Barcelona, Spain 7 May 2025
As part of a shared
commitment to environmental stewardship and responsible
aquaculture, Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), Labeyrie
Fine Foods, and Ecuadorian shrimp producer Omarsa have
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on
a 10-hectare mangrove restoration effort in
Ecuador.
Signed at the Seafood Expo Global 2025 in
Barcelona, this partnership aims to support the recovery and
protection of one of the world’s most valuable and
vulnerable coastal ecosystems.
Under the newly signed
MoU, the partners will collaborate on long-term efforts to
restore degraded mangrove areas in Ecuador, promote
community-based conservation, and integrate mangrove
protection into sustainable seafood supply chains. The
initiative will not only contribute to climate resilience
and biodiversity but also empower local communities who
depend on healthy coastal environments for their
livelihoods.
This community-driven project will create
local employment through mangrove restoration efforts,
engaging residents in seedling cultivation and planting.
Backed by expert guidance and strong community support, the
initiative aims to restore vital mangrove ecosystems,
delivering benefits such as carbon sequestration and habitat
regeneration.
A Collaborative Effort Towards Mangrove
Reforestation and Community
ASC CEO Chris Ninnes said,
“This partnership represents a positive step in
demonstrating how seafood farming can support efforts to
address climate change and habitat loss. It’s a reminder
that meaningful impact starts when we choose
change.
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“We’re proud to work with Labeyrie Fine
Foods and Omarsa on this shared commitment—to restore
mangroves through community action, supporting a healthier
future for people, fish, farm and planet. I very much look
forward to a long-term partnership to deliver this work and
we would welcome other companies to come forward and join us
in delivering this meaningful pathway for
change.”
This reforestation project will be carried
out near one of Omarsa’s shrimp farms in the Gulf of
Guayaquil and combines two key elements of its
Sustainability strategy: Community Relations and
Environmental Care.
Omarsa General Manager Sandro
Coglitore said, “Cerrito de los Morreños is a commune of
140 families with approximately 570 inhabitants. For the
reforestation project, the community leaders offered us the
use of land provided to them by the Ministry of Environment
to monitor and protect the area’s flora and fauna, including
the crabs that grow and reproduce in the mangroves and which
they harvest in an artisanal manner for their subsistence.
The mangrove trees (Rhizophora mangle, or red mangrove) to
be used come from the nursery that Omarsa helped the
community develop. This interaction is aligned with SDG 1:
No Poverty, SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG
11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.
This project
will allow us to contribute to the ecosystem service
provided by mangroves, contributing to SDG 13 Climate Action
and SDG 15 Life Below Water and Life on Land. We hope to
plant 10,000 trees on 10 hectares to increase the capture of
carbon emissions from the atmosphere.”
Estelle
Brennan, Director of Sustainability and Supplier Assurance
said “Mangroves are highly productive blue carbon
ecosystems, and we are conscious that they play a key role
in combatting climate change, whilst protecting against
floods, and coastal erosion. They provide critical nursery
habitats to a broad range of organisms and are an important
source of food supplies for many indigenous people and
therefore pivotal in maintaining a healthy and prosperous
local economy.
At Labeyrie Fine Foods, we are
committed to protect mangroves and we are thrilled to join
our long-term partners Omarsa and the ASC in supporting a
restoration programme in Cerrito de Los Morreños in
Ecuador.”
Restoring natural ‘coastal
guardians’
Mangroves—often referred to as coastal
guardians—play a critical role in stabilising shorelines,
supporting biodiversity, and capturing vast amounts of
carbon. In 2024, the first global mangrove assessment for
International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List
of Ecosystems shows over half of the world’s mangrove
ecosystems are at risk of collapse.
Historically,
shrimp farming has had a massively damaging impact on
mangroves, which are removed to make space for ponds. The
ASC Farm Standard prohibits any mangrove removal after 1999
and requires reforestation efforts for any mangroves removed
before then.
ASC has been involved in the creation of
the Best Practice Guidelines for Mangrove Restoration, led
by Wetlands International, and has incorporated this into
the Farm Standard Interpretation
Manual.
