A Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) harnesses the power of the private sector (e.g., retailers, processors, producers, and/or catchers) to incentivize positive changes toward sustainability in the fishery — and seek to make these changes endure through policy change.

A FIP is a multi-stakeholder effort to address some — or all — environmental challenges in a fishery. It identifies the issues that need to be addressed, sets the priority actions that should be undertaken, and then oversees the work plan adopted.

Some FIPs may aim to achieve a level of performance consistent with an unconditional pass of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard, while others may have MSC certification as an end goal.

FIPs are structured, collaborative, and multi-year initiatives that need to have detailed workplans and regular milestones for evaluating progress.

FIPs are tracked globally by FisheryProgress.org, which you can search by FIP name, species, country, participant, and progress rating. Businesses and foundations that are supporting FIPs can evaluate their progress on the site, and other stakeholders can:

• Launch a FIP by learning how to engage stakeholders, develop the FIP workplan, and finance the FIP
• Assess a fishery, including the initial assessment and scoping document
• Report FIP progress, including three-year audits for comprehensive FIPs
• Share FIP success stories

FisheryProgress.org is overseen by an advisory committee and managed day to day by FishChoice. The Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions developed the FIP guidelines that are the foundation for the site. The Technical Oversight Committee helps to guide the evaluation process and related functionality.  

Our “Tuna FIPs” table links to publicly listed FIPs from around the world that are third-party verified. Each tuna FIP addresses one or more gear types and tuna species. ISSF advises all FIPs to create a profile for their project on the site.

There are nearly 50 tuna FIPs worldwide — including with participation from some ISSF participating companies — encompassing four of the five tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) regions, with the potential for many new additional projects.

• See ISSF FIP Resources to learn how we can help tuna FIPs to be successful, including a purse seine FIPs best practices checklist and longline FIPs best practices checklist.
• Access ISSF resources, which are matched to MSC Performance Indicators, through our FIP Resources Finder tool.
• If you need more assistance, contact us with FIP questions or requests.