Our environmental policy is dedicated to sustaining seafood stocks

More and more of our customers have a requirement for seafood which has been farmed in an environmentally conscious way.

Consumers are now offered a wide variety of choice in terms of the foods available. All kinds of labels can be given to foods allowing customers to make ethical decisions about which products to purchase. They may prefer Organic products for example, which have been farmed without the use of harmful chemicals, or Fair Trade products which aid small-scale producers in developing countries and help improve their local communities. Similar labels can be given to Seafood. One of the most recognised is the MSC label (awarded by the Marine Stewardship Council), which recognises and rewards wild-capture fisheries for sustainable practises.

The MSC Environmental Standard for Sustainable Fishing is a minimum standard that all fisheries wishing to use the MSC ecolabel have to meet. It details more than 20 criteria to be met, but there are 3 key principles it looks at;

1. That Fish Stocks be Sustainable
   Sustainability can have different meanings, but in general sustainable fishing methods mean that there will never be depletion in the yield of stock.
2. That the Impact on the Environment be Minimised
   Some fishing techniques can have a detrimental impact on the Environment, for example where bottom trawling stirs up sediment and can cause algal blooms, or where non-target species e.g. Dolphins are caught up in nets along with the targeted catch. The fisheries would need to demonstrate what changes they've made to their practices to minimise these effects.
3. That the Fishery be Managed Effectively
   This may be as simple as making sure the fisheries obey local, national and international laws and abide by No-Catch zones, but also they would need to update their fishing gear where necessary and have adequate systems in place to enable them to respond to changing circumstances.

Fisheries that have been certified for Sustainable Fishing are able to use the MSC ecolabel on their products. The certificate is valid for 5 years, although regular checks are performed on the fisheries every year during that time to make sure they are compliant with the MSC standard. At the end of the 5 years the fisheries are reassessed if the wish to continue with the accreditation.

In addition to the MSC Environmental Standard for Sustainable Fishing the Marine Stewardship Council also has the MSC Chain of Custody Standard for Seafood Traceability.

Only companies that have an MSC Chain of Custody certificate are able to supply MSC products to consumers. To attain the certificate they must prove they have effective storage and record keeping systems to ensure that any seafood carrying the MSC ecolabel can be traced back to the original MSC certified fishery. This means purchasers can have confidence that the products they are buying are sustainable and are not mislabelled or illegally caught.

The Chain of Custody Certificate in any company is valid for 3 years after which point the company will be reassessed if they want to continue in the MSC program. During the 3 year period they are certified regular checks take place to ensure they continue to comply with MSC standards.