Nichirei Group Sustainable Marine Product Procurement Guidelines

1. Purpose

Marine products are important resources that support the business activities of the Nichirei Group.

In recent years, issues have been identified, including climate change, the impact on ecosystems from overfishing and bycatch, habitat destruction, including deforestation for artificial farming ponds, and violations of the human rights of fishery workers.

We aim for sustainable procurement by working with suppliers and stakeholders to resolve issues in our marine product supply chain.

2. Scope

Marine products (wild-caught and farmed)

3. Principles

We aim to procure marine products in a fair, transparent and sustainable manner based on the Nichirei Group Sustainable Procurement Policy.
We procure marine products from resources that are systematically managed according to the laws and ordinances of applicable countries and regions.
We will procure marine products from suppliers that can trace their products to the fishing ground or fishing boat.
We procure marine products that have been caught using methods that do not adversely affect ecosystems or marine resources.
We work to procure marine products from fisheries that respect human rights in the supply chain.
We proactively procure marine products for which efforts have been made to conserve marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
We engage in dialogue and cooperate with our suppliers and stakeholders. We will work together to resolve issues.
We formulate and appropriately disclose targets and action plans for procuring marine products in conformance with these guidelines.
We periodically review these guidelines in line with changes in the environment and social issues.

4. Initiatives

1) We procure marine products that have been confirmed to comply with catching quotas, fish species limitations, fishing closed seasons and other matters stipulated by the laws and ordinances of applicable countries and regions.
2) We will procure marine products from suppliers that can trace their products to the fishing ground or fishing boat.
3) We reject illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and procure marine products that are not in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (informally referred to as the Washington Convention), or other relevant international agreements.
4）We proactively procure marine products from fisheries that have been certified as sustainable1 (Marine Stewardship Council, Aquaculture Stewardship Council or other certification) or are engaged in fishery/aquaculture improvement projects (FIP/AIP) or other such measures toward the acquisition of such certifications.
5）We cooperate with our suppliers and stakeholders in their efforts to acquire certification for sustainable marine products and improve fisheries.
6）We proactively work to improve local ecosystems and maintain and conserve marine resources through our unique activities ( such as Inochi-no-Mori-Project and Inochi-no-Umi-Project ²) in cooperation with our suppliers and stakeholders.
7）We appropriately conduct due diligence to confirm whether human rights are respected in the fisheries supply chain.

1. Sustainable seafood certified through the Global Benchmark Tool process of the Global Seafood Sustainability Initiative (GSSI)
2. Inochi-no-Mori-Project
A joint mangrove planting project started in 2006 by a local shrimp supplier, Tarakan City in Kalimantan, Indonesia, and Nichirei Fresh Inc. The purpose of this project is to reduce environmental impact in local shrimp farming regions and enable sustainable procurement of safe and reliable shrimp. A portion of the proceeds from this extensive shrimp aquaculture, which has been practiced in Indonesia for many years, are donated to a fund for mangrove planting in ponds that have been abandoned after intensive aquaculture.

Inochi-no-Umi-Project
A joint project conducted since 2022 by Fukuoka Uoichiba Co., Ltd., the Amakusa Fisheries Cooperative, and Nichirei Fresh Inc. Focused on regenerating Zostera beds, the project is funded using a portion of sales of natural shiba shrimp caught in Amakusa City, Kumamoto Prefecture.