Sainsbury's nets another farmed seafood accolade

Britain’s second-largest grocery chain Sainsbury’s has been named the Aquaculture Stewardship Council’s UK Retailer of the Year for the third year in succession.

The award goes to the retailer that has the largest share of ASC labelled seafood products in store and online.

Sainsbury’s became the first UK supermarket to offer 100% of its fresh Scottish salmon as ASC certified in 2022. Sainsbury’s-branded farmed salmon is supplied by Scotland’s biggest farmer, Mowi, which currently has 27 ASC-certified farm sites. Sainsbury’s also stocks MOWI-branded ASC salmon.

David Parker, head of aquaculture and fisheries at Sainsbury’s, said: “We’re very proud to have won this award for the third year in a row. Responsibly sourced seafood is something we are passionate about and it’s fantastic to get this recognition for the range of ASC labelled products available in our stores.

“We look forward to continuing our work with the ASC to expand this range even more, as it means a lot to us to offer responsibly farmed seafood to our customers. It’s a huge team effort to make this possible, so this award is really for everyone involved.” 

Fish Said Fred

The ASC’s UK Brand of the Year award went to Fish Said Fred, a company owned by London-based New England Seafood International (NESI), for its range of ASC labelled seafood products and active promotion and involvement in the ASC programme.

NESI won last year’s ASC UK Retail Supplier of the Year award, which this year was awarded to Lyons Seafoods, based on nominations by UK retail. This award recognises the winner’s role in expanding the availability of certified responsible seafood and meeting growing consumer demand.

ASC chief executive Chris Ninnes said: “Congratulations to Sainsbury’s, Fish Said Fred, and Lyons Seafoods for their well-deserved wins. These awards acknowledge the significant effort it takes for a retailer, brand, and supplier to deliver 100% commitment to only sell responsibly produced seafood in the UK every single day.

“As ASC grows within the UK, I hope that these commitments become the norm in the UK as they are in other markets and will encourage more local processors, farmers and retailers to join us in this journey to transform the seafood farming sector towards more sustainable practices.”

As well as certifying many of Mowi Scotland’s sites, the ASC has also approved 25 farms run by Bakkafrost Scotland.

Wants changes made

But another salmon producer, Scottish Sea Farms, chose to pause  certification because it believes changes to the ASC’s Salmon Standard are not in the best interests of its fish.

“In some instances, certification stipulates that we should intervene in fish health when our own experienced veterinarians have advised that the salmon are best left alone,” SSF explains on its website.

“In others, we are required to adopt alternative interventions to the ones our fish health professionals have determined to be most appropriate, having weighed up all the key factors.”

The company adds that it still believes wholeheartedly in the overarching premise of the ASC Salmon Standard but wants a more informed, science-based Standard “that draws on the experiences of those on the front-line of salmon farming”.