ASDA sustainable fisheries report. (Image Credit: ASDA)
ASDA discloses its wild fish sources
(UNITED KINGDOM, 7/8/2014)
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) praises ASDA for becoming the first retailer in the world to open up its books and give a full disclosure of where and how it sources wild fish. This is coupled with an assessment of the sustainability of each fishery.
The supermarket chain has published a comprehensive report of all the fisheries that supply the company with wild fish along with information about management and sustainability, a move that has also been welcomed by Greenpeace and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, both of whom have campaigned for more transparency from supermarkets on seafood sourcing.
The report – ASDA Wild Fisheries Annual Review 2013 - covers all source fisheries used by ASDA between 1 January, 2013 and 31 December 2013 and is the result of a collaboration between SFP and the retailer. The report names each fishery and provides practical information about location and catch methods as well as a sustainability assessment, improvement projects and environmental impacts.
The report is part of ASDA’s commitment to ensure all of its wild seafood is responsibly sourced and sets a new benchmark for openness among companies that sell seafood. ASDA has accepted that some fisheries still need work and has put plans in place to address these issues. For example, ASDA has pledged that all ambient canned and pouched tuna will be either line-caught or caught using FAD-free methods by the end of 2014.
The report will become an annual publication and allow the public to judge ASDA on its track record for sustainable seafood as well as finding out more about individual species. The assessment has not yet covered seafood from aquaculture (fish farming) but it is hoped this information will be included in the next report in 2015.
"Our shoppers want to know where the wild fish they buy from our stores comes from and how it is caught and that’s why we have released this information," said Chris Brown, Sustainability Director at Asda. "We have worked in partnership with SFP for many years to ensure we have an independent voice assessing our fish sourcing and guiding us toward a sustainable fisheries management programme. We are proud of our achievements to date but we accept that we have further work to do on some areas."
According to Blake Lee-Harwood, Strategy Director at Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, “This is a milestone in corporate social responsibility regarding the oceans."
"ASDA have taken a bold step in comprehensively disclosing where they source seafood and giving clear information about the sustainability of those fisheries. We look forward to this kind of reporting becoming an annual event and including seafood from aquaculture as well," he stated.
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Asda House, South Bank, Great Wilson St
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Leeds
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(LS11 5AD)
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+44 1132 435 435
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