Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based American Seafoods has released its 2023 sustainability report, in which it claims to have achieved a 99 percent target catch rate in the Alaska pollock fishery.
The statistic rebuts the argument made by representatives of other Alaska fisheries claiming Alaska pollock trawling bycatch is negatively impacting the U.S. state’s salmon and crab populations.
“I am absolutely thrilled with the progress American Seafoods has made with achieving key sustainability metrics as we remain at the forefront of innovation in our industry,” American Seafoods CEO Einar Gustafsson said in a press release. “We have a deep appreciation of the marine environment and a key understanding of the importance of sustainably managing our fisheries. These pillars are the very foundation of our success, and we look forward to pushing our efforts even further to help build a cleaner and healthier planet for all.”
American Seafoods, which operates seven fishing vessels capable of producing up to 150 metric tons (MT) of frozen fillets, surimi, roe, fishmeal, and fish oil daily, had more than USD 500 million (EUR 469 million) in revenue and recorded a 5 percent compound annual growth rate in 2023, with a double-digit adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin. It caught more than 250,000 MT of Alaska pollock and 70,000 MT of Pacific hake in 2023. Fifty percent of its sales went to Asia, while 30 percent headed to Europe, and 20 percent were in North America. In May 2023, Bregal Partners announced it would commence a sale process of its holding in the company.
The company’s second annual sustainability report noted the company maintained 100 percent third-party eco-certification for its catch; Produced 354,037 gallons of fish oil biodiesel, avoiding 227 metric tons of CO2-e emissions; Recycled more than 86,000 pounds of end-of-life and recovered ghost fishing gear; And donated more than USD 525,000 (EUR 492,000) to Alaska communities, food banks, and academic institutions.
“American Seafoods predicates itself on an unwavering commitment to the science-based management of our fisheries, continuous improvement of our vessels’ efficiencies, and our longstanding commitment to third-party certifications and full traceability,” American Seafoods Chief Sustainability Officer Tim Fitzgerald said. “The bottom line is that at American Seafoods, sustainability is central to everything that we do. While we are proud of our achievements, we know there is always more to be done. American Seafoods profoundly understands that responsible and conservative natural resource management is the predominant driver of long-term success for our business. We will continue to lead on this front.”
Fitzgerald deferred comment on bycatch issues to the newly created Alaska Pollock Fishery Alliance, but said bycatch “is one of those prominent topics that they're very focused on.”
“We want to be as transparent as possible about what it is that we're catching and what that looks like year to year on the granular level,” Fitzgerald told SeafoodSource. “We as an industry need to be transparent. That level of transparency is uncomfortable at times, but that's what we need to do.”
Fitzgerald said he was particularly proud of his company’s work to measure its carbon footprint for the first time. American Seafoods recorded 192,112 MT of carbon dioxide emissions in 2023, including 135,620 MT of Scope 1 emissions. That’s up from 86,180 MT in 2022 and 96,442 MT in 2021. Fitzgerald said that was due to 2022 being a lower catch year and adding the American Empress II to its fleet.
The primary driver of the company’s CO2 emissions was diesel fuel emissions, which accounted for 53 percent of its total output. Ocean cargo fuel was second at 21 percent, followed by packaging at 5 percent and surface freight at 4 percent. As a “bridge solution,” American Seafoods is investigating the use of renewable diesel, but longer-term, the only real solution to cutting emissions from the use of diesel fuel is to build new vessels, according to Fitzgerald.
“We're all running pretty old vessels, so renewing the fleet would probably be the best way to do that, and we are obviously limited there for a variety of reasons. But it will happen eventually, and those will be some pretty big gains, even if you're just building a new version of the same boats that we're running today. They're going to be 40 years newer, and maybe 20 to 30 percent more efficient, even if you don't do anything crazy, like alternative fuels,” Fitzgerald said. “You can get huge gains just by having newer engines, a better design, and new coatings and propellers – but those are extremely capital intensive. So those will come, and when they come, we will cheer and we will marvel at how far the numbers come down.”
The company is also working hard to improve the efficiency of its logistics, Fitzgerald said.
“We're always trying to be more efficient in our logistics and our procurements in our supply chain. We move a lot of stuff. Whether it's fish, parts, packaging, or pallets, we move a lot of stuff around the country and around the world,” he said. “It's not as glamorous as building a new boat, but it's still really important and our sustainability work has focused on those areas as well.”
Fitzgerald said the Alaska pollock fishery still has one of the lowest carbon footprints of any protein – 40 times lower than beef, five times lower than pork, four times lower than chicken, and half that of tofu.
“It's one of the greatest parts of our story,” he said. “Whether the majority of consumers make their purchasing decisions based on it is yet to be determined because as great as our numbers look – compared to beef, for example – I don't think it's very common for people to be choosing between beef or pollock just due to carbon footprint. But we'd love it if they did, and hopefully more younger people do so, because this type of thinking is more engrained in who they are and what they buy.”
In 2024, American Seafoods is pursuing the expansion of its carbon accounting platform to include its parent company, and is exploring the feasibility of setting a decarbonization goal.
“On the latter, we will do a thorough analysis of the financial, operational, and reporting implications of setting reduction targets in line with the Paris Agreement. Given the disproportionate weight of our Scope 1 emissions, and the extended periods that our vessels are at sea, this must include a hard look at the pros and cons of renewable diesel while we wait for new engine technologies and low-carbon fuels to come online,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said he’s proud of how American has committed to cataloguing and categorizing the data found in the sustainability report.
“We’re trying to get as data-driven as possible so that you we can look at our performance year to year on recycling or waste reduction or carbon emissions, or any of those sorts of things, and say okay, this is where we were, this is what they said they were going to do, and here's where they ended up in the following year,” he said. “When I first started at American, it just wasn't set up to collect and report on this data in this way. But there is a very near-term future where we need to know all this information, whether it’s three years or five years.”
It's only a matter of time before tracking metrics like carbon emissions becomes a federal or regulatory mandate, Fitzgerald said.
“We always want to be doing these initiatives of our own volition before someone tells us that we have to,” he said. “It's always great to get your third-party eco-certification before your customer tells you have – with our Marine Stewardship Council and Responsible Fisheries Management certifications, we weren't required to do that at the time, but now, for example, in Europe there are there are customers that require MSC certification. So we we're in a good place to be able to meet those already,” he said. “With carbon, with plastics, with a few of the other things that are covered in this report, we want to be at the forefront and prepared for whatever comes our way, whether it's a regulation and a compliance issue or a customer mandate.”
With numerous lawsuits filed against companies that have leaned on eco-labels to communicate their sustainability bona fides, certifications are not as powerful of a tool as they once were, Fitzgerald acknowledged. But he said American Seafoods will be sticking with its commitment to certifications.
“We’re probably getting to the point where eco-certifications are no longer sufficient on their own to deem your product or your company sustainable. They're still a very good tool for documenting and verifying the sustainability of the way the fishery operates, but they definitely don't cover all the other aspects of our company, like what's going on with our packaging, or how we treat our crew or handle our waste or our carbon footprint,” he said. “Hopefully, if someone were to challenge our sustainability credentials, we could say, ‘We're eco-certified and we're tracking our carbon and we're mitigating our waste. And here's all of the ways that we hire and recruit and pay our crew and here's how we work in Alaskan communities and six or seven issues after that.’ It has to be a very holistic picture when you're talking about sustainability, because everyone has a totally definition of sustainability.”
