The Plastic Free Seafood logo is awarded to companies that demonstrate clear responsibility and leadership in combating marine plastic pollution.
Current research indicates that up to 80 % of the plastic pollution in the North Atlantic and along the Norwegian coastline can be traced back to the seafood industry. This aligns with our statistics after 9 years of cleanups.
Our shared commitment is to reduce this figure to zero, through systematic measures that prevent the loss of fishing gear, supported by effective retrieval efforts and large-scale coastal clean-ups.
Companies participating in the Plastic Free Seafood collaboration are classified as plastic-negative — or nature-positive — meaning that they remove more plastic from the marine environment than they contribute through their own operational footprint.
Responsible seafood industry
Since our establishment in 2017, In The Same Boat has collaborated extensively with the seafood industry, engaging at both the corporate level, with industry associations, and with government entities.
The expertise we have developed over these years, allows us to provide the seafood industry with a comprehensive cost efficient solution to minimize plastic pollution and increase recycling, while ensuring compliance with both governmental regulations and public sustainability expectations.
By taking on this responsibility, we make it possible for the seafood industry to increase their sustainability and to be an active part in solving the plastic pollution crisis.
From 2025 our collaboration with the seafood industry will be organised through the “Plastic Free Seafood” collaboration, taking on an even bigger formal responsibility for the industry, through a specific set of services.
The services and responsibilities include the following:
– Required environmental monitoring
– Professional coastline cleanups
– Retrieving lost gear
– Collection of lost ownerless gear retrieved by members
– Documentation for ESG, EPR, CSRD, IMO and other legislations.
– 1st response service 24/7
– Spreading awareness and knowledge within the industry
– Developing technology and methodology to reduce marine pollution
– Developing services to make waste logistics more efficient
– Systems to increase recycling of equipment, tools and packaging
Members of Plastic Free Seafood can also, with no additional cost get access to reuse retrieved objects from our containers on our depot-points along the coastline.
Industry leading companies, such as MOWI, Nova Sea, Kvarøy Fiskeoppdrett, Cermaq, Måsøval, Lovundlaks and Hitramat, have been important partners, supporting our development and sharing their knowledge and experience.
From 2024 we’ve also involved some of the associations representing the seafood industry, like Norges Råfisklag and Norges Sildesalgslag. Some actors from the supply chain are also engaged, like Egersund Akvagroup.
We also have to mention other actors from the maritime area, like Van Oord, Kvantum, Marlog, Rustibus and Klaveness Stiftelsen, that have been supporting our operations and development.
The Norwegian Retailers Environment Fund (Handelens Miljøfond) has over time been our biggest source of funding for professional big scale beach cleaning.
Value proposition
Our engagement in the seafood industry aims to generate increased value for all stakeholders—the industry itself, society, and the environment—aligning with the principles of the sustainability pyramid and the UN sustainable development goals.
Our innovative methodology enables this vision, while we’re positioning ourselves as an integral part of the industry’s value chain.
We strive to lower the threshold for making good, knowledge based strategic decisions in matters involving environmental impact, simplifying the path for the players to meet the expectations of markets, governments, and society.
Through this approach, we put all our efforts in delivering cost-effective, sustainable solutions that contribute to maintaining a clean, productive ocean— ensuring its vitality for future generations.
Documentation and reporting
Our reporting is based on official standards from the relevant legislations, but we also tailor reports based on specific requirements from the industry. Some of the main KPI’s are amount of plastic collected and recycled, detailed analyses of sources, meters of shoreline covered, CO2 emissions and people involved/engaged.
Funding model with buffer
The players of the seafood industry get access to our services through a membership paid by a yearly fee, based on their size, revenue and their ambitions.
We make sure the funding is spent as efficient as possible for each actor as well as the industry as a whole, to achieve the best possible positive environmental impact.
A part of the membership fee, goes to build a reserve fund, that has the purpose as a economic buffer, that can be made available when an immediate bigger response is needed, exceedsing normal operation.
This fund will be managed by a board with representatives from the seafood industry, environmental organisations and the government. The fund will be operating from the beginning of 2026.
The services explained
Required environmental monitoring
Our presence along the coastline make it possible to do systematical surveillance and monitoring of the shoreline and the environmental state.
Professional coastal cleaning
Our beach cleaning teams operate full season, covering more than 60% of the Norwegian coastline, and also expeditions and projects in other countries around the North Sea and the North Atlantic.
Documentation - ESG, EPR, CSRD, IMO++
We’ve optimized our methology to be able to report in the formats of numerous legislations. The documentation is provided both for the industry as a whole, and for each player involved.
Retrieveing lost gear
Some of our teams and partners in the network are specialized in salvaging lost gear, using ROVs or diving to locate and retrieve both cages and nets.
Collection of lost ownerless gear
We are collecting all ownerless lost gear that the members are “fishing” up from the sea. The collected gear or other marine litter will be collected directly from the most convenient spot, to make it as easy as possible for the member to handle it in a good way, rather than loosing it back to the sea.
1st response team
Our 1st response team is based on a network of operators of technical resources, equipment and boats along the whole coastline of Norway, and a database of trained volunteers with extensive training and experience in beach cleaning and handling marine litter.
These human resources are normally active in regular beach cleaning, and cover a wide range of academic and practical background and experience, which might be useful in a situation where response time might be decisive for the outcome.
Spreading awareness and knowledge
To maximise our impact we work actively to spread experience and awareness within the industries, through reports, workshops and other events involving the players, the suppliers and their employees.
Research and development
Implementing new methods and technology is an important part of the solution to the plastic problem. This goes all the way down to developing new materials and designs, and to change how the materials flow through the value chain.
Reducing costs of waste logistics
One of the biggest costs of waste handling is the logistics – to get the used materials from the place they have served, to the optimal place for recycling, and keeping track of the full origin.
Our goal is to set up a sea based complete logistic service, with the potential of reducing the costs with up to 70%. This will lower the threshold for the actors to do efficient recycling.
Increased recycling
We take part in the process of organising material flows according to the EPR directive, collaborating with the producers and suppliers of equipment – not only focusing on the “easy” fractions, but the more challenging ones that are not able to recycle with todays technology and available suppliers.
Pricing of the membership
The membership fee is differentiated for the various types of actors based on how much each type of business contributes to pollution, and other criteria related to their business modell and the circumference of the services we provide, and is proportional to their turnover.
Fishing vessels under 15 meters
350 NOK pr. 1 000 000 turnover. (0,035%)
Fishing vessels over 15 meters
600 NOK pr. 1 000 000 turnover. (0,06%)
Fishfarming actors
250 NOK pr. 1 000 000 turnover. (0,025%)
Other industry actors
200 NOK pr. 1 000 000 turnover. (0,02%)
Membership registration
The membership cost will be calculated based on your gross revenue and the pricing model of memberships. If you need to verify the pricing, you can ask to speak to one of our representatives.
Aquaculture members
Kvarøy Fiskeoppdrett AS
Lovundlaks AS
Selsøyvik Havbruk AS
Fisheries / fishers
Agnyfisk AS
Arctic-a ENK
Arctic Yacht ENK
Br. Ludvigsen AS
Dybos AS
Iversen Fiskeriselskap AS
Julian Andreassen ENK
Kvitberg AS
Moe på sjøen ENK
Partrederiet Marianne DA
Penja Fisk AS
Stig Magne Torgersen ENK
Toto AS
Trym Johansen
Other Industry
Marlog
Ocean Installer AS
Progress Projectmanagement & Engineering BV
The Norwegian Travel Company AS
Schneider Electric
Van Oord