Welcome to the Tradex Foods "3-Minute Sustainability Recap"
The following information is a rundown of key sustainability news items for the month
of January.
First up, 8 North American conservation groups launched an online community for sustainable
seafood.
The Be Happy application allows Facebook users to pledge their support for ocean-friendly
seafood, share information and essentially, encourage people to be happy with their seafood
choices.
------In Europe, A. Espersen – a Danish processing group – won the McDonald’s
Sustainablity Award which is given bi-annually to one of the chains’ suppliers.
Espersen won for its contributions to the MSC certification of the Baltic Cod fishery.
The Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research has announced a 3-year,
3-million Euro project to assess the environmental impact of Cod and Haddock catch and production.
The project - called Whitefish - was developed to enable small and medium-sized companies
across four countries meet the environmental demands of supermarket chains that are too
costly to carry out on their own.
------Next up - Sustainable Fisheries Partnership continues to gain expand - – in January,
they announced alliances with Wegman’s Food Markets in the Eastern United States, as well
as Ipswich Shellfish Group.
Next up,
Alaska Pollock achieved certification for Responsible Fisheries Management – this
means that it fully conforms to international guidelines set by the UN’s Food and Agriculture
Organization.
Friend of the Sea – an international conservation group – awarded Keflonia Fisheries a sustainability
certificate.
Keflonia is a Bass and Bream farmer in Greece.
Chile’s Multiexport Foods is the world’s first salmon-farming company to achieve the
Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices certification for its salmon-processing
facility.
And finally, Grieg Seafoods’ Skuna Bay Salmon in British Columbia is the world’s first
salmon producer to be sourcing its fish from multiple farms that have achieved BAP certification.
The biggest news this month was that 7 major Alaskan Salmon producers who account for 72%
of the state’s harvest have decided not to continue with the MSC program beyond October
2012.
This is not to say that the MSC program is losing any ground – the organization continues
to expand its’ presence in markets around the globe.
MSC has entered into a partnership with the North Atlantic Seafood Forum - one of the
world’s largest seafood business conferences.
The parties have developed a conference platform – Sustainability and Communications – to
address industry issues falling under the sustainability umbrella.
And Sainsbury Supermarket in the UK has launched its 100th MSC-certified product- Icelandic
line-caught Haddock.
In the US, United Supermarkets is the first Texas-regional chain to obtain MSC Chain of
Custody certification.
The PNA purse seine skipjack tuna fishery was granted the eco-label.
Meanwhile, the Portugese Sardine purse seine fishery’s MSC certification was suspended
due to an insufficient stock status and absence of appropriate harvest controls.
The fishery has 90 days to implement an action plan to address these issues.
MSC has also warned Europe’s 8 Mackerel fisheries that their certification will be
suspended in March if the North East Atlantic Mackerel fishery is not brought back under
an international management regime.
Thank you for joining me for The Tradex Foods "3-Minute Sustainability Recap"
This is Ryan McKay - “BUY SMART” and “EAT MORE SEAFOOD”