partner companies, IPNLF will co-manage data entry with its members on an individual case-by-case basis. The STP also strives to help identify and frame the areas where IPNLF can offer assistance to members through the Fisheries Improvement Toolbox (FIT).

The components of the STP are purposely aligned with various sustainability initiatives, such as: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (the SSF Guidelines), and Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST).

The STP accommodates the diverse types of companies that collaborate with IPNLF. The type of data requested from companies is tailored to their role within tuna supply chains, and allows them to demonstrate their best practices on the STP within the context of their businesses’ operations.

The STP serves two main audiences: the sustainable seafood sector, and the conscious seafood consumer. It provides a space where end-consumers can become more informed about fisheries issues, technology solutions, and proactive innovations in general. Informing end-consumers in this way results in broader public acknowledgement of what constitutes a sustainable and responsible tuna product.

The STP will support conscientious procurement decision-making by industry partners, while also driving and informing consumers to re-imagine what responsibly-sourced tuna products should look like today, as well as in the future.