Frozen food giant Iglo Group on Wednesday said the Marine Stewardship Council certification of the Sea of Okhotsk pollock fishery “will have a significant and positive impact upon the sustainability of global fish stocks.”
Iglo, a member of the Russian Pollock Sustainability Alliance, worked with the Russian Pollock Catchers Association and other international brands over the last 4 years to support the fishery in achieving the certification. With the development, Iglo’s independently certified sustainable total fish volume across Europe will rise from 52 percent MSC to 80 percent MSC.
“We should celebrate that the majority of the world’s pollock is now sourced from MSC certified fisheries. Much of the pollock we buy will go into some of the 2.3 billion fish fingers we produce a year — enough to go round the world more than seven times. The certification of pollock from the Sea of Okhotsk fishery will significantly increase the amount of sustainably sourced fish that European consumers eat,” said Peter Hajipieris, Iglo chief technical and sustainability officer.
“Although Iglo Group sources all its pollock, cod, haddock, hake, salmon and plaice from fisheries that are responsibly managed to our Forever Food criteria, Iglo Group will continue to work with these fisheries and organizations like the MSC to further develop consumer communication about how we’re working to ensure that future generations will be able to continue to enjoy fish fingers from the most sustainable available sources.
“The Russian Pollock Catchers Association deserves tremendous credit for their vision and determination to overcome numerous obstacles to certify the Sea of Okhotsk. Iglo Group is proud to have played an important role in this international collaboration between government fisheries agencies, fish catchers, fish brands and environmental organizations to support this project.”
