Swiss Retailer Manor De-lists Tuna And Joins “Friend Of The Sea” Sustainable Seafood Scheme ff

Manor, a main retail chain with 10% share in the Swiss seafood market, has joined the Friend of the Sea project for certification and promotion of seafood from sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. Friend of the Sea consists partly out of people who have been closely involved in running the US-based organization Earth Island Institute, the dolphin conservation group.

“Our suppliers already comply with the minimum size requirements and engage at protecting marine mammals and turtles from bycatch. But Manor wanted to go even further in its conservation efforts. This is why we joined the Friend of the Sea project.” affirms Mr. Steiner, Purchase Director of Manor SA.

As a first important step, Manor will take off from its shelves any seafood originated from species threatened in the wild: bluefin tuna, Atlantic cod, haddock, halibut, and Atlantic salmon.  In the future, only cod, salmon and halibut from Friend of the Sea certified aquaculture will be found at Manor’s points of sales. Bluefin tuna will be replaced by other tuna species, such as yellowfin.

Manor will then gradually introduce on its shelves only seafood certified as sustainable by Friend of the Sea. “Manor engages to sell, by the end of 2008, only certified sustainable seafood, whether preserved, fresh or frozen” confirms Mr. Steiner. Products and their origins are assessed according to strict Friend of the Sea criteria and audited by independent third party certification bodies.

“Manor took a brave decision, which should be followed by the whole industry” comments Paolo Bray, director of Friend of the Sea “we are sure consumers will appreciate and reward. Not only, this decision will take pressure off those overexploited resources, it will also reduce the impact on the seabed, since several of those species – namely cod, haddock and halibut - are mostly fished with bottom trawlers, a fishing method which ploughs the sea floor destroying corals and sponges, by-catching any marine species found on its way.”

Manor joins a list of retailers and processing companies, which in Europe, USA, Africa and Asia have already joined Friend of the Sea and had their products certified.

Source: “Friend of the Sea” Press Release