Grilled or ceviche-style, few fish are as flexible in summer preparations as sweet, mild mahi mahi. As part of our sustainability initiative, Fortune Fish is highlighting this tasty fish during June and July. By teaming up with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), a non-profit organization that works closely with global seafood suppliers to rebuild fisheries and lessen their impacts on the environment, we’re helping to support change in how these fish are harvested.

 

Mahi mahi are highly migratory species and can be found in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. This fast grower lives up to four years; can reproduce at a young age, and is considered resilient to fishing pressure. 

 

Because of their migratory nature, we can’t guarantee our entire supply will come from the SFP Fishery Improvement Project in Panama, but we’re sourcing from there when possible. With our SFP partners, that support means the Panama fishery is moving towards better practices, including the use of circular hooks to help protect turtles; and limiting the number of hooks on a longline to 600, in while also prohibiting the use of mechanical rollers.  Restrictions like these mean the fishery is now considered 100 percent artisanal. Encouraging news!

 

“Mahi Mahi is an important species to our business, we are optimistic that the research gathered in this FIP will not only improve the Panama fishery, but Mahi Mahi fisheries around the world,” says Mark Palicki, vice president of marketing at Fortune Fish Company. 

 

SFP plans to implement a monitoring system and will be collecting further information about the interaction of fishing gear with protected, endangered or threatened species, which means we can expect even more improvements for this thriving mahi mahi fishery. We’re pleased to be supporting this kind of change, and hope that excitement is contagious to you and our valued customers.