European restaurants and other seafood buyers are increasingly seeking alternative seafood sustainability certification and labels, and fish4future is one organization they are turning to.
The Oberwil, Switzerland, sustainable-seafood organization has realized more demand for its label and traceability programs. Fish4future is primarily being utilized by foodservice buyers, since supermarket chains already have label schemes and purchasing policies in place.
“In Boston and Brussels, we had good discussions with buyers and producers who are interested. It is seen as an alternative to what is already on the market,” said Andrea Hajmer, president. Fish4future’s standards for preserving the ocean and utilizing only healthy stocks may be stricter than some other certification programs.
For example, fish4future will not certify deep sea stocks because “there is not enough knowledge around to tell if you can source the deep sea stocks sustainably,” according to Hajmer. For farmed fish, fish4future considers only omnivorous or herbivorous fish. “There is a big issue that we have with the fishmeal. If you need more fish to produce less fish, then something is wrong in the long term,” said Hajmer.
Fish4future also provides traceability of its fish by testing its DNA through third-party firms and proving which lake or body of water it was sourced from.
Because of its strict standards, fish4future has currently certified only seven fisheries or entities, including: Norwegian coldwater prawns; yellow perch, smelt, whitefish and walleye from the Great Lakes in Canada; cod from Iceland; and a tilapia farm in Indonesia.
