The Risk Assessment for Sourcing Seafood (RASS): Empowering businesses to buy responsibly

The RASS web-based tool has been developed by the UK Sea Fish Industry Authority to inform UK seafood businesses and retailers about four environmental risks when sourcing wild-capture seafood; fish stock status, management efficacy, bycatch, and habitat impact. These risks are scored on a five-point scale (1 - very low, 5 - very high risk) against criteria outlined in this paper. RASS allows seafood buyers to identify products that align with their corporate social responsibility commitments (CSR), but unlike other 'fish lists', it does not say “buy” or “avoid”. In other words, RASS is informative rather than prescriptive, and puts decision-making back into businesses' hands. The RASS website has been designed for a range of different users, and in addition to risk scores, risk summaries, outlooks, and further evidence are also provided, all of which are freely accessible. The creation of new fishery profiles (and future developments) in RASS is guided through feedback from a seafood industry steering group composed of technical managers and buyers. Ultimately, the RASS tool will improve seafood businesses' capacity to navigate the complexities of fisheries science and management, and commercial realities, when carrying out their CSR commitments.