Transforming seafood markets

 / ©: Brian J. Skerry / National Geographic Stock / WWF


Increased demand for seafood and poor governance lead to unsustainable fisheries. With our partners, we are influencing policy to ensure sustainable markets for wild-caught seafood and aquaculture products.

We work with major seafood buyers and use their purchasing power to secure seafood from sustainable sources, assess current supply chains and improve the world’s fisheries.

We also provide producers of wild-caught seafood with technical assistance to assess and adjust their current operations, so they can achieve credible certification, such the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC).
 / ©: Quentin Bates / WWF-Canon
Freighter
© Quentin Bates / WWF-Canon

MSC - Marine Stewardship Council

In 1997, WWF and Unilever created the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to unite those who harvest fish with those who buy the products. MSC is an independent, not-for-profit organization that promotes responsible fishing practices around the world.

Its goal is to assess and certify fisheries with sustainable practices, and provide consumers with a sustainable choice. The MSC provides a global standard across all fisheries, and is supported by major companies and environmental organizations. The council also ensures that the fish you are buy was fished responsibly.

How do fish products get the MSC label? They must meet these three principles:
  • Stocks must be sustainable. Any certified fishery must operate so that fishing can continue indefinitely—and not overexploit the resource.

  • The fishery must minimize environmental impacts—and maintain the ecosystem it depends on.

  • Fish must come from well-managed fisheries that meet local, national and international laws.
Fisheries that work with the MSC record annual catches of close to seven million metric tonnes of seafood. This is more than 12 per cent of the global catch for our consumption. Worldwide, more than 3,000 seafood products have the blue MSC eco-label.
 / ©: Loblaw Companies Limited
Loblaw Companies Limited
© Loblaw Companies Limited
Loblaw makes responsible, sustainable sourcing of seafood top priority.

Smart Fishing

Smart fishing practices that reduce bycatch are a crucial part of our sustainable seafood plan. WWF works on smart fishing solutions on a global basis. Find out more

Our survey indicates

What Canadians know about sustainable seafood – and how much they care about this issue.

Check out the survey results.
 / ©: Steven Ramm
© Steven Ramm

We need you

All the efforts on certification won’t matter if they’re not supported by consumers. Good fishing practices should be rewarded, and less sustainable fisheries should have a powerful incentive to change. As consumers, we can all support responsible fisheries through the seafood products we buy.

Find out how Loblaw makes responsible, sustainable sourcing of seafood a top priority.