What Seafood Legacy does

Seafood Legacy Co., Ltd. (株式会社シーフードレガシー) is a Tokyo-based social enterprise founded on July 7, 2015 by CEO Wakao Hanaoka to mainstream sustainable seafood in Japan and Asia by 2030. The company operates as a B2B professional services and platform organization serving seafood companies, retailers, financial institutions, government agencies, industry associations, and NGOs across Japan and East Asia. Its service portfolio spans three phases: (1) voluntary accountability initiatives for sustainable procurement, (2) finance engagement (TNFD-aligned disclosures, blue finance, sustainability-linked loans, FAIRR engagement), and (3) policy reform support extending to Asia-wide social infrastructure. Core products include bespoke Sustainable Seafood Consulting Services, Finance Engagement Services, the Seafood Legacy Times media platform, The Sustainable Seafood Summit (TSSS) — co-hosted with Nikkei ESG and described as Asia's largest sustainable seafood event — and industry initiatives including the Japan Responsible Seafood Roundtable (JRSR, 8 members as of 2026), IUU Forum Japan, the S.E.A.FOOD Platform Design Lab research initiative, and East Asia CSO Collaboration. The company is B Corp certified (March 2025) and recently closed its Sustainable Seafood Catalog B2B platform in June 2026. A related entity, Seafood Legacy Spain S.L., is constructing a salmon breeding plant in Galicia, Spain with €33.5M in public funding out of a €100M+ total investment.

The company's technology footprint is intentionally limited: there is no proprietary AI/ML, software platform, or SaaS product. Operations rely on standard web properties (seafoodlegacy.com, sustainableseafoodnow.com, times.seafoodlegacy.com, sustainableseafoodcatalog.com), owned media, weekly newsletters, social channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, X, note.com, YouTube), and downloadable case study materials as lead capture. Revenue is generated through professional services consulting fees, event ticket and sponsorship revenue from TSSS, grant funding from foundations (David & Lucile Packard Foundation, Walton Family Foundation), and previously the now-discontinued B2B catalog platform. Pricing is bespoke and quote-based per consulting engagement; no public pricing is disclosed. Distribution is direct enterprise field sales led by senior leadership, with the annual TSSS serving as the principal demand-generation channel.

Name

Seafood Legacy

Legal name

株式会社シーフードレガシー

Website

https://seafoodlegacy.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Seafood Legacy is a Tokyo-based social enterprise founded in 2015 that provides sustainable seafood consulting, finance engagement, and industry convening services to Japanese and East Asian seafood companies, retailers, financial institutions, and government agencies, anchored by its annual Sustainable Seafood Summit.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainable Seafood Consulting

akta.pro primary industry

Seafood & Aquaculture Certification Services (MSC/ASC/BAP) (AFALAMAL)

Keywords

• Sustainable seafood consulting
• Marine sustainability advisory
• Blue finance consulting
• Seafood supply chain ESG
• Fisheries due diligence

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Sustainable Seafood Consulting Services: Professional consulting engagements providing sustainable seafood procurement policy development, supply chain transparency, ESG finance advisory, and implementation support to seafood companies, retailers, financial institutions, and government bodies. Revenue is generated through bespoke consulting project fees, typically custom-scoped per client.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Seafood Legacy delivers bespoke sustainable seafood consulting engagements — covering procurement policy development, supply chain transparency, traceability, MSC/ASC/GSSI certification support, and human rights due diligence — to enterprise seafood companies, retailers, financial institutions, and government bodies. It complements these advisory services with ESG/blue-finance advisory for investors and with stakeholder-convening platforms such as the annual Sustainable Seafood Summit (TSSS), Seafood Legacy Times media outlet, and multi-stakeholder roundtables including the Japan Responsible Seafood Roundtable (JRSR) and IUU Forum Japan.

Product overview

Seafood Legacy operates as a social enterprise focused on mainstreaming sustainable seafood in Japan and Asia by 2030. The company offers a portfolio of interconnected services including: a B2B Sustainable Seafood Catalog (ended June 2026), the Seafood Legacy Times media platform, the annual Sustainable Seafood Summit (TSSS) event, industry initiatives like the Japan Responsible Seafood Roundtable (JRSR) and IUU Forum Japan, research initiatives such as the S.E.A.FOOD Platform Design Lab, consulting services for sustainable procurement, finance engagement services for ESG investors, and East Asia regional CSO collaboration programs. The company serves as an orchestrator connecting seafood companies, financial institutions, governments, and NGOs to transform seafood supply chains through market forces.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sustainable Seafood Catalog (サステナブルシーフード・カタログ): A BtoB catalog of certified sustainable seafood products available for procurement in Japan. Note: This catalog service ended on June 30, 2026.
• Seafood Legacy Times
• The Sustainable Seafood Summit (TSSS)

Products and services

• Sustainable Seafood Consulting Services (Phase 1: Market Transformation) Advisory services supporting companies — particularly seafood companies, retailers, and foodservice operators — in developing sustainable seafood procurement policies, implementing responsible sourcing, achieving certifications (MSC, ASC, GSSI), and achieving supply-chain transparency and traceability.
• Finance Engagement Services (Phase 2: Finance Engagement) Services helping ESG investors and financial institutions understand nature-related and fisheries-specific ESG risks in seafood-sector investment, develop TNFD-aligned nature-related disclosures, structure blue finance (sustainability-linked loans, blue bonds), and design roadmaps for responsible seafood finance.
• The Sustainable Seafood Summit (TSSS) Annual flagship event co-hosted with Nikkei ESG, described as one of Asia's largest sustainable seafood events. Brings together industry, government, academia, finance, and NGOs for keynotes, panels, and workshops driving sustainable seafood market transformation across Asia. Combines ticketing/sponsorship revenue with business development for the firm's consulting services.
• Seafood Legacy Times Japan's first specialized media outlet dedicated to seafood sustainability, covering global business trends, scientific findings, and international regulatory developments. Positions Seafood Legacy as a knowledge leader and supports lead nurturing for consulting engagements.
• Japan Responsible Seafood Roundtable (JRSR) Pre-competitive collaboration platform bringing together major Japanese seafood buyers to implement human-rights due diligence, environmental due diligence, and transparent traceability across Japanese seafood supply chains.
• IUU Forum Japan Coalition working to establish legal frameworks for eliminating seafood derived from illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing through policy advocacy and international cooperation.
• East Asia Market Transformation Program (CSO Collaboration) Regional program collaborating with civil society organizations across East Asia (QMCS, O2, HKSSC, DearOcean) to address structural challenges such as IUU fishing and labor issues through coordinated market transformation, scaling Seafood Legacy's Japan model across Asia.

Quantifiable outcome

• Japan transitioned from a country frequently criticized internationally for seafood sustainability failures to a global leader in TNFD early adoption, with Japanese companies representing the highest share of TNFD early adopters globally.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• FishWisecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 May 2026Seafood Legacy and FishWise formalized a global partnership to accelerate responsible seafood supply chains in East Asia. The partnership combines Seafood Legacy's market transformation expertise and network in Japan and East Asia with FishWise's US market knowledge and corporate engagement capabilities, aiming to scale sustainable seafood across the Pacific.
• Igape (Galician Institute for Economic Promotion)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 March 2026Igape formalized a financing agreement with Seafood Legacy Spain S.L. for the construction of the first salmon breeding plant in Galicia, Spain (Burela port, Lugo). Igape is providing €33.5M in public funding out of a total €100M+ investment. The project uses advanced RAS technology on a ~20,000 m² site and is expected to create ~100 jobs. While this involves Seafood Legacy Spain S.L. (a related entity), it is listed here as the most significant infrastructure investment involving the Seafood Legacy name.
• QMCS (Qingdao Marine Conservation Society)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025China's leading CSO in sustainable seafood, working to promote sustainable seafood consumption through multi-stakeholder engagement, fisheries and aquaculture environmental improvement, critical habitat conservation, and endangered species protection. Seafood Legacy and QMCS signed an MOU at TSSS Osaka 2025 to collaborate on sustainable seafood market transformation in East Asia.
• O2 (Ocean Outcomes)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025An organization with staff in Taiwan and Korea operating across East Asia to support high-risk, resource-deficient fisheries. O2 works with fishers, crew, communities, and businesses to promote solutions that protect marine ecosystems, human rights, and livelihoods. An MOU was signed at the CASS Conference 2025 in Hawaii.
• HKSSC (Hong Kong Sustainable Seafood Coalition)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025A buyer and supplier industry-led coalition in Hong Kong and Macau working to mainstream sustainable seafood and transform the market through responsible sourcing, industry collaboration, and government advocacy. Listed as a core partner in Seafood Legacy's East Asia Market Transformation strategy.
• DearOceancoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025A Seoul-based consulting CSO connecting marine conservation, ESG strategy, and ocean education across the Asia-Pacific region. Supports companies in integrating sustainability into commercial strategy, including responsible seafood procurement, blue carbon strategies, and market entry in Korea.
• FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 July 2025FAO representatives participate as keynote speakers and panel discussants at Seafood Expo Asia and the Sustainable Seafood Summit, providing international policy perspective on sustainable aquaculture, aquafeeds, and seafood market dynamics across Asia.
• CASS (Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025North America's leading platform for market transformation in seafood, with ~200+ organizations across ~35 countries as of 2026 working toward 75% of commercial seafood being environmentally and socially responsible by 2030. Seafood Legacy CEO Wakao Hanaoka joined the CASS Board as a director in January 2025. In 2026, CASS and Seafood Legacy launched the East Asia Exchange (EAX), the first East Asia-focused project in CASS history.
• WWF JapancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing collaboration on sustainable seafood procurement policy development. Seafood Legacy and WWF Japan co-organized the Responsible Shrimp Procurement Symposium (2024) and co-hosted the Responsible Tuna Procurement Symposium series (2024), among other stakeholder engagement events.
• Nikkei ESGflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerNikkei ESG co-hosts the annual Sustainable Seafood Summit (TSSS) with Seafood Legacy. Nikkei ESG provides editorial and media reach as one of Japan's most prominent business media outlets, amplifying the event's profile and audience.
• ASC JapancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMOU partnership with ASC Japan to promote ASC-certified seafood. Joint approach to suppliers and users, and co-hosted events aimed at expanding certified seafood in the Japanese market.
• SkrettingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMOU partnership with Skretting (a global aquaculture feed company) to promote certified aquaculture seafood. Includes joint approach to suppliers and users, and co-hosted events.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• FishWise: US-based sustainable seafood consultancy with a global corporate engagement focus on responsible supply chains; signed an MOU with Seafood Legacy in May 2026 to scale sustainable seafood across East Asia, indicating near-perfectly overlapping mission, methodology and customer base.
• Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP): Global NGO that convenes retailers, suppliers and fisheries to improve fishery and aquaculture sustainability — directly comparable to Seafood Legacy's pre-competitive roundtable (JRSR) model and procurement-policy advisory work.

Broad incumbents

• Oceana: Largest international ocean conservation advocacy organization; comparable in seafood market-reform ambition but operates more through policy campaigns and litigation than enterprise consulting, and lacks Seafood Legacy's Japan/Asia depth.
• WWF (Seafood) / WWF Japan: Global conservation NGO with a major seafood sustainability program; WWF Japan co-organizes symposia with Seafood Legacy and shares the pre-competitive, multi-stakeholder convening approach — but at vastly larger institutional scale.
• Marine Stewardship Council (MSC): Global seafood certification standards body for wild-capture fisheries; Seafood Legacy actively drives MSC adoption among Japanese buyers (e.g., MSC-certified bluefin tuna campaigns at Daimaru Matsuzakaya), making MSC an adjacent ecosystem player rather than a direct competitor.
• Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions (CASS): North America's leading sustainable seafood market-transformation coalition (~200+ organizations across 35+ countries); Seafood Legacy's CEO joined its board in 2025 and the two launched the East Asia Exchange in 2026, positioning CASS as the Western counterpart to Seafood Legacy's East Asia role.
• Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC): Global aquaculture certification body with an active ASC Japan office; Seafood Legacy has an MOU to expand certified seafood in Japan — a complementary ecosystem-layer peer in the same standards-driven market transformation.

Regional players

• Ocean Outcomes (O2): Sustainable seafood CSO focused on high-risk fisheries in Taiwan and Korea, with an MOU partnership with Seafood Legacy; comparable in fisheries-improvement methodology but regionally anchored rather than Japan-based.

Emerging players

• International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF): Mission-driven seafood NGO focused on one-by-one tuna fisheries and Fishery Improvement Projects; comparable in convening and standards-alignment role but narrower in species scope than Seafood Legacy's full supply-chain remit.
• Future of Fish: Smaller consultancy/NGO tackling traceability, finance and supply-chain transparency in seafood — overlaps with Seafood Legacy's Phase 1 and Phase 2 advisory work on procurement policy and finance engagement, though at a smaller scale and earlier stage.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/seafood_legacy
• Facebookfacebook.com/seafoodlegacy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/seafoodlegacy

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Seafood Legacy