The RFA members ascribe to the following principle of responsible fishing practices:
1. Sustainability
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All species traded should be sourced from a sustainable fishery or from a fishery in a credible improvement project.
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All relevant staff should be equipped with the skills to implement responsible fishing practices at sea.
2. Transparency
The impacts of all fishing operations on endangered, threatened, protected and vulnerable species, including finfish, seabirds, sharks and turtles should be recorded and minimised.
All fishing operations should be adequately monitored either by observers or electronic monitoring.
Where appropriate, voluntary catch data should be submitted in support of agreed upon fisheries improvement projects.Information required by consumers to make informed choices about the sustainability of either seafood products should be publicly available and easily accessible.
3. Traceability
All species traded should be traceable throughout the supply chain back to their source fisheries.
Accurate fisheries data for all fishing operations should be timeously submitted to the relevant regulatory authority.
4. Social responsibility
Working conditions should be safe and basic human rights should be maintained across all operations.