The overhaul of Sainsbury's seafood policies in both the wild-caught and aquaculture (farmed fish) sectors is one of the more exciting changes within the industry in the past year. Sainsbury's has set clear goals for moving towards 100 per cent sustainable seafood procurement, and has spent time and money supporting sustainability initiatives and promoting better alternatives to customers.
Sainsbury's sustainable seafood team has engaged thoroughly with all parts of the Sainsbury's business, both internally and with suppliers, to ensure full roll-out and promotion of the company's policies. Sainsbury's provides its customers with a wide choice of more sustainably sourced species and has proven its commitment by removing some of the most unsustainable species from its supermarket shelves.
With such well thought out and extensive policies and implementation plans, it should take little time for Sainsbury's to become one of the best suppliers of sustainable seafood. More importantly, the volume and range of seafood that Sainsbury's currently offers means that its policies, if successfully implemented, will have a strong influence on the sustainability of the industry as a whole.
For the full lowdown on Sainsbury's see Chapter 3 of our new report 'A Recipe for Change '.
Beam trawling update: A big thank you to everyone who sent a message asking them to stop selling seafood caught using this highly destructive fishing method. As a result of your pressure Sainsbury's are currently reviewing their beam trawl policy and supply and are due to report back shortly on progress.
