Norpac Fisheries Export has signed an exclusive marketing and distribution agreement with Blueyou Consulting, based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Norpac is a U.S.-based seafood company with U.S. offices in Seattle and Honolulu. It fishes in the Pacific Ocean, from the Philippines to the Oregon coast, sourcing, processing, distributing and marketing fresh and frozen seafood for the wholesale, retail and food service markets. It runs an industry-led FIP for longline-caught yellowfin and bigeye tuna in the Western Pacific.
Blueyou Consulting is a consulting and service company focused on sustainable fisheries and aquaculture and seafood supply chains. Its agreement with Norpac gives Blueyou the exclusive right to promote and distribute yellowfin tuna products from the Artesmar fishery improvement program within the US retail and food service market.
“We are happy to have a committed market partner such as Norpac to further strengthen our program and promote sustainably caught tuna from artisanal fisheries in such an important market as the United States,” said René Benguerel, Blueyou Consulting managing director.
The Artesmar FIP is operated and managed by Blueyou and is aligned with the FIP criteria developed by the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions. It was launched three years ago around the Philippines’ single hook handline yellowfin tuna fishery and now supplies 15 import and distribution companies in Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific region with, fresh and chilled tuna products from the Philippines and the Maldives. It is recognized by Canada’s Ocean Wise program as a “sustainable alternative” and is considered a “best choice” by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program.
Cooperating with Blueyou for the promotion and marketing of Artesmar tuna products from small-scale fisheries makes good sense to Norpac,” said Norpac Fisheries Export managing director Thomas Kraft. “It creates a direct link to a source of selectively-caught tuna that comes with full traceability and is subject to a credible FIP moving toward the goal of MSC certification.”
