Whole Foods Market Announces New Sourcing Policy for Sustainable, Traceable Canned Tuna
March 15 2017 - 9:10AM
Business Wire
Company is first national retailer to create
storewide requirements spanning grocery products and prepared foods
items
By January 2018, all canned tuna sold at Whole Foods Market
(Nasdaq: WFM) will meet rigorous sustainability and traceability
requirements that aim to reduce overfishing and bycatch, and
support fishing communities. The new sourcing policy includes
canned tuna items sold in the grocery aisle as well as the prepared
foods department. Whole Foods Market is the first national retailer
to create such stringent standards for canned tuna, which is among
the three most consumed seafood items in the United States.
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In keeping with Whole Foods Market's new
requirements for canned tuna, fishermen use a pole-and-line method
to catch fish one at a time, which prevents bycatch and creates
more fishing jobs than large industrial tuna vessels. (Photo:
Business Wire)
Under the new policy, all canned tuna at Whole Foods Market must
come from fisheries using only pole-and-line, troll, or handline
catch methods, all of which take fish one by one, preventing
bycatch and creating more jobs in coastal communities. These
fisheries must either be certified sustainable by the Marine
Stewardship Council or rated green or yellow by the Monterey Bay
Aquarium and The Safina Center.
Every supplier must also use Trace Register, traceability
software that tracks each lot of tuna at every point from vessel to
can. The traceability data are continuously crosschecked to help
verify sourcing and prevent illegally-caught or unauthorized fish
from entering the supply chain.
“We created this new policy for canned tuna because we want to
lead by example in sourcing only the highest quality,
sustainably-caught tuna,” said Carrie Brownstein, global seafood
quality standards coordinator for Whole Foods Market. “Combined
with better international fishery management, overfishing and
bycatch can be greatly reduced when tuna is caught by these
low-impact fishing methods. We are honored to be working with
suppliers and partners who are driving positive change.”
Leading brands that already source canned tuna from one-by-one
fisheries, including 365 Everyday Value®, American Tuna, Pole and
Line, Henry and Lisa’s, and Wild Planet, are updating their
operations to meet the policy’s traceability requirements. These
measures will also help importers get ahead of the traceability
provisions in NOAA’s Seafood Import Monitoring Program, which has a
deadline for mandatory compliance by Jan. 1, 2018.
Over the coming months, remaining suppliers will shift their
operations and fishing practices to use the approved one-by-one
catch methods, which are more environmentally friendly and offer
more employment opportunities for fishermen worldwide.
“Since America is the largest canned tuna market in the world,
shifts toward greater sustainability in this category can create a
meaningful, positive impact on our oceans and our global fishing
communities,” said Adam Baske, director of policy and outreach for
International Pole & Line Foundation. “In some cases, these
one-by-one fisheries are one of very few sources of local
employment. The boats also make relatively short trips, enabling
crews to return home frequently, compared to large industrial tuna
vessels that may spend multiple months or even years at sea.”
Whole Foods Market’s new canned tuna policy expands on the
retailer’s existing sustainability standards for fresh and frozen
seafood, which also require that all seafood must either be
certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council or rated
green or yellow by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and The Safina Center.
Additionally, all of the retailer’s farmed seafood must meet its
industry-leading aquaculture standards, which include third-party
on-site audits.
In 2016, Whole Foods Market introduced the retailer’s first Fair
Trade certified yellowfin tuna, a designation which ensures better
wages and working conditions for fishermen, and provides additional
funding to their communities for improvement projects and
investments. Fair Trade certification also verifies full supply
chain traceability.
These continual advancements in policies and sourcing are part
of Whole Foods Market’s mission to create a model that moves the
seafood industry toward greater sustainability.
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Whole Foods MarketMcKinzey
CrosslandMcKinzey.Crossland@wholefoods.com
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