My Salmon: What am I buying?
Transparency and Traceability
When Fidra began the Best Fishes project, we wanted to determine how consumers could find information about the salmon they purchased and if it was produced in an environmentally sustainable way. However we found that this information was difficult to find, with little information available on Scottish salmon’s supply chain journey. In response Fidra set out to call for greater transparency and traceability throughout Scottish salmon’s journey from producer to plate
Through engagement with retailers, industry and stakeholders, we have seen an overall increase in transparency and traceability in the Scottish salmon supply chain. More and more information has been made accessible to customers, including via on-pack labelling and online portals from retailers. Meanwhile regulators are developing a centralised database with the support of retailers, NGOs and suppliers to provide real time information from the Scottish salmon farming industry. We hope that this positive progress will continue into the future as retailers, regulators and other stakeholders continue to increase transparency and traceability of supply chains.
Retailers
Who sells your salmon and where does it come from?
Fidra’s nationwide surveys revealed there is a lack of information available to consumers and highlighted the need for a minimum requirement of traceability information on all salmon products.
Fidra continues to ask retailers to
- Be advocates of transparency, by labeling all Scottish Salmon products with farm origin.
- Support the development and implementation of a dashboard that provides centralised real time information on environmental and sustainability issues to improve good practice in the industry.
- Support the development of an accessible farm-level dashboard for consumers. This will enable the consumer to access information on the salmon they are buying using the farm name, in turn displayed on product labels.
The following table shows the level of transparency and traceability currently associated with Scottish salmon at each of the major UK retailers. Where retailers are members of the Sustainable Seafood Coalition (SSC), we also ask that they follow their best practice outlined in the Guidance to the SSC’s voluntary codes of conduct1 on responsible sourcing and labelling to achieve ‘best practice’ status below (updated where possible October 2022).
*Transparency scheme:
Initiatives advocating for transparency
Sustainable fisheries Partnership (SFP)
This partnership uses available and up-to-date information to engage all stakeholders in the supply chain to understand the landscape of the industry, and what steps ought to be taken to increase sustainable production. One of the ways they do this is through their Ocean Disclosure Project (ODP). The ODP works to increase transparency throughout seafood supply chains. The ODP hopes that this will lead to a reduction in environmental impacts from this industry, with 100% of seafood being produced in a sustainable manner. This project is notable in actively prioritising the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), naturally focusing on Goal 14: Life Below Water.
Sustainable Seafood Coalition (SSC)
The Sustainable Seafood Coalition (SSC) is not a certification scheme or an eco-label, but a partnership of UK-based businesses that work together to confront problems within seafood supply chains and influence change by offering practical solutions and demonstrating good practice.
Set up in 2011, SSC have worked to ensure a healthy future for our oceans and envisage a future where all fish and seafood sold in the UK comes from sustainable sources.
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
In 2015, the WWF set up a sustainable seafood charter to work with companies who are willing to make progressive commitments to improve their sourcing or production of their seafood and to communicate this to consumers. In 2021, WWF have now gone on to launch the WWF Basket with the aim of halving the environmental impact of the UK shopping basket by 2030 and as the sustainable seafood charter align with the marine area of the Basket this is how they track partners progress.So far six retailers have committed to the associated Retailer’ Commitment for Nature including Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose and Lidl.
How is your salmon farmed?
All salmon produced in Scotland must be farmed under Scottish legislation2 guidelines, with the farms required to meet conditions of a licence issued and regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency3. As of 2021 all farms were members of the industry body, Salmon Scotland, and as such must also adhere to its Code of Good Practice4. In addition, farms may choose from one or more of several certification schemes, which measure additional criteria to those required by law. Retailers may also have their own certification schemes or criteria that they require their suppliers to adhere to. The table below shows which schemes or criteria apply to Scottish salmon stocked by major UK retailers. More detail on the main certification schemes available to all retailers is shown in the Certification table below.
- All Scottish salmon sold by the retailer adhere to this certification scheme or criteria.
- Some of the farms which supply the retailer are certified by this scheme or criteria. If it is a certain line of the product the name is stated, e.g. Aldi ‘Specially selected’ Scottish salmon and Lidl 'Deluxe Salmon' are RSPCA certified.
- None of the Scottish salmon sold by the retailer appear to be certified by this scheme or criteria.
Certification
Many of the portions of Scottish salmon for sale in UK retailers are labelled with the RSPCA Assured logo, or a logo declaring the product is ‘responsibly’ or ‘sustainably’ farmed, but what do these actually mean?
The labels assert that the salmon has been produced to certain standards. The reliability of these labels depends upon whether assessment is undertaken regularly by an external independent third party. Several sets of standards, or ‘certification’ schemes, have been developed by salmon farming companies and by other organisations. For a more in depth look at the schemes commonly used in Scotland for salmon farms, read Fidra’s position paper on certification.
The certification schemes are shown in the table below, with a brief description of the main criteria of each. Scottish legislation2 and the Code of Good Practice4 are included for comparison. Several retailers have their own internal standards in addition to or instead of external third party schemes. We have applied a simple weighting and score* to each scheme across 12 different criteria, with a total of 36 points available. Those deemed to have the strictest requirements in any single criteria have also been highlighted. Several of the schemes are under review, and the table is subject to change. Direct comparison of the schemes is difficult due to the different methods of assessment used and the table should be used for guidance only.
Whilst some certification schemes assert a higher standard, an ideal solution has not yet been reached and a score of 36 does not indicate a perfect scheme. MPAs refer to Marine Protected Areas.Protected areas are used to ensure protection of some of the most vulnerable species and habitats
Summary of Certification scheme criteria
- Strictest requirements (*3)
- Requirements (*2)
- Recommendations (*1)
- No recommendations or requirements (*0)
References
[1] Sustainable Seafood Coalition. (2021). Guidance – Voluntary codes of conduct. Available at https://www.clientearth.org/media/0abdgbsc/ssc_codes_guidance_2021_004.pdf
[2] Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2013, (2013) (testimony of Scottish Parliment). Available at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2013/7/contents
[3] SEPA. (n.d.). Aquaculture. Regulations. Retrieved June 21, 2022. Available at https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/water/aquaculture/
[4] Salmon Scotland. (2006). Code of Good Practice. Available at https://www.salmonscotland.co.uk/code-of-good-practice