supermarkets

Iceland's promise of a new sustainable seafood policy is an exciting development. While it is not possible to assess this policy at this time, Iceland is keen to engage with Greenpeace on this issue once the policy has been finalised.

It is disappointing that Somerfield has not yet chosen to develop a more comprehensive sustainable seafood procurement policy. However the retailer has at least shown a commitment to follow retail standards by delisting the most unsustainable seafood and it does have a basic aquaculture policy.

Tesco's decision to be somewhat more transparent with its new sourcing policies has revealed that the company is moving forward on sustainability issues with some success. At present, much of the policy is limited to the fresh and chilled pre-packed ranges, ignoring the frozen, ready-meal or tinned seafood, which is unfortunate as these ranges encompass the majority of the seafood sold.

Morrisons has made a substantial commitment to sourcing sustainable seafood by delisting a large range of species and increasing the range of alternative species available to customers.

The Guide was produced in 2003 as part of our campaign to remove GM ingredients from our food, allowing shoppers to see which products were GM-free and which ones weren't.

It was an enormous success and proved extremely popular. Covering a wide range of foods, including top brands and own-brands, products were colour coded to show whether your shopping trolley was free of GM ingredients or not.

As part of a massive consumer backlash against GM food, most supermarkets and food manufacturers stopped using GM ingredients in their food. In addition, subsequent EU legislation means that all products containing GM material need to be clearly labelled, which has made our Guide pretty much defunct.

Over the last year ASDA has managed to transform a lack of overall policy into a substantial commitment to sustainable seafood procurement and has demonstrated this by de-listing a number of destructively fished species.

The Co-op's policies on sourcing from the marine environment extend beyond seafood into other areas of its business and investments - a breadth of approach no other supermarket has yet developed.

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.

Waitrose is certainly a leader in the sustainable sourcing of seafood. Over the past 10 years of implementing its sustainable procurement policies, Waitrose has reviewed every species sold with regard to stock levels, management and fishing methods. The retailer maintains a comprehensive 'banned' list and is now confident that it is sourcing all its seafood from the healthiest stocks available.