“We need a more ambitious, inclusive, and unified sustainable seafood movement”

With more than two decades of experience in the seafood industry, Mr. le Roux has been reshaping Woolworths’ approach to seafood sustainability since 2019. He previously worked for Stellenbosch University’s Division of Aquaculture; co-founded an abalone ranching company; and has advised numerous seafood industry organisations as a consultant.

- We need to make global seafood sustainability more inclusive. It was very positive that we had a Science Policy Lab here in South Africa because we need greater unity. We have stakeholder groups that are pulling in different directions. If we can develop a better understanding of each other, it is a great thing.

He thinks that the SASi-SPi Science Policy Lab provided an important neutral space for dialogue, knowledge exchange, and innovation. The labs focus on collective action, institutional collaboration and innovation contributed to accelerating change and fostering alignment and unity within the fragmented landscape of the aquatic food-system.

Progress since 1995

According to Mr. le Roux, seafood sustainability has progressed significantly since the adoption of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries in 1995. The emergence of sustainability assurance schemes in the early 2000s and a surge in consumer interest have brought sustainability to the centre of the seafood discourse but there are still challenges.

- If you look at Sustainable Development Goal 14, “life below water”, and target SDG 14.4 to “end overfishing by 2020”, we haven't reached that target, and around 25% of all wild caught seafood comes from illegal, unreported, and unregulated fisheries. We also have climate change and its evil twin, ocean acidification as well as ocean plastics.

But he mentions aquaculture as a game-changer to relieve pressure on wild stocks and sees other good signs.

- Where aquaculture and fisheries are governed effectively – with sound policies and regulations; and strong monitoring and enforcement; conservation outcomes are achievable.

Mr. le Roux mentions Community Catch, as one of the new promising certification schemes for small-scale fisheries. Launched in May 2025 following three years of standard development, it embraces both environmental and social aspects, and it can certify a single vessel or a small vessel fleet. 

Fishing for the Future

Woolworths sells 50 seafood species sourced from 31 countries around the world. Around 42% of the wild-caught seafood comes from small-scale fisheries.

- Thanks to long-standing collaborations with NGOs and our seafood suppliers, Woolworths has achieved significant, measurable impact. Today, 99.6% of our private label seafood and 98.8% of all the seafood we sell meet our responsible sourcing commitments.

Recently, Woolworths launched a second version of their aqua food sustainability programme; “Fishing For The Future 2.0”, with a broader focus on social and economic aspects. “Fishing for the Future.1.0” was grounded in a corporate advisory programme where Woolworths could only source Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), or World Wildlife Foundation Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative - (WWF SASSI) green rated seafood. 

“Fishing for the Future 2.0” is more actively involved in the supply chains, looking at sustainability from environmental and socio-economic perspectives. Woolworths now accepts all certifications recognised by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI). 

- We see ourselves as a global leader when it comes to seafood sustainability and we want to use Fishing for the Future 2.0 as a tool to maximise customer value and responsibly source seafood that has the most positive environmental, social and economic impacts possible.

The programme is built around three core pillars: 

• Responsible sourcing, guided by a newly developed procurement policy based on International Organization for Standardization, ISO 20400 and ISO 26000
• Responsible communication, including advocacy, becoming more transparent, supplier education and improving consumer facing visibility.
• Responsible consumption, the most complex challenge, which aims to shift consumer behaviour and inspire better food choices.  

- While robust product development plays a role, we must involve our customers directly in the seafood sustainability narrative. In the end it’s their food choices that will shape the future of our oceans and sustainable development.

According to Gert le Roux, certification often poses a challenge for small-scale fisheries due to its high cost, making it difficult for them to qualify as suppliers for retailers that require certified products. 

- With one or two vessels, you don’t have a sustainability manager. Looking at all these schemes, I think they played a significant role in driving progress towards sustainability, but we may have to start looking beyond certification and ratings in certain regions. If you look at certification in Africa for example, globally in 2024 there were 572 MSC certified fisheries in the world but only 4 in Africa. When it comes to aquaculture, less than 10 percent of the global production is certified. Out of 2,246 Aquaculture Stewardship Council, ASC, certified farm sites, only six are in Africa.

Heading for the future

Gert le Roux envisions significant changes in the future development of sustainability within seafood and sees integrated AI, big data, and advanced analytics in real time.

- We see significant potential in the integration of new cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things in marine resource management, seafood sustainability assurance and responsible consumption. 

AI is already being integrated into our daily lives and in fisheries it is used for data analysis, stock assessment and estimating fishing effort. Persuasive AI can, according to Mr. le Roux, be used to nudge consumers towards better seafood choices. The IoT will allow real time data analysis.

- I think that we can go from this current system of certification and ratings to an AI-powered model that can predict the sustainability of a fishery, link that information to sourcing decisions, and align it with customer choices. The integration of AI into seafood sustainability systems offers tremendous potential to create breakthrough value and exponential impact.