Posted on 28 February
2014 | Tokyo – Atlantic salmon certified
by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC)
is now available for consumers across Japan.
The salmon, responsibly farmed in Norway
by the Leroy Seafood Group, will be sold
at over 400 Aeon retail outlets across the
country.
Roughly 60% of the world’s
farmed salmon is produced in two countries,
Norway and Chile. With Japan ranking as
one of the world’s leading consumers, the
availability of ASC certified salmon makes
a significant contribution to marine conservation
and the expansion of responsible aquaculture.
“WWF welcomes the commitment
by Aeon to sell ASC certified salmon,” said
Dr Piers Hart, WWF aquaculture sector lead.
“Following a ten-year development process
initiated by WWF, these standards are now
being managed by the ASC and it is fantastic
to see ASC certified salmon on the market
in Japan.”
Farmed fish makes up
half of all seafood and is growing in popularity.
With that growth comes increasing risk to
local communities and the marine environment,
including pollution, overfishing of forage
fish, disease, and farmed fish escaping
into the wild. The ASC was launched to address
these issues.
The ASC system not only
certifies farms, but also verifies that
their products are managed during processing
and distribution so that they are not mixed
with other stocks. Farmed salmon on Aeon
shelves will carry an easily recognizable
ASC label that consumers can purchase with
confidence that the source farm is environmentally
friendly, considers local communities and
values human rights.
“The nationwide launch
of the first ASC certified responsibly farmed
salmon in Japan marks another significant
step toward transforming the aquaculture
sector,” said Chris Ninnes, ASC chief executive
officer. “Consumers increasingly want to
feel confident that they are making a responsible
choice when they eat fish. Aeon is giving
them that opportunity.”
“Aeon has previously
developed MSC certified seafood products
with the context of sustainability. Now
we intend to aggressively expand our ASC
certified products, starting with the development
of the first ASC certified sashimi Atlantic
salmon in Asia,” said Kinzo Matsumoto, general
manager of the seafood department of Aeon’s
Retail Food Merchandising Planning Division.
ASC is an independent,
not-for-profit organisation founded in 2010
by WWF and the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative
(IDH). The ASC certified standard was developed
through a series of roundtables mediated
by WWF that brought together producers,
seafood buyers, scientists, and NGOs. ASC
carries the most robust global requirements
for salmon farming, resulting in fish products
that are produced to ensure minimal environmental
and social impacts.
