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Status Seafood, Inc.

South African Sustainable Seafood Specialist

Environmental and Cultural Sustainability Assessment

Service

Status: Sustainable Economics is a freelance sustainable consultancy focusing on the economics of sustainability, without the padded expense. Our aim is to provide restaurants, wholesale distributors, delis, fishmongers and all other realms of the seafood industry a comprehensive analysis and report on their current level of sustainability.

All products, packaging and processes will be evaluated against sustainable economic practices whereby if a benchmark is asceratined, a rating will be given to the organization. If a pass is achieved, it is to be understood that the organization is certified as:

STATUS: SUSTAINABLE

If additional effort is required to ascertain the afore mentioned status, a list of alternatives and procedures will be evaluted and presented with possible solutions.

Customers

Location

Your facility or our offices

Cost

Hours are billed accordingly but all will be determined prior to any work being done. The preservation of our natural resources cannot truly have a price tag attached to it, so only out of pocket expenses and our consultants time will be billed for. The end result is a sustainability certification with a de-depth report containing econometric models and analysis that justifies the certification. The the costs incurred will be a fraction of what is currently being charged by other NGO's or consultants in the industry.

End Result

A triple bottom line will be achieved and a sustainability certification classifying you as Status: Sustainable where a triple bottom line is achieved.

Sustainability:

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Brundtland Commission of the United Nations

Sustainability is improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems, conveys the idea of sustainability having quantifiable limits.

The overall driver of human impact on Earth systems is the consumption of biophysical resources. Human consumption can be divided into three key components: population numbers, levels of consumption (affluence), and impact per unit of resource use (which depends on the technology used). This has been expressed through an equation:

 

I = P x A x T

 
 
Where: I = Environmental impact, P = Population, A = Affluence, T = Technology

Historically, humanity has responded to a demand for more resources by trying to increase supply. As supplies inevitably become depleted sustainable practices are encouraged through demand management for all goods and services — by promoting reduced consumption, using renewable resources where possible, and encouraging practices that minimise resource intensity while maximising resource productivity.

 

Jethro Levi Naude

Jethro Naude - Environmental Economist

Over ten years experience in the fishing industry combined with a Masters Degree in Environmental and Energy Economics, grants Mr. Naude the ability to conduct a peer review of the Environmental & Cultural (C&E) sustainability.  

It is has been shown that widespread C&E Sustainability Evaluations and subsequent Certification are at present hindered by the significant upfront costs imposed by for-profit private certification companies currently rendering the service.  In essence no monetary value can be placed on protecting the environment.  As a qualified Environmental Economist Mr. Naude utilizes his acquired skill set to evaluate the C&E sustainability of the farms, fishing practices aboard vessels and processing facilities are sustainably sound.  Therefore, a Study to determine the net positive/(negative) externalities being imposed on the surrounding environment and local communities is undertaken.  

An Environmental Impact Study (EIA) is initially analyzed to ensure all building practices and maintenance procedures are absolute.  Thereafter, a thorough evaluation into each segment of the operating entity is undertaken to ensure proper employee safety and relations, environmental stewardship, waste management, food safety and HACCP Compliance (if applicable) are upheld to the highest degree.  Finally an assessment of possible improvements is reviewed.  

This non-profit driven unbiased C&E Assessment  allows us to sell with confidence knowing that the seafood we procure is both culturally and environmentally sustainable.  

Education and Accreditation:

Masters Degree (Environmental and Energy Economics) California State University, Long Beach

Post Graduate Honours Economics Degree, B Com (NMMU)

Under Graduate Economics Degree, B Com (NMMU)

Series 7 Licenses - General Securities Representative, USA

Series 63 License - Uniform Securities Agent, USA

Associations:

National Association of Business Economics - Treasurer

Green Restaurant Initiative of California

American Economics Association

Omicron Delta Epsilon – International Economics Honour Society

What is an Externality?

An economic side-effect. Externalities are costs or benefits arising from an economic activity that affect somebody other than the people engaged in the economic activity and are not reflected fully in PRICES. For instance, smoke pumped out by a factory may impose clean-up costs on nearby residents; bees kept to produce honey may pollinate plants belonging to a nearby farmer, thus boosting his crop. Because these costs and benefits do not form part of the calculations of the people deciding whether to go ahead with the economic activity they are a form of MARKET FAILURE, since the amount of the activity carried out if left to the free market will be an inefficient use of resources. If the externality is beneficial, the market will provide too little; if it is a cost, the market will supply too much.

One potential solution is REGULATION: a ban, say. Another, when the externality is negative, is a tax on the activity or, if the externality is positive, a SUBSIDY. But the most efficient solution to externalities is to require them to be included in the costings of those engaged in the economic activity, so there is self-regulation. For instance, the externality of pollution can be solved by creating PROPERTY RIGHTS over clean air, entitling their owner to a fee if they are infringed by a factory pumping out smoke. According to the Coase theorem (named after a Nobel prize-winning economist, Ronald Coase), it does not matter who has ownership, so long as property rights are fully allocated and completely free trade of all property rights is possible.

In Kind Benefits

These are benefits, excluding salaries, given to employees. Examples are cars and car fuel, medical insurance and gifts. These are taxed as employment income.

 

 

Adapted from "Essential Economics" published by Profile Books.