Waitrose smoked mackerel is sourced from a MSC certified Scottish fishery

Waitrose And Scottish Fishermen Help MSC Reach 9,000 Products

UK retailer Waitrose has this week helped the Marine Stewardship Council to tip the balance on 9,000 ecolabelled products worldwide. The 9,000th product is MSC ecolabelled Waitrose Oat Crumbed Scottish Mackerel Fillets. The mackerel is sourced from the Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group (SPSG) western mackerel fishery, certified in 2008.                                                                        

Waitrose kiln smoked Scottish mackerel MSC certified

John Goodlad, Chairman of the SPSG, said: “The MSC certification is independent confirmation that the Scottish mackerel fishery is being managed in a sustainable and responsible way and that Scotland is helping to set the standard for well managed fisheries around the globe. MSC mackerel products sold in Waitrose are also a wonderful and tasty source of healthy Omega 3 fatty acids –all caught and processed in Scotland!

“SPSG are fully committed to the MSC process. As well as certification for western mackerel, we also hold MSC status for our North Sea and Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries. West of Scotland herring is also currently under assessment and if successful, will mean we have more than 98 percent of the Scottish pelagic quota under MSC certification.

Jeremy Langley

Waitrose currently stocks over 30 MSC certified products ranging from South Africa hake fillets on the fish counter to luxury MSC certified Coquille Saint Jacques in the freezer department. Jeremy Langley, Waitrose Fish Buyer, said: “We are delighted to have played a role in helping the MSC to achieve this great result, which highlights how increasingly important it is to consumers and retailers alike that the fish they buy and sell is sustainable. Our Waitrose Sustainable Fishing Policy has been in place for over a decade and as part of this we have worked closely with the MSC to encourage consumers to make the most of fish such as mackerel which are plentiful and delicious too.”

Toby Middleton, UK Country Manager for the MSC added: “Waitrose is a long-standing supporter of the MSC programme and this is very welcome news both for the marine environment and for Waitrose customers. I look forward to working closely with Waitrose and seeing more MSC certified products on their shelves in the future.“

Waitrose currently stocks over 30 MSC certified products ranging from South Africa hake fillets on the fish counter to luxury MSC certified Coquille Saint Jacques in the freezer department

About Waitrose Limited

Waitrose Limited is an upmarket chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom and is the food division of the British retailer and worker co-operative the John Lewis Partnership.

As of January 2011, Waitrose has over 240 branches across the United Kingdom and a 4.2 percent share of the market, making it the sixth largest grocery retailer in the UK. They recently announced they are opening another 11 confirmed branches this year. The company has a long term goal of opening 400 branches across the UK by 2017 and doubling its revenue to GBP 8 billion by 2016.

Guided by its responsible fishing policy, Waitrose works alongside the Marine Stewardship Council , the Marine Conservation Society and many other organisations to develop the sustainability of fish around the world. This helps to ensure all its fish comes from sustainable sources and is caught using responsible methods, or is farmed from responsible farming systems.

About the Marine Stewardship Council

The Marine Stewardship Council is an international non-profit organisation set up to promote solutions to the problem of overfishing. The MSC runs the only certification and ecolabelling programme for wild-capture fisheries consistent with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation guidelines for fisheries certification.

Worldwide, now more than 9,000 seafood products, which can be traced back to the certified sustainable fisheries, bear the blue MSC ecolabel. 

Waitrose Sustainable Fishing Policy has been in place for over a decade

Source: MSC/Waitrose

Margaret E.L. Stacey
Editor Companies and Products
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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