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Preserving our Shared Future Through Sustainable Seafood
Sustainable Fish and Shellfish
Simply put – Sustainable Seafood means seafood that is caught, farmed, or harvested using environmentally harmonious and socially responsible methods that jeopardize neither the health of our oceans nor the stability of the species in question.
How Does North Coast Ensure Sustainably Sourced Fish?
As a company that depends on our oceans’ natural resources, we are keenly aware of our responsibility to source and promote sustainable seafood. We are proud to work with a number of local and international sustainability organizations – such as the Best Aquaculture Practices, Aquaculture Stewardship Council and Marine Stewardship Council – to ensure that our seafood is environmentally responsible.
Sustainable Seafood is a story of continuous improvement, rather than a final destination to be reached. As part of the global seafood community, North Coast Seafoods regularly evaluates our impact and looks for new ways to make further improvements to our overall sustainability.
What is the Most Sustainable Seafood?
Both Wild Caught and Farmed seafood can be sustainable and are each essential to ensuring continued seafood availability for future generations.
Overfishing is one of the biggest threats facing our oceans today. With seafood consumption rising worldwide, well-managed ocean-raised (farmed) fish can take pressure off wild fisheries, where 80% of wild fish stocks are harvested at full capacity.
For Wild Caught Seafood, sustainability means the populations are well-managed and not overfished, and the fishing method has minimal impact on habitat and other wildlife (limiting bycatch and minimizing damage to marine habitats).
For Aquaculture, or farm raised seafood, sustainability means minimizing impacts to the environment by limiting habitat damage, pollution, escapes of farmed fish and using sustainable feed ingredients.
US-based non-profit managing a widely used certification and labeling program for responsible aquaculture.
Protects surrounding ecosystems + biodiversity
Mandate strict criteria for sustainable feed
Preserves the quality of the water
Set strict controls for the use of antibiotics
Independent, international non-profit managing the world’s leading certification and labeling program for responsible aquaculture.
Protects surrounding ecosystems + biodiversity
Mandate strict criteria for sustainable feed
Preserves the quality of the water
Set strict controls for the use of antibiotics
An international non-profit organization that sets the global gold standard forwild seafood sustainability (from a whole ecosystem approach).
Each MSC Certified fishery has been independently assessed on its impact to wild fish populations.This label means we are actively:
Protecting our oceans from overfishing
Supporting fishing communities
Promoting seafood transparency and traceability
The Gulf of Maine Responsibly Harvested® label is a promise that seafood hails from the clean, cool waters of the Gulf of Maine (spanning from Nova Scotia to Cape Cod) and the fishery or farm is managed in a way that contributes to the long-term health of the resource. The label empowers consumers to buy seafood they can feel good about.
Suppliers of Gulf of Maine Responsibly Harvested product commit to continuously improving the sustainability of the seafood industry as well as annual documentation of continuing improvements by the supplier. North Coast currently sources responsibly harvested local:
Atlantic: Pollock, Ocean Perch, Sea Scallops, Monkfish, Haddock, Mackerel, American Plaice, White Hake, Whiting, and Winter Skate.
Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) are multi-stakeholder initiatives that aim to help fisheries work towards sustainability. Supporting FIPs has a tangible impact on increasing the number of fisheries working to make progress in the realm of sustainability, thereby incentivizing other fisheries to follow suit.