August 27, 2020
In March of 2020, COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe creating economic and social impacts across all sectors. At Iberostar, as we reflect on ways to build back a better and more responsible tourism model, we took a deeper look at how the pandemic affected small-scale fisheries and identified emerging lessons that help us reduce the impact of crises (such as climate change) that we know will come.
As society shut down with the goal to control the spread of the disease and flatten the curve, demand for seafood and subsequently, fishing activity, were dramatically reduced in some areas. With the closures of restaurants and hotels, foodservice providers also had to find new markets for their existing seafood products, often having to repack products to meet increasing demand for frozen seafood at retailers or opening their doors to sell directly to end-consumers.
Read full post in Wave of Change original publication here