The Fisheries Transparency Initiative is a global multi-stakeholder partnership.
It is legally institutionalised as a non-profit, non-governmental association in Seychelles under Seychellois law.
From June 2015 until January 2020, the German-based non-profit organization HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform was acting as the fiscal host for the initiative. Recognising the need to give the FiTI its own legal personality in order to ensure its long-term sustainability, the FiTI International Board approved the legal institutionalisation of the FiTI in the form of an association.
The Government of the Seychelles, being one of the first countries to commit to the FiTI, announced their official commitment to host such an association at the 2018 Our Ocean Conference in Bali/Indonesia. The official opening ceremony took place on 28 May 2019 in Victoria/Seychelles, and was attended by then President of Seychelles, Danny Faure, then Vice-President Vincent Meriton, members of the government and the diplomatic corps, as well as over 70 national and international stakeholders within the fisheries sector.
As of 24 January 2020, the FiTI has been duly registered as an association under Seychellois law (registration number A431648). The association bears the name “Fisheries Transparency Initiative” (short “FiTI”), and is governed by its constitution. As a global association, the FiTI comprises of members, and does not focus on a single country or on a region.
The charitable objective of the association is to increase transparency and multi-stakeholder participation in fisheries governance for the benefit of a more sustainable management of marine fisheries, and this is pursued by:
- maintaining its internationally recognised standard (i.e. FiTI Standard) that defines what information on marine fisheries should be published online by public authorities;
- engaging with countries to implement this standard in order to achieve and maintain high levels of transparency on the management of the marine fisheries sector and the activities of fishers and fishing companies;
- promoting and institutionalising multi-stakeholder collaboration;
- stimulating public debates on how the fisheries sector is managed, enabling relevant stakeholders to support reforms towards better governance of their marine fisheries; and
- fostering the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as well as other international treaties and covenants related to fisheries around the world.
Bodies of the FiTI association
The two permanent institutional bodies of the FiTI are:
- the FiTI International Board, led by the FiTI Chair
- the FiTI International Secretariat, led by the Executive Director
Membership
Membership in the FiTI is open to any individual nominated by an entity from three stakeholders groups (i.e. government, business or social sector, see below) interested in enhancing transparency and multi-stakeholder participation in fisheries, good ocean governance or wider areas of open government and access to information.
As membership in the FiTI is personal and not institutional, all members must obtain regular feedback from other individuals and organisations within their stakeholder group to ensure the FiTI benefits from the broadest representation of interests, positions, and experiences possible.
Members must be at least 18 years old.
The sole responsibility of members is to serve in the FiTI International Board.
Stakeholder Groups
The membership in the FiTI is organised in the following three stakeholder groups:
- Government sector, comprising of individuals nominated by public sector institutions, including ministries, federal or national government agencies, as well as businesses that are owned or controlled by the government (i.e. State-Owned Enterprises).
- Business sector, comprising of individuals nominated by private sector organisations, including for-profit companies and social enterprises along the fisheries value chain, organisations in supporting sectors (e.g. finance, investments, management, technology), as well as industry, professional and trade associations.
- Social Sector, comprising of individuals nominated by organisations that serve society at large, including not-for-profit civil society organisations, global action networks, as well as academic entities.