Marginalized fishing communities: Report uncovers “gross negligence” of aquaculture standards by European retailers

18 Nov 2021 --- Major supermarket retailers across the UK and Europe have “turned a blind eye” to the unsustainable practices of farmed fish supply chains. This according to a report compiled by the Changing Markets Foundation, Feedback and NGOs based in France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.

Among the top concerns pegged are “appalling” quality of life conditions of farmed fish, misleading information disseminated to consumers and that the majority of fish ends up as fishmeal. 

The retailers in question are represented by 49 national supermarket chains (76%) across the EU and UK, including Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Lidl and Asda. 

Global marine catch
The Floundering Around report provides an account of how Europe’s 33 major food retailers fail to address key sustainability challenges in aquaculture. 

“Currently, over half of the fish we eat comes from aquaculture, which is the world’s fastest-growing food production sector. Although aquaculture is being presented as a solution to the problem of overfishing, this is not true as most of the industry today relies on the significant inputs of wild-caught fish,” Nusa Urbancic, campaigns director at the Changing Markets Foundation, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

“Around 14% of total marine catch is converted into fishmeal and fish oil for the aquaculture industry. This is a significant share, given that the FAO says 94% of fish populations are either overfished or fished to the maximum sustainable levels,” says Urbancic.

Commitment to responsible fish catch
Some UK supermarkets have recently committed to halving their environmental impacts by 2030. 

A Lidl spokesperson tells FoodIngredientsFirst the supermarket promotes responsible use of marine animal and fish products and is committed to protecting and preserving global ecosystems. 

“We endeavor to make fishing and aquaculture more sustainable through our purchasing policy,” the spokesperson says. 

“We take allegations of this nature very seriously and have worked hard to ensure that all of our fish is farmed sustainably,” a Sainsbury’s spokesperson tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

They say that Sainsbury’s has “a longstanding commitment to sustainable fishing” and is the UK’s largest retailer of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified sustainable seafood. “We have also adopted the MSC Standard into our sourcing policies as our benchmark for wild fisheries.”

All of the farmed fish that Sainsbury’s sells is independently certified to a best practice aquaculture standard, according to the spokesperson. They also add that the supermarket is in the process of strengthening this by adopting the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standard across its farmed fish which covers both social and environmental issues. 

The British Retail Consortium's sustainability policy adviser, Nadiya Catel-Arutyunova also responds: “UK retailers are dedicated to sourcing seafood products responsibly, with the UK having some of the greatest coverage of independent sustainable seafood certification in the world. Our members regularly review fishing practices in their supply chains to ensure they meet the highest standards.”

Preservation of wild-caught fish is a priority, a Changing Markets Foundation report finds.  

Call to address problem
“Retailers have a huge responsibility, as over 77% of Europeans buy their fish in supermarkets – this is why we are calling on these powerful players to address these critical sustainability issues,” states Urbancic.

The foundation wants retailers to commit to the phase-out of wild-caught fish in aquaculture feed by 2025, monitor mortalities on fish farms and blacklist fish farms with consistent high mortality rates. The foundation urges retailers to commit to transparency in aquaculture supply chains and adequate product labeling.

“We are still looking for a supermarket willing to become a leader by committing to phase out the use of wild-caught fish from their aquaculture supply chains. We have some that have come close to this, like Tesco in the UK, Auchan in France and Coop in Switzerland, but we need them to clearly say that the use of wild-caught fish is an unsustainable practice given all the evidence,” outlines Urbancic.

Lidl’s spokesperson says they track where their fish, shellfish and feed for breeding comes from. The company demands that suppliers minimize the proportion of animal feed from targeted fishing to produce fish oil and fish meal within the framework of current scientific and publicly available knowledge.“

For this purpose, primarily plant-based feed should be used. Animal feed ingredients should preferably be produced from fishing waste,” says Lidl’s spokesperson.

Sainsbury participates in the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability which has developed consistent digital protocols for recording of fish catches and traceability through the supply chain. 

“We are investigating how these digital systems can be used to deliver very specific information around catch locations in future,” adds Sainbury’s spokesperson.

Sustainability concerns addressed in report
Despite being presented as a more environmentally friendly form of protein, aquaculture in its current state is driving overfishing, food insecurity in the global south and poor fish welfare.

Some of the main points addressed by the report are that retailers allegedly do not have a clear target to phase out the use of wild-caught fish in feed. Consumers are unwittingly contributing to marine ecosystems’ destruction and food insecurity of coastal fishing communities.

“Scientists say 90% of fish that is converted to fish meal and fish oil (FMFO) is food-grade quality, which means that it could be used to feed people directly,” laments Urbancic.

The foundation’s recent report with Greenpeace Africa shows over half a million tons of fish, which could be used to feed 33 million people, was extracted from oceans in West Africa and diverted to animal feed. 

“This is catastrophic, as the region is already struggling with food insecurity,” says Urbancic.

Notably, wild-caught fish deprives vulnerable communities in West Africa of their essential source of protein and livelihoods, as women who have traditionally smoked fish have to compete with fishmeal factories for the same raw materials. 

“We have seen similar trends in India, where fish is converted to shrimp farms at the expense of local populations. We have even seen from our investigation in Peru that the fishmeal industry is overfishing juvenile fish, which prevents the replenishment of fish stocks,” says Urbancic.Retailers are being urged to adopt company-wide policies that address this issue.  

Reporting on mortalities seriously compromised
The Changing Markets Foundation believes aquaculture can be sustainable if it “shakes off its appetite for wild-caught fish.”

“We need retailers and feed producers to invest in alternative sustainable feeds and also farm species that do not rely on feed,” explains Urbancic.

The organization also calls for better fish welfare standards and greater transparency on fish mortalities. 

Urbancic further details: “Reporting of mortalities is seen as a good indicator of fish welfare, but we have very little information beyond salmon farms in Scotland and Norway. Most retailers do not demand such reporting. They do not have any safeguards in place to engage with the farms, where mortalities are high.” 

Where mortalities are reported, they are much higher than in other forms of intensive farming. Compassion in World Farming shows in 2017 an average of 24.2% of fish reared on Scottish salmon farms died prematurely every year.

There are efforts underway to develop sustainable technologies for aquaculture. Researchers at Oregon State University are developing a technology to deliver water-soluble nutrients to aquaculture-raised fish, oysters, clams and shrimp to boost growth rates and reduce high rates of mortality. 

Meanwhile, New Crop Capital is pioneering a technique of producing real seafood products directly from fish cells.

By Inga de Jong

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