From shore to store

Declining fish stocks never seem to be far from the headlines these days, and conflicting reports often leave us confused about what it's OK to eat. But ever since Greenpeace abseiled down Asda's headquarters in 2005 to highlight the scant regard paid by supermarkets to the poor state of fisheries, there has been a quiet revolution going on behind the fish counter, and these days the big names are keen to out-perform each other in terms of sustainability and reputation.

With 85 per cent of chilled and frozen fish being sold by supermarkets in Britain, it's clear there are potential benefits for our seas if the major food retailers are persuaded to improve the sustainability of the fish they stock. Indeed, many environmentalists see it as their duty: ‘Sustainability is a complex issue, so it is the responsibility of supermarkets to deliver for the consumer,' says Oliver Knowles, oceans campaigner with Greenpeace.

So what progress have the supermarkets made and how can we support best practice in the fishing industry? Read on to find out who's doing the most, plus how to buy sustainable fish on the high street.

Who's the greenest?
As today's consumers become more environmentally savvy, supermarkets are aware there is a competitive advantage to be had through responsible retailing, which includes reputable sourcing of their fish and seafood. ‘We want to maintain our trusted brand,' explains Andrew Mallinson, seafood procurement manager with Marks & Spencer. ‘People expect it to happen because of our reputation.'  

Both Marks & Spencer and Waitrose were well ahead of the game, having realised back in the mid-1990s that the state of world fisheries threatened the supply of fish they depended on. ‘We could see demand for fish rising while stocks were declining, so we felt it was appropriate to develop a sourcing policy,' says Jeremy Langley, specialist fish buyer for Waitrose.

Following Greenpeace's direct action against Asda, and the naming and shaming of other supermarkets for selling threatened species, the pace of change has escalated. Asda withdrew some fish from sale and committed to selling only Marine Stewardship Council-certified fish within three to five years - a bold move given the limited range that had achieved MSC accreditation at the time.

Other major players have responded similarly (Sainsbury's, for example, removed endangered species such as skate and huss from its shelves), and there are various initiatives and sourcing policies in place across the board as each brand vies to do better than its rivals to keep consumers on side.

Red for danger
So how can supermarkets monitor whether the populations of the fish they sell are in good shape or not? Like us, they have a ready source of  information in the form of the Marine Conservation Society (MCS)'s Good Fish Guide, easily accessible at www.fishonline.org. This assesses a range of commercially available fish and grades them using a traffic-light system - green being fish stocks in good health, amber for those that are doing less well and red for stocks such as the common skate, which are currently threatened and the MCS believes shouldn't be sold. ‘A combination of factors leads to red status,' says Caroline Roberts, fisheries officer with the MCS. ‘We take into account fish stock health, its vulnerability to fishing, what management measures are in place and the impact of fishing methods on other marine wildlife.'

Most supermarkets have got to grips with understanding where their fish comes from, and have a sourcing policy for what they stock, attempting to ensure that they don't sell species seriously threatened by overfishing. Fishonline.org is now seen as an initial benchmark by retailers, guiding them on which fish they should avoid, and in fact Sainsbury's has worked with the MCS to assess all the fish it sells. ‘We have since de-listed ‘red-rated' fish and are working with suppliers
to convert amber-rated fish to green,' says Sainsbury's spokesperson Hannah Chance.

‘We work with groups such as Greenpeace and the MCS,' adds Jeremy Langley of Waitrose, ‘but base our decisions on the best knowledge we can collect.' This means some fish being removed from the counter, and others sourced only from better-managed stocks. ‘Initially, we removed products such as caviar, marlin and shark,' Langley says. ‘We haven't taken European cod since 1999; we source ours from Iceland where stocks are in better shape.'

Troubled waters
Many of the other top supermarkets have followed suit, seeking alternative suppliers or looking at farmed alternatives. Farmed fish, though - even those certified as organic - pose something of a dilemma for retailers and consumers alike. They often (as in the case of salmon) rely on wild caught fish, such as sand eels, which are processed
into fish food. Even with huge improvements in husbandry, it takes around three kilogrammes of wild-caught fish protein to produce one kilo of farmed salmon, removing small fish from the food chain with repercussions for wild fish and seabirds.

The responsible sourcing of wild fish is also a moral maze. The same species might be threatened in some areas, but in good health elsewhere. Add to this the damage that different fishing techniques can do to the marine environment, then factor in the food miles involved in supplying fish from abroad, and it's clear that supermarkets have their work cut out to ensure they deliver on their policy promises.

What should be next on their sustainability ‘to-do list' is looking at fishing techniques, avoiding those with unacceptable bycatch of seabirds, dolphins or other marine wildlife, and those that damage the seabed. After its work with the MCS, Sainsbury's, for example, has switched to exclusively line-caught cod and haddock, which could impact on driving change in the fishing industry. Waitrose, meanwhile, expects to stop sourcing fish from beam trawlers because of the harm chain matting can do to the seabed.

M&S, for one, believes reputable supermarkets can have a positive effect on the marine environment. ‘We have three approaches,' Andrew Mallinson says. ‘We work with certified fisheries; we avoid the worst and we invest in the rest to enable change - such as supporting the Cornish sardine fishery towards getting Marine Stewardship Council certification.'

Spending power
So what does all this mean for consumers? ‘There has been a huge amount of improvement, with most supermarkets now having policies in place,' says Oliver Knowles from Greenpeace. And we can all do our bit to further this process by shopping for fish we know is responsibly sourced and has a secure future. By arming ourselves with the Good Fish Guide, and responding to labels, we can help to ensure a happier fate for rarer stocks. ‘We hope consumers and retailers will give red-listed fish a break,' says Caroline Roberts of the MCS. ‘This will give them a chance to recover, while consumers can eat green-listed fish with a clear conscience.'