South African retailer Pick n Pay has announced that it intends to sell only sustainable products across its entire fresh, frozen and canned seafood range, by the end of 2015.
The company is South Africa’s second largest retailer and is the first African retailer to make a formal commitment to support sustainable fishing.
Pick n Pay already stocks a variety of frozen South African hake products bearing the MSC ecolabel and through this initiative it will transform its seafood operations and further expand the number and range of certified products.
Pick n Pay’s commitment stipulates that by the end of 2015, it will only sell seafood products that are either:
- Certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for wild-caught products
- Certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) or equivalent standard for farmed products
- Categorised as “green” by WWF’s SASSI programme
- From fisheries or farms that are engaged in credible, time-bound improvement projects
In another first, the Zhangzidao scallop fishery has become the first Chinese fishery to enter full assessment for MSC certification.
Found in the North Yellow Sea, the fishery is managed by Dalian Zhangzidao Fishery Group. It uses diving and dredging methods to produce 60,000mt of yesso scallops each year, with fresh products sold predominantly on the domestic market and also in Korea, and frozen products sold in North America and Australia.
The assessment will cover the fishery’s year-round dive and dredge harvesting operations, as well as ts wild spat collection and reared spat operations. The assessment is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.
