Sushi. (Photo: Krzysztof Puszczyńsk)

Seafood sustainability rising as over 80 pc now responsibly sourced and labelled

To mark the two year anniversary of the Sustainable Seafood Coalition (SSC) Codes -- the Voluntary Code of Conduct on Environmental Claims and the Voluntary Code of Conduct on Environmentally Responsible Fish and Seafood Sourcing -- ClientEarth decided to perform an independent, third-party assessment of their implementation by all SSC members operating as seafood businesses. 

In a 2010 report titled Environmental Claims on Supermarket Seafood, the non-profit, environmental law organisation criticised seafood brands and retailers for making misleading claims on fish products found in major UK supermarkets. Out of 100 fish products reviewed by the NGO, 32 carried claims that were found to be potentially misleading or unverified.

That report identified seven broad categories of claims on retail fish products: Sustainably Sourced; Dolphin Safe / Friendly; Responsibly Farmed / From Well-Managed Farms; Sourced from a Responsibly or Well-Managed Fishery; Responsibly Sourced; Environmentally Friendly Farms; and Protects the Marine Environment.

Now, the third party assessment performed by ClienEarth reveals that of the 80 products purchased, 52 contained self-declared environmental claims on pack (48 were responsibility and four were sustainability claims) and of these, 43 products were labelled in line with the Labelling Code.

Of the nine products that were not aligned with the Labelling Code, three did not meet the minimum requirements due to lack of available information and/or ability to verify claims, five did not use the correct language and/or terminology, and one product used a sustainability claim without the required third-party chain of custody.

In total, SSC members accounted for three of the products not aligned with the Labelling Code – two cases related to the same label and one case could not be verified. By category, SSC members made more environmental claims on products, with retailers and brands labelling 68 per cent and 65 per cent, respectively.

Retailers labelled almost all of their own-brand farmed products with responsibility claims (94 per cent). Non-SSC Members only labelled a little over half their products with self-declared claims.

Self-declared environmental claims were found on 52 of the products—with 43 meeting the requirements under the Labelling Code. Of the nine products that were not aligned with the Labelling Code, three did not meet the minimum requirements due to lack of available information and/or ability to verify claims, five did not use the correct terminology as set out in the Labelling Code, and one product used a sustainability claim without the required third-party chain of custody.

The study, therefore, found 17 per cent of claims to be potentially misleading or unverified, compared to 32 per cent at the time of ClientEarth’s Labelling Report in 2011 – a 15 per cent improvement.

Some of the recommendations made as a result include the following:

• Better on-pack consumer information to help consumers make more informed decisions;
• Extension of sustainability information to online sites: where possible, sustainability/responsible sourcing information should extend to online retail sites to improve continuity and increase consumer awareness;
• Better consumer contact information to facilitate inquiries;
• Greater transparency in responsible sourcing policies/practices: to clearly demonstrate and provide evidence about the commitment to Responsible Sourcing/Sustainability, up-to-date and comprehensive information on policies, practices and/or any other initiatives should be available online.

Current SSC membership is made up of four different categories of business from across the seafood sector, namely: UK retailers, brands and processors, suppliers to the seafood industry, and food service.

By name, and at the time of the assessment, these SSC members were: Birds Eye UK, The Co-operative, Direct Seafoods, Fuller’s, Harbour Lights, Joseph Robertson (Aberdeen), Le Lien, Lovering Foods, Lyons Seafoods, Marks & Spencer, MCB Seafoods Ltd., Morrisons, New England Seafood Ltd., Sainsbury’s, The Saucy Fish Co./ Icelandic Group UK, Tesco, Waitrose, Whitby Seafoods, Young’s Seafood Ltd. 

To read the full report, click here. 

editorial@seafood.media
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