If there’s one thing I took away from SENA this year—and from my experience working across companies and producing regions—it’s this:
We are not lacking awareness. We are lacking execution.
And I’m going to say something that might make people uncomfortable:
NGOs are not going to save this industry.
They play an important role—no question. They help surface issues, push for accountability, and keep pressure on companies to improve.
But too often, the dynamic looks like this:
- NGOs/Initiatives get all the funding to tell us what to do.
- Industry gets told what to do but not how to actually get it done in the real world
And when you’ve spent time inside companies… and in producing countries… you start to see the gap.
The Reality We Don’t Talk About Enough
A lot of the expectations being placed on seafood supply chains are coming from people:
-
Who may not have direct experience operating inside seafood supply chains or producing region
-
That never had to navigate local socio-economic realities
- And live comfortably in the Global North
And those realities are complex.
We’re talking about systems shaped by:
- Generational poverty
- Class and caste dynamics
- Migration and labor dependency
- Government limitations
- Cultural norms that don’t change overnight
You can’t audit your way out of that.
You can’t policy your way out of that.
This is generational work.
Audit Fatigue Is Real—and We’re calling it out but doing nothing about it
Another theme that kept coming up:
Producers are drowning in audits.
- Multiple buyers.
- Multiple standards.
- Similar questions.
- Same factories.
- And yet… very little alignment.
- Worst part- they don’t identify the actual issues at hand.
So we end up here:
- Suppliers spending thousands on duplicative audits
- Buyers asking for “more assurance”
- NGOs calling for “more rigor”
But no one is asking:
Are we actually solving anything?
Two Truths Can Exist at Once
One of the biggest disconnects I see is how we interpret risk.
You might hear:
“Workers live behind walls with restricted movement.”
And that sounds alarming.
But you might not hear:
- Facilities are in remote areas
- There are safety risks (wildlife, theft, trafficking)
- Workforce management requires structure to function
Does that mean there aren’t risks? Of course not.
But context matters.
And when we ignore context, we create solutions that look good on paper—but don’t work in practice.
We Keep Doing the Same Thing… and Expecting Different Results
After years of the same conversations, same frameworks, same tools…
We’re still seeing the same issues.
So maybe the question is:
What if we tried something different?
A More Practical Path Forward
Here’s a thought:
What if we actually listened to producers?
- How much are they spending on audits?
- Which buyers are requiring what?
- Where are the inefficiencies?
Then:
- Go back to brands and retailers
- Push for alignment
- Reduce duplication
- Reallocate those resources
Because imagine if we took even a fraction of audit spend and redirected it toward:
- Worker engagement (real, ongoing—not one-off audits)
- Grievance mechanisms that workers trust
- Continuous monitoring and remediation
Organizations like Issara Institute are already showing what this can look like.
This Isn’t About Compliance. It’s About Impact.
Right now, too much of this work is about:
- Checking boxes
- Joining initiatives
- Saying the right things
- But here’s the reality:
Being a member of an organization doesn’t create change.
Execution does.
- Traceability systems
- Emissions tracking
- Animal welfare improvements
- Worker engagement
That’s what builds trust.
Let’s Be Honest
If your house is on fire… Are you going to:
A) Immediately put out the fire or
B)Are you going to pay an NGO or consultant to study the fire, run pilots, host consultations, and hand you an 80-page report on what you should’ve done—without telling you how to actually do it? All while your house is already burnt down to the ground?
Unfortunately, we keep investing in Global North–driven NGOs and initiatives (yes, hello funders ) that are great at telling the industry what to do—but not at supporting how to actually get it done. At the same time, producers are expected to participate in every new pilot or initiative, without the space to push back, flag inefficiencies, or bring forward solutions that actually work for their operations.
We’ve overcomplicated what should be common sense.
Where I Landed After SENA
I’m done having the same conversations I want to work with:
- Producers who want practical solutions
- Buyers willing to align and collaborate
- Partners focused on outcomes—not optics
If You’re Ready to Do Things Differently
If you’re a producer trying to navigate this chaos… If you’re a buyer tired of check-the-box approaches… If you are an NGO tired of doing the same thing expecting different results…
Let’s talk.
I’ve got ideas. And honestly? Some of them are just common sense and they are FREE.