Friend of the Sea is a non-profit non-governative organisation (NGO), whose
mission is to conserve the marine habitat.
Friend of the Sea is now a main international certification project for products
originating from both sustainable fisheries and aquaculture.
Certified products from all continents include most of the traded species, fishmeal,
fishfeed and Omega-3 fish oil.
Products and their origins are audited onsite by independent international
certification bodies, against strict Friend of the Sea sustainability criteria.
Friend of the Sea Criteria follow the FAO - Guidelines for the Ecolabelling of Fish
and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries. In particular, only products
from stocks which are NOT OVEREXPLOITED can be certified (Art. 30 FAO
Guidelines).
Friend of the Sea has deployed an International Monitoring Program to verify
onsite the Chain of Custody of approved suppliers of Friend of the Sea products.
In line with the FAO Guidelines, Friend of the Sea pricing structure is affordable
also to artisanal fisheries and small-scale producers, which represent over 50% of
the Friend of the Sea certified products.