SeaChoice, Canada’s comprehensive sustainable seafood programme, is celebrating its tenth anniversary by publishing Canada’s first comprehensive sustainable seafood study.
The study, called ‘Taking Stock: Sustainable Seafood in Canadian Markets’, is the country’s first major assessment of the sustainability of all of Canada’s seafood imports and exports.
“While we are celebrating the growing support for sustainable seafood among Canadians, along with increased fisheries assessments, the report’s findings show there are still obstacles to supporting healthy oceans,” said Karen Wristen from the Living Oceans Society.
Among these obstacles is the problem of weak government labelling and traceability requirements, which have made Canadian seafood assessments impossible for many species.
Tropical farmed shrimp, farmed open net-pen salmon and skipjack tuna caught with harmful gear were the top three “red-listed” or “avoid” fish imported into Canada (by volume), with open net-pen Atlantic salmon being Canada’s most exported red-listed fish.
SeaChoice said that groups such the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions and its 30 collaborators and members, which includes itself and the Marine Stewardship Council, are working hard to change attitudes.
And things are improving. Last year, SeaChoice partner Buy-Low Foods was the first major retailer in North America to replace all unsustainable red-listed seafood with sustainable alternatives.
Susanna Fuller, SeaChoice member from the Ecology Action Centre, said: “One of the best ways to protect oceans is to support seafood that is caught in environmentally and socially responsible ways. If we continue to expand sustainable seafood’s share of the market, people can enjoy seafood while leaving a smaller footprint on the planet for generations to come.”
