High Liner Foods Inc, a leading North American processor and marketer of seafood, has made a commitment to only source seafood from certified sustainable or responsible fisheries and aquaculture farms by the end of 2013.
The Canadian company’s commitment will require wild-caught seafood and farmed products to either come from fisheries and aquaculture farms certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the Global Aquaculture Alliance's (GAA) Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) programme and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), respectively, or require those suppliers not certified to be on a clear, defined path toward being sustainable and capable of documenting measurable improvements.
High Liner will collaborate with its NGO partner, the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, to achieve these objectives.
"High Liner is committed to our goal of doing business only with suppliers who share our vision of sourcing seafood responsibly, and with a dedication to environmental stewardship to ensure that our natural resources are available for generations to follow," said Henry Demone, president and CEO of High Liner Foods. "This proactive, ongoing effort will include engaging with our suppliers in projects that make the long-term viability of these farms and fisheries possible."
For those fisheries that are not under assessment by MSC, High Liner will ensure that they are "responsible" fisheries. This means those fisheries must use "best in class" methodologies to demonstrate documented improvements in fishing practices as reported by FishSource (www.FishSource.org) or evaluated by an equivalent standard.
For those fisheries that have made sufficient improvements to enter into the MSC programme, High Liner will require them to enter the full MSC assessment process.
In addition, by the end of 2013, all of the uncertified sources that High Liner works with must have undergone an independent evaluation, and enter a third-party assessment programme such as MSC, GAA's BAP programme, or the ASC.
Also, all sources undergoing improvements will be required by High Liner to report an improvement work plan and milestones to be achieved.
"As an organisation, one of our key strategic goals is to be proactive and bring about positive change for our industry," said Bill DiMento, corporate director of sustainability at High Liner. "We will work closely with our uncertified suppliers to drive meaningful, quantifiable changes, ensuring that they are acting responsibly, and that they are on a path to being certified sustainable."
High Liner's branded products are sold throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico under the High Liner, Fisher Boy, Mirabel and Sea Cuisine labels, and are available in most grocery and club stores.
It also sells its High Liner, FPI and Mirabel foodservice products to restaurants and institutions, and is a major supplier of private label seafood products to North American food retailers and foodservice distributors.
