The World Wildlife Fund on Tuesday announced that it will help King & Prince Seafood assess the fisheries from which it sources and develop a sustainable seafood purchasing strategy.
WWF said it will assess King & Prince’s top 20 wild species and then use that information to develop a sustainable seafood sourcing policy. That includes evaluating Marine Stewardship Council certification for wild species and determining how King & Prince and its suppliers can engage in the WWF fisheries improvement projects currently underway.
The one-year collaboration began on 1 August.
Brunswick, Ga.-based King & Prince is a subsidiary of Japan’s Nissui, one of the world’s largest seafood companies. Nissui also owns F.W. Bryce and Gorton’s of Gloucester, Mass., and UniSea of Redmond, Wash.
“This collaboration with … WWF is an important step to accelerate and validate our ongoing efforts in safeguarding the sustainability of our raw material supplies, which is a non-negotiable aspect in our customer service,” said King & Prince President Volker Kuntzsch.
“In order to achieve our conservation objectives for sustainable seafood, we need to engage leading companies like King & Prince in the process,” said Bill Fox, WWF’s fisheries program VP. “Their commitment to sourcing wild-caught seafood more sustainably demonstrates the business value of protecting ecosystems and ensuring the availability of seafood to meet rising consumer demand.”
Several major U.S. seafood suppliers, retailers and foodservice operators are also working with WWF to develop a sustainable seafood sourcing policy, including Kroger, Supervalu, Giant Eagle and Sysco.
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