Australian seafood lovers can now buy Aquaculture Stewardship Council, (ASC) and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) ecolabelled seafood in the deli at their local Coles supermarket.
Across the country Coles’ fresh salmon will be ASC certified as responsibly farmed and their Queensland wild-caught prawns will be MSC certified as sustainably caught.
Coles ASC certified salmon comes from Tassal, which earned ASC certification across all of its sites in November 2014. Tassal was the first salmon farm in Australia to achieve this certification.
MSC Asia Pacific Director Patrick Caleo is extremely pleased with Coles’ leadership and pioneering move into sustainable seafood.
“Coles is the first major supermarket in Australia to offer, certified sustainable seafood at their deli counters. Not only are Coles’ providing Australians with certified sustainable seafood options, they’ve done an enormous amount of work through the supply chain to ensure their seafood is traceable from ocean all the way to the deli counter. As Aussies love our seafood and want to safeguard our oceans for generations to come, choosing certified sustainable seafood from Coles is an easy and delicious way to contribute to the health of the ocean.”
Chris Ninnes, ASC’s CEO, said: “As one of Australia’s largest retailers, Coles is leading the way with responsibly farmed seafood sourcing in Australia. By offering ASC certified and labelled salmon in their delis, Coles’ customers don’t have to worry about where their fish comes from and can enjoy their salmon knowing that it is sourced from a farm that treats the environment with care and respect. All they need to do is look for the ASC logo.”
Traceability assurance
All ASC and MSC labelled seafood can be traced back through the supply chain to a responsibly managed fish farm or certified sustainable fishery. In order to achieve chain of custody certification each company in the supply chain must meet strict requirements, be completely transparent and have in place traceability systems that ensure no product mixing or substitutions can occur.
