Loblaw Cos. Ltd. on Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of its sustainable seafood commitment with an update on its progress, including its pledge to source only sustainable seafood by 2013.
Canada’s largest food retailer said it’s “on track” to meet its goal of 100 percent sustainable seafood. In the first year of its action plan, orange roughy, Chilean sea bass, shark and skate were identified as at-risk species with “no improvement potential” and will be phased out as a result.
Loblaw increased the number of Marine Stewardship Council-certified seafood products it sells to 16, more than any other Canadian retailer. The retailer also began recruiting fisheries and marine science experts, including World Wildlife Fund-Canada and Dr. Jeffrey Hutchings of Dalhousie University, to help it develop its sustainable seafood purchasing policy.
Loblaw laid out its priorities for the second year of its action plan. They include doubling the number of MSC-certified products, selling only canned tuna approved by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, working with Canadian salmon farmers to launch a “more responsible aquaculture program” and finding ways to better manage at-risk fisheries with industry, WWF-Canada and marine science experts.
Also on Tuesday, Loblaw extended its public-awareness campaign by making the documentary “The End of the Line” available to more than 700 Canadian schools, providing educators with a forum to talk about sustainable fishing.
What’s more, Loblaw created a Facebook page to share information about its sustainable seafood commitment and report its progress and encourage dialogue among its customers.
“While we remain focused on achieving our milestones, we continue to invest in meaningful ways to raise awareness of the challenges facing our oceans and why it’s important to have sustainable seafood sources,” said Paul Uys, Loblaw’s VP of sustainable seafood.
A subsidiary of George Weston Ltd., Loblaw operates more than 1,000 stores across Canada.
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