Our model is adaptation through partnership.
We initiate collaborative planning, research & training critical to policy, access and investment decisions.
Since 2022 we have co-designed and implemented frameworks with 3 organizations in Viet Nam, 3 in Indonesia, 2 in India, federal, regional and local officials in General Santos City, the Philippines and in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, entire supply chains of producers through to retail for swordfish and tuna, and engaged labor/OSH/fishing authorities of the 11 member States of ASEAN in policy reform for fishers.
Since 2012 we have co-designed and implemented over 35 Fishery Improvement Projects, screened over 500 seafood supply chains for current conditions, and trained over 80 suppliers in due diligence. We have supported government-led initiatives to meet the Sustainable Development Goal for Oceans in Fiji and in tuna fisheries worldwide and measured and reported on progress and barriers. In Hawai’i we are a founding member of the Crew Matters Committee and collaborate with fisheries, aquaculture and tourism leads across the Pacific.
We work mostly behind the scenes but lately our work for oceans and seafood livelihoods was featured by the Associated Press, Financial Times (UK), Bangkok Post, Washington Post, Yomiuri Shimbun, NPR and all major US networks.
Financial Times (UK), November 20, 2025: The dark truth behind supermarket tuna.
National Public Radio, September 28, 2025:Trump’s tariffs are hurting India’s shrimp industry.
Associated Press 9//30/24: As big supermarkets pursue profits, new research shows growing exploitation of shrimp farmers
Associated Press 9/30/24: 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.
Op Ed 11/23: The numbers tell the story when it comes to forced labor in seafood
Our collaborators include Mindanao-based Angel Ysik, Honolulu-based Dr. John Kaneko, Waiheke-based Francisco Blaha, Hanoi-based Dr. Huong Ngo and Dinh Lap, Jakarta-based Dr. Kharisma Nugroho and Dr. Martin Sirait, Samut Sakhon-based Patima Tungpuchayakul and Sompong Srakew (Labour Protection Network), Abu Dhabi-based Dr. Nadia Al-Alawai, Rome-based Dr. Lahsan Aboud, Wollongong-based Duncan Leadbitter, Marin-based Liz Muller, Bogotá-based Claudia Beltran and Miami-based Monica Jain.
The company was founded by Dr. Katrina Nakamura, an interdisciplinary scientist and rural planner with substantial experience in co-management of public lands and water and inside supply chains. As a rule, Katrina tries to shorten distance by connecting producers and consumers, having opened and operated 6 seafood restaurants at fishing wharves to feed local fish to local communities.
Based over 20 years in the mid-Pacific Ocean, Katrina earned US citizenship on merit for improving the productive use of natural resources, was part of the federal Ocean Planning Initiative under President Obama, published ground-breaking research and innovative methodology in Science Advances and Nature, and co-won the Partnership for Freedom Grand Prize for tech to eliminate modern slavery in 2016.
Before founding the Sustainability Incubator based in Hawai’i, Katrina was part of the roll-out of co-management of land and water in Canada as a core reform of economic development as an ED, chief researcher, and preparer of Board views for the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Assessment Board, Tsilhqot’in National Government, Central Region Board, Westcoast Vancouver Island Fisheries Co-management Board, Nuu-Chah-Nulth Nation, and Northern Manitoba Economic Development Commission.
Katrina’s work on illegal fishing was highly cited by federal court in its decision upholding NOAA’s seafood import monitoring program and inspired the ‘1 in 4 fish’ graphic popularized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Her work on illegal fishing, and later unseen labor conditions at sea, was cited as an imperative for two US Presidential Task Forces. Spotting problems is not the goal, however. Durable change that matters takes community. We focus on collaborating to adapt at the Sustainability Incubator because change happens through dialogue and support at the source, We invest in processes that build respect for ocean food and people, but when good changes come it’s community that deserves the credit.