The Findus Group on Monday pledged to buy only seafood from Marine Stewardship Council-certified fisheries by 2012 as part of its "Fish for Life" sustainable seafood program.
Adding the MSC eco-label to all Young's and Findus seafood products would represent an additional 50 million packages annually.
"While open to the possibility of using other equivalent schemes in the future, we recognize that the MSC is currently the only international consumer-facing label for sustainable seafood and now has sufficient scale that it is realistic for us to strengthen our own brands," said Findus CEO Chris Britton.
"By raising the bar on this issue, we hope to provide added stimulus for those fisheries not yet pursuing independent sustainability certification to go down this route," he added. "We know that some fisheries face a tough challenge in driving for the MSC standard, particularly in dealing with issues such as traceability and information management. However, our Fish for Life vision drives us to engage actively with suppliers, and we will use our experience and our infrastructure to support individual fisheries as they work toward the MSC goal."
The Fish for Life program also encompasses farmed seafood, which Findus says is of increasing importance to the company. Findus is actively working with organizations such as the Global Aquaculture Alliance, GlobalGAP and the World Wildlife Fund in the development of aquaculture standards for a number of species.
