We build durability and value into land and water developments backed by industry and community strength. The Sustainability Incubator is an independent source of forward-shifting work on land and water decisions and known for grounding deals in reality with local engagement, rigorous scientific research, strategic planning and new capacity for rapid coordination and response both inter-agency and inside supply chains.
Our work has impact and has had a lot of press. Founded in 2012 and based in Honolulu, our track record is reflected in the decisions and actions taken by our recent clients: ASEAN, US seafood industry, governments of Indonesia, the Philippines and Fiji, Freedom Fund and Humanity United, IOM, FAO, GLOBEFISH and projects we’ve co-hosted with dozens of ocean producers including the Hawaii Seafood Council and Hawaii Longline Association.
Sustainability Incubator is committed to social equity and balancing power dynamics. This is visible in the ocean policy and private sector measures we’ve supported and our roots in community-based economic development, lands co-management, housing and commercial development. It’s equally visible in the way we work by building a custom team of the best local talent for each job.
Ocean Policy
In 2025 we assisted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to prepare a significant update in regional ocean policy by closing gaps that left millions of ASEAN citizens out of sight. We completed a major review of the 11 members’ ocean economic development policies and laws on labor, OSH, fishing and enforcement via primary research with authorities in each country. We set out a practical pathway for members to move forward together and assisted with next steps to increase public-private co-operation, editing for example the Guidelines on the Placement and Protection of Migrant Fishers for livelihood security.
Building Respect for Ocean Food & People
We have helped to illuminate blind spots at sea and reward stewardship in the global seafood sector. Two of our studies are said to have triggered two Presidential Task Forces. Three more sparked a global discussion about the post-covid price spike for consumer on foods trading at historically low wholesale prices. We tracked prices, earnings and costs at every level in supply chains and found that distributors and supermarkets were paying prices so low (and earning historically high margins) that producers were being forced out of business, destabilizing jobs.
Fishery Improvement Projects
Since its founding in 2012, the Sustainability Incubator has been the industry leader in Fishery Improvement Projects, where seafood suppliers invest in fisheries sustainability as part of a sales access agreement with supermarkets. We have supported fishing companies implement over 30 projects worldwide since for tuna, swordfish, crab, scallops, snappers and other seafoods. Our clients currently are SYM PAC International, Fong Hsiang Enterprises and Sprouts Farmers Market. We’re known for pragmatic arrangements backed by industry and community strength.
Looking Closer at Supermarket Shrimp & Tuna — Post-Pandemic
How are shrimp and tuna being made today – the two seafoods we eat most? In 2023 and 2024, we looked at the whole picture and its smallest details to understand who is winning and losing on the post-pandemic price chaos, when consumer prices started skyrocketing while producer prices went into free-fall, starting in mid-2022. What explained the large and growing price gap? Demand had recovered, oversupplies had been consumed, so why weren’t prices following economic rules?
Supermarket Shrimp: Results & Press
To understand the picture for shrimp, we collected prices, costs, earnings and interviews from over 500 shrimp producers and workers across Asia by partnering with Viet Nam, Indonesia and India organizations. We tracked supermarket shrimp imports.
Press
- National Public Radio, September 28, 2025:Trump’s tariffs are hurting India’s shrimp industry.
- Associated Press: As big supermarkets pursue profits, new research shows growing exploitation of shrimp farmers
- Associated Press: Takeaways from AP’s report on how shrimp farmers are exploited as supermarkets push for low prices
- AP’s coverage was picked up by newspapers worldwide, including the Washington Post, Jakarta Globe, Business Enquirer, Yomiuri Shimbun-The Japan News, NBC, ABC, Fox and CBS News: Shrimp farmers in Asia exploited by U.S. supermarkets for big profits, research finds
- SeafoodSource 9/24: Investigation finds increasing labor exploitation in Vietnam’s shrimp industry as prices drop
- Undercurrent News 9/24: Asian shrimp farmers pay price of Western supermarkets chasing higher profits, new research shows‘
The Viet Nam report initiated a dialogue with the government of Viet Nam that led to the addition of new information provided by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP). The report was updated on September 12, 2024.
Questions about the shrimp reports? Please contact us at The.Sustainability.Incubator@gmail.com.
Supermarket Tuna: Results & Press
To understand how tuna today, we looked at what their ecolabel, the Marine Stewardship Council, said about how its being made and compared that to the information actually available to the ecolabel. All major supermarkets repeat what the ecolabel says about tuna to us, the eaters, and to governments to influence policy.
Is tuna ecolabeling causing fishers more harm than good?
Published by Nature Ocean Sustainability
Press
- Financial Times (UK), November 20, 2025: The dark truth behind supermarket tuna.
- Oceana’s Press Release
- International Trade Federation’s Press Release
- Global Labor Justice’s Press Release
- Greenpeace Press Release
- Un-romancing the Ecolabel, Fishy Work Podcast (November 2024).
The article, database and footnotes can be found here and here.
Questions about this report? Please contact us at The.Sustainability.Incubator@gmail.com.
Adapting Policy & Adding Capacity
Together with governments, industry and civil society organizations we prepared, piloted, set into policy and implemented decent work in fishing.
They include 6 experiential training packages for industry in Thailand’s and Indonesia’s fisheries, aquaculture and seafood processing sectors.
IOM-Training-Manual-for-Fishing-and-Seafood-Enterprises_Thailand-FinalDownload
IOM-Training-Manual-for-Fishing-and-Seafood-Enterprises-Indonesia-FinalDownload
We produced experiential and interdisciplinary training, coordination and referral packages for Manado, Bitung and Tegal ports in Indonesia and General Santos City, the Philippines that were implemented jointly and taken up into mandate by labor, fisheries, Coast Guard, health and safety and the courts. Very quickly, the General Santos coordination tree was used to apprehend traffickers and rescue 13 young female victims at the airport.
SAFE-Seas-Training-Manual-for-Port-Inspectors_PhilippinesDownload
SAFE-Seas-Training-Manual-for-Port-Inspectors_IndonesiaDownload
Through research and engagement including workshops in Brussels and Shanghai we authored the Social Responsibility Guidelines for the Fisheries and Aquaculture sectors for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization for reference and use worldwide.
We tracked supply chain and risks to prepare Estimates of illegal and unreported fish in seafood imports to the USA and the work was cited by a US Presidential Task Force, NOAA, and by federal court as strong evidence for a policy shift, leading to the US Seafood Imports Monitoring Program.
Contact us at the.sustainability.incubator@gmail.com. Mahalo.