Princes will be the first UK brand or supermarket sourcing tuna from the MSC certified PNA Pacific fishery and providing MSC ecolabelled tuna to UK consumers. The tuna will be processed in Princes Mauritius facility.
Princes tuna chunks 160g singles range sold in UK major multiples will move from 0 to 100 per cent MSC ecolabelled from Q1 2017. Selected Princes tuna chunks four packs will also carry the MSC ecolabel for a period of time.
Other branded product lines that will carry the MSC logo from October are Red and Pink Salmon lines, 125g Mackerel and 190g Mackerel.
The tuna products will also carry the Pacifical logo, demonstrating Princes support of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) region. Pacifical is the global tuna marketing company set up by the eight countries that are parties to the Nauru Agreement.
Ruth Simpson, corporate relations director at Princes, said: “The MSC programme meets the highest benchmarks for certification and ecolabelling, and we have worked tirelessly for the expansion of our certification.
“We are ethically aware, and partner with a range of organisations and share a common goal of protecting the sustainability of the world’s oceans (MSC, International Seafood Sustainability Foundation and Earth Island Institute).
“We will continue to be fully committed to the quality, integrity and long-term sustainability of the seafood we sell.”
Princes also has a tuna sustainability goal to source all of its tuna from fisheries that are Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified or in a Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) with the objective of MSC certification.
Toby Middleton of the Marine Stewardship Council said: “This is a fantastic next step by Princes in their longstanding commitment to MSC certified sustainable seafood. By putting the MSC ecolabel on their mackerel, red salmon and select tuna products they are giving their shoppers a clear, credible and simple way to support the oceans’ health for generations to come.”
Henk Brus, Managing Director of Pacifical said: “It is a great pleasure to work alongside with Princes in their leading efforts to become the pioneers in the UK retail market to introduce MSC certified Pacifical tuna caught sustainably in the waters of the PNA nations. We congratulate Princes for their commitment and we look forward to continue supporting them as they move forward.”
The MSC labelled products will begin to hit shelves from October 2016 through to mid-2017.
