Aquaculture Magazine reports:
Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) recently held the fourth annual United Kingdom (UK) Awards in partnership with the Marine Stewardship Council. The awards presented at the Box, in Plymouth, was created in recognition of responsible seafood farming in the UK. In its second year, the ASC Brand of the Year award was picked up by Fish Said Fred, Sainsbury’s won the ASC UK Retailer of the Year award and Lyons Seafoods bagged the ASC UK Retail Supplier of the Year award.
“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,” assured Chris Ninnes, ASC’s CEO, after congratulate the three winner companies.
“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”.
Active promotion and involvement in the program
The UK Awards aim to promote companies that make the greatest impact in driving sustainability within the seafood industry and boost consumer demand for ASC labelled seafood. The winning businesses meet the strictest requirements for responsibly farmed seafood that’s been produced with care for people and our planet.
This year, Fish Said Fred, a company owned by New England Seafood International, was crowned the ASC UK Brand of the Year for their range of ASC labelled seafood products, and for their active promotion and involvement in the ASC program. This category awards the brand making the greatest impact in driving and meeting consumer demand for certified responsible seafood.
“Fish Said Fred is delighted to receive this recognition. We continuously strive to go above and beyond across our organization and the ASC certification supports us to do that,” said Ruth Hoban, Head of Sustainability at New England Seafood International.
“We are proud to promote responsibly sourced seafood products to seafood lovers who are increasingly aware and concerned about the provenance, ethics and sustainability of the food they buy. Taking care from sea to plate, we also thank our dedicated farming partners to consistently deliver responsibly sourced seafood to the tough standards of the ASC.”
Committed retailers
In the other hand, Sainsbury’s has been the winner of the ASC UK Retailer of the Year Award with their 100% commitment to sourcing ASC certified farmed seafood and the largest share of ASC labelled seafood products in store and online.
“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,” said David Parker, Head of Aquaculture and Fisheries at Sainsbury’s.
Finally, the ASC UK Retail Supplier of the Year was awarded to Lyons Seafoods, based on nominations by UK retail. This Award recognizes the winner’s role in expanding the availability of certified responsible seafood and meeting growing consumer demand.
Lyons Seafoods Managing Director Mark Newton said: “This award acknowledges the amazing work carried out by our dedicated farming partners and the team at Lyons Seafoods towards responsible aquaculture for now and well into the future. It is fantastic to be recognized by UK retail for the work we do in aquaculture. Partnering with long-term suppliers, we are able to continuously drive improvements in the industry which are acknowledged through the standards set by the ASC.”
