What does “sustainable seafood” mean to seafood system actors in Japan and Sweden?

Abstract

“Sustainability” can mean different prioritisations of society, environment and economy to different people. As one of the largest globally traded food commodities, for seafood, these differences could have large implications. The study captures different understandings of “sustainable seafood” among 29 key actors along the seafood supply chain—government, NGOs, industry bodies, retailers and producers—using a novel cross-country application of Q method in Japan and Sweden. Sweden, known for its uptake of green consumption, contrasts with Japan’s focus on alternative sustainability initiatives such as satoumi. Participants ranked 40 prepared statements on seafood sustainability revealing four distinct perspectives: Regulation-centric, Ecocentric, Industry-centric and Community-centric. There were clear country-based divisions, with only one perspective containing participants from both countries. Interactions and prioritisations of different dimensions of sustainability are also presented, through which we hypothesise areas of conflict and consensus. We stress the need to understand diverse perspectives when tackling global seafood sustainability challenges.