In a letter to the Marine Stewardship Council on Tuesday, Japanese retailer Aeon Topvalu said it is looking at switching its source of salmon to MSC-certified fisheries in other countries after Alaska’s salmon industry announced that it is not seeking re-certification under the MSC program.
“Aeon has promoted seafood from well-managed, sustainable sources to consumers, but we will not be able to do so regarding Alaska salmon,” said Yasuyuki Yamamoto, general manager of Aeon Topvalu’s merchandising division, in the letter. A copy of the letter was forwarded to SeafoodSource by the MSC’s Seattle office.
“It is important for Japanese consumers that an eco-label is reliable and has credibility,” added Yamamoto. “We do not want more than one label to avoid consumers’ confusion, and we use MSC as the only global standard to achieve accountability for consumers. We will not change this policy and will not use other certification schemes.
“We have been able to send a message to consumers to choose seafoods from well-managed sustainable sources mainly through MSC certified Alaska salmon and Pollock,” continued Yamamoto. “It is very regrettable to know that one of them has withdrawn from MSC certification. We strongly hope that the certification will be maintained.”
About two weeks ago, eight major Alaska salmon processors unveiled that they are phasing out financial support for MSC certification by 29 October, when the current certificate expires. The Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, which two years ago took over as the client for MSC certification of Alaska salmon, had just initiated the recertification process with certifier Intertek Moody Marine.
