Sustainable seafood is seafood from either fished or farmed sources that can maintain or increase production in the future without jeopardizing the ecosystems and communities from which it was acquired. Our continuous goal is to source from suppliers who have our same vision and encourage those that don’t to become more sustainable.
We are excited to partner with the Aquarium of the Pacific in the SEAFOOD FOR THE FUTURE program, which will help us fulfill our sustainability commitments and educate existing suppliers and customers as well as finding the ones who share our philosophy of sustainability.
We strongly believe this will have a real impact in the marketplace, and ultimately in our waters. Creating more demand for seafood from sources that support healthy oceans puts us on course to improving fishing practices around the world.
Sustainability is a hot topic in most fisheries discussions being held around the world today. There are several different stakeholder groups – from non-governmental environmental organizations to fishing associations all clamoring to define sustainability. There are dozens of “3rd party certifiers” who will identify their criteria for a sustainable fishery and then certify those fisheries who meet their criteria. Unfortunately, there are several different viewpoints and even more varying criteria used by all of these organizations to define sustainability and thus there is no generally accepted definition of sustainability by all the stakeholder groups.
Good sustainable choices which Anderson Seafoods carries are Black Cod, Dungeness Crab, Pacific Halibut, shellfish such as Clams, Oysters, Mussels, Wild Salmon, Striped bass, Tilapia, Rainbow Trout, White Seabass, Lake Superior Whitefish, Barramundi, Farmed Redfish, Farm Raised Catfish, US Squid, Steelhead Salmon, Pangasius (Basa/Swai), Spiny Lobsters, Maine Lobsters, Arctic Char, Snow Crab (from Alaska or Canada), King Crab (U.S.), Sanddab, Petrale Sole, and Pacific Swordfish, and Wild Yellowtail. Our goal is to do business with commercial fisheries that employ sustainable practices and ensure that harvesting practices fit within long-term resource conservation targets and sustainability goals.
According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), Ifyou buy fish managed under a U.S. fishery management plan, you can be assured it meets 10 national standards that ensure fish stocks are maintained, overfishing is eliminated, and the long-term socioeconomic benefits to the nation are achieved. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) is the primary law governing marine fisheries management in United States federal waters. The Act was first enacted in 1976 and amended in 1996. Most notably, the Magnuson-Stevens Act aided in the development of the domestic fishing industry by phasing out foreign fishing. To manage the fisheries and promote conservation, the Act created eight regional fishery management councils. The 1996 amendments focused rebuilding overfished fisheries, protecting essential fish habitat, and reducing bycatch.
Alaska has taken an extra step by hiring a third party certification organization (FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations).
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Canada and New Zealand have also implemented rigid quota and management systems to ensure sustainability in wild caught fishing. In anticipation of such regulations, and in an effort to act ethically and responsibly, we aim to be progressive in our support of responsible wild caught fishing practices.
Another popular method of commercial fishing is aquaculture or farmed species fishing. Aquaculture can also produce high quality sustainable seafood when carried out correctly. Given the advancements in technology, the future of seafood aquaculture will continue to have a bright outlook. Many farms have shifted to a variation of aquaculture called IMTA (Integrated Multi Trophic Aquaculture), which incorporates other sellable products such as shellfish and seaweed to filter the waste from the pens. Other farms promote "fallowing", which is the practice of leaving and area idle for a period of time so that the marine environment may return to its natural state. Scientists are working on new, organic ways to improve the feed for aquaculture by introducing higher ratios of soy-based product, which helps supplement or replace wild fish as feed.
Anderson Seafoods would like to help educate chefs and consumers by providing websites that provide up-to-date information on specific species and practices and organizations. We encourage you to review the leading authorities on the subject, which will enable you to make knowledgeable and thoughtful decisions regarding sustainability.
- www.eattilapia.com/umbrella-policy.php
- www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch/
- www.alaskaseafood.org
- www.blueocean.org
- www.cleanfish.com
- www.edf.org
- www.fishwatch.noaa.gov
- www.greenpeace.ca
- www.iqmi.ca
- www.iss-foundation.org
- www.montereybayaquarium.org
- www.msc.org
- www.oceanconservancy.org
- www.seafoodchoices.org
- www.seafoodindustry.co.nz
- www.seaweb.org
- www.sustainable-seafood.ca
In addition to these websites, we have highlighted the items on our general product list that we consider to be fully sustainable in origin and practice.
Anderson Seafoods currently distributes approximately 45% sustainable seafood. Our goal is to increase this percentage to 50-60% over the next five years. For more on our sustainability practices, please click here.
