Wales Group (Sea Value & Sea Wealth)

No leading practices were identified for the company in the governance and strategy measurement area.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the ecosystems measurement area.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the traceability measurement area.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the social responsibility measurement area.

Sustainable development strategy
Wales Group does not disclose a sustainable development strategy that includes sustainable development objectives and targets, nor an identification and prioritisation process to determine the topics where it has the most impact.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
Wales Group does not disclose the governance structure for its sustainable development strategy, such as the person, team or committee that holds ultimate responsibility for the implementation of the strategy.

Stakeholder engagement
Wales Group does not disclose stakeholder engagement activities, including how it selects the stakeholders, nor an overview of the topics discussed or their outcomes.

Engagement in policy advocacy
Wales Group is involved in advocacy activities through its membership of in several industry organisations, such as ISSF. The company has an opportunity to explain how its advocacy activities support the implementation of public policies or the strengthening legislation in the seafood industry. Furthermore, it has an opportunity to demonstrate results and/or impacts of its advocacy activities.

Commitment to sustainable fisheries and aquaculture
While subsidiary Sea Value has a Code of Conduct for international and local fisheries and a sustainable seafood procurement and processing policy, no disclosure was found at the group level. Wales Group has a clear opportunity to set group-wide time-bound targets for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture and start reporting against these targets.

Ecosystem impacts of fisheries
Subsidiary Sea Value is addressing the impact of its fishing activities, through activities such as training workers on the proper handling of bycatch. However, at the group level Wales Group lacks public disclosure on company-wide efforts to manage fishing impacts on target and by-catch species. The company does not provide information about its impacts on endangered species and sensitive habitats. As such, Wales Group can significantly improve by disclosing how it assesses the ecosystem impacts of its wild-catch operations and how it mitigates any negative impacts.

Ecosystem impacts of aquaculture
Wales Group does not disclose information in reference to how it promotes sustainable aquaculture practices in its supply chains. The company can improve its performance by disclosing how it addresses important issues in aquaculture such as antibiotics use, aquaculture feed use, animal welfare, and impacts on endangered species and sensitive habitats.

Commitment to traceability
While subsidiary Sea Value commits to traceability, Wales Group does not. The company has an opportunity to set a time-bound target to achieve fully traceable operations and supply chains. Furthermore, Wales Group can commit to the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) and support the implementation of robust traceability systems in the seafood industry.

Traceability system for seafood products and aquaculture feed ingredients
Subsidiary Sea Value has a system in place for consumers to trace its canned tuna products. However, Wales Group does not disclose information about how it traces and verifies the origins of seafood products. Robust traceability systems contribute to reducing social and environmental risks in a company’s operations and supply chains. The company therefore can improve in this area by to presenting its traceability system, including the key data elements collected and the mechanisms used to verify information along the supply chain.

Risk-based approach to IUU fishing
Subsidiary Sea Value provides information about how it mitigates risks for IUU fisheries across its operations and supply chains. Wales Group, however, does not disclose how it conducts IUU risk assessments as well as due diligence processes to identify and mitigate these risks across its operations and supply chain.

Disclosure of the origin of its seafood and marine feed ingredients
Subsidiary Sea Value discloses an overview of the part of its portfolio that is Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified or comes from fisheries that are in Fishery Improvement Programmes (FIP). Wales Group can improve its performance by disclosing, at the group level, an overview of the seafood products it sources, including information about species, geographic location, and management status.

Forced labour
The company does not disclose a commitment to prohibit forced labour in its operations and/or supply chain.

Living wage
The company does not disclose that it pays its workers a living wage or requires its suppliers to do the same. Neither has it set targets to do so in the future.

Working and living conditions on board fishing vessels
No evidence was found of a group level approach to verify decent working and living conditions on fishing vessels. Wales Group can improve its performance by ensuring that working and living conditions on vessels in its supply chain are monitored, disclosing monitoring results and demonstrating how risks are mitigated and improvements are implemented, where needed.

Respecting customary and indigenous rights
Wales Group does not demonstrate that it respects customary and indigenous rights.

Engagement with and support for local communities
Wales Group does not demonstrate how it engages with local communities.

Gender commitment in the supply chain
Wales Group does not demonstrate how it drives gender equality and women’s empowerment in its supply chain.

While Wales Group’s subsidiary Sea Value provides a general commitment to human rights no group-wide policies have been found. Furthermore, Wales Group does not publicly disclose how it identifies, assesses, and takes action on its human rights salient risks in its own operations and supply chain. Furthermore the company does not provide evidence of a grievance mechanism that is accessible to employees and external individuals and communities.

No policies or commitments related to providing and promoting decent work were found in the public domain. This includes the provision of secure, safe and healthy workplaces, where workers are fairly remunerated and have a meaningful say in decision making.

Although Wales Group’s subsidiary Sea Value discloses a general statement on bribery and corruption for suppliers, it however does not state that anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses are included in contracts with suppliers. In addition, no relevant policies or commitments on other key ethical business topics – personal data protection, tax, and lobbying and political engagement – were found in the public domain.