{"id":11229,"date":"2026-05-20T21:43:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T19:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empact.nu\/the-next-wave-of-sustainability\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T21:44:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T19:44:17","slug":"the-next-wave-of-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empact.nu\/en\/insights\/the-next-wave-of-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"The next wave of sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new oil crisis due to geopolitical turmoil. What a misery! Fuel prices are going through the roof due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Fishermen, processors and traders must pass on the increased costs to consumers or they will fall over. Inflation adds to that. In the fish chain<\/a>, we know all too well what that means: consumers will look for a cheaper alternative. In other words, “If the customer disappears, the ships go out of business.” <\/p>\n\n

The biggest challenge for the fish chain is to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Entrepreneurs have no influence on the price of oil. What they can do something about is their own operations. Certainly not easy, but necessary to avoid becoming a plaything of the whims of the oil market. And a lot has already been done. Certifications, selective fishing gear, fuel savings, catalytic converters, LED lighting, solar panels. Today, fishing, processing and trading is more efficient and with less impact than twenty years ago. <\/p>\n\n

Yet the discussion about sustainability is far from over. Indeed, a new wave is coming. And it looks different from the previous one. <\/p>\n\n

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Production<\/h2>\n\n

The first wave was mostly about how to produce. Less impact on climate and environment, better for people, at competitive prices. The results don’t lie. Many Dutch fisheries are MSC certified. Plaice and sole have been fished at or below Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) levels for years. Seventy percent of the fish stocks studied in the Northeast Atlantic now meet that standard. That is, in effect, regenerative management. But here’s the rub: MSC certification costs time and money, while fishermen don’t get a higher price for it. The first wave has yielded much, but as long as the market does not reward good behavior, the foundation remains fragile. <\/p>\n\n

Organization<\/h2>\n\n

The second wave is about something else: how your business is organized. Supermarkets are increasingly asking where exactly products come from<\/a>. Banks want to know what climate risks<\/a> a company runs. Governments demand transparency about chains<\/a>, working conditions and environmental impact. In other words: the importance of data. <\/p>\n\n

That shift is not a pipe dream. The revised EU Fisheries Control Regulation mandates digital traceability for fresh and frozen fish as early as 2026. The new CATCH system should prevent paper catch certificates from simply disappearing into drawers. And with the digital product passport (DPP),<\/a> the EU establishes that information on origin and environmental impact must be available digitally. Where previously one certificate was sufficient, a whole set of questions will now be added. <\/p>\n\n

Paradox<\/h2>\n\n

And therein lies an interesting paradox.<\/p>\n\n

Many companies in the fish chain have been working within the limits of what nature can handle for decades. More sustainable work is often being done than the public debate suggests. But that story is not always made visible. Not because entrepreneurs have nothing to say. But because sustainability is still too often treated as a collection of separate measures. A certificate here, an energy project there, a question from a retailer in between. What is missing is coherence. A strategy<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

What choices do you make?<\/h2>\n\n

What sustainability issues are really important<\/a> to your business? Where are the risks in the chain? What choices are you making for the next ten years? Once it’s clear which themes really matter, a different kind of conversation with customers, banks and governments begins. Not about complying with rules, but about direction. Those who first strategically determine what their sustainability goals are can then explain what they are doing, why, and where they still want to take steps. Communication<\/a> then does not become a defensive reaction to criticism, but a logical consequence of a well-considered course. <\/p>\n\n

Companies that see through this in time can better explain their story to supply chain partners, policymakers and ultimately consumers. Companies that do not, run the risk that others will tell their story. And in the current social climate, that rarely works out favorably. <\/p>\n\n

The seafood chain has shown more often in the past that it can adapt. New techniques, new rules, new markets. A catchy example is Urk’s transition: from flatfish hub to capital of salmon processing. The next step may not only be at sea. But also at the conference table. <\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new oil crisis due to geopolitical turmoil. What a misery! Fuel prices are going through the roof due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Fishermen, processors and traders must pass on the increased costs to consumers or they will fall over. Inflation adds to that. In the fish chain, we know all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":11226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empact.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empact.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empact.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empact.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empact.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11229"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/empact.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11230,"href":"https:\/\/empact.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11229\/revisions\/11230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empact.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empact.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empact.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empact.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}