Asda launches annual seafood sourcing report

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) last week praised Asda for opening its books to give full disclosure of where and how it sources wild fish. This is coupled with an assessment of the sustainability of each fishery.

The report — Asda Wild Fisheries Annual Review 2013 — covers all source fisheries used by Asda between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013 and is the result of a collaboration between SFP and the retailer. The report names each fishery and provides practical information about location and catch methods as well as a sustainability assessment and information about eco-certifications, improvement projects and environmental impacts.

The report is part of Asda’s commitment to ensure all of its wild seafood is responsibly sourced and enable shoppers to find out where their fish come from. Asda has accepted that some fisheries still need work and has put plans in place to address these issues. For example, Asda has pledged that all ambient canned and pouched tuna will be either line-caught or caught using FAD-free methods by the end of 2014.

The report will become an annual publication and allow the public to judge Asda on its track record for sustainable seafood as well as finding out more about individual species. The assessment does not yet cover seafood from aquaculture but it is hoped this information will be included in the 2015 report.

“Our shoppers want to know where the wild fish they buy from our stores comes from and how it is caught and that’s why we have released this information,” said Chris Brown, Asda sustainability director. “We have worked in partnership with SFP for many years to ensure we have an independent voice assessing our fish sourcing and guiding us toward a sustainable fisheries management program. We are proud of our achievements to date but we accept that we have further work to do on some areas.” 

“This is a milestone in corporate social responsibility regarding the oceans. Asda have taken a bold step in comprehensively disclosing where they source seafood and giving clear information about the sustainability of those fisheries,” said Blake Lee-Harwood, SFP strategy director. “We look forward to this kind of reporting becoming an annual event and including seafood from aquaculture as well.”

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