The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) hosted their annual Seafood Futures Forum at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels today.
2017 marks the 20th year of the MSC and the 7th of the ASC and the forum provided an opportunity for both to reflect on how safeguarding seafood for future generations relies on the power of partnerships between retailers, brands, producers and NGO’s Judith Kontny, international corporate social responsibility manger at Lidl, delivered the keynote speech at the forum. Lidl was one to the first large retailers to build sustainability into its procurement process and, as of January 2017, Lidl Germany only sells MSC certified products in their permanent, own-brand, fresh and frozen fish range. Lidl Germany also extended their ambition to include farmed seafood and will only sell products certified organic by January 2018. In her speech, Kontny explained that delivering on its commitments had required brokering new partnerships and the challenges remained in meeting consumer demand.
“We want to make sure that the products we sell are available in the long term and this is why their origins are so important. In the years that Lidl has worked with the MSC and ASC, we have witnessed more and more fisheries and producers achieving certifications, but delivering our commitment still presents challenges. For example, we are eager for more certified species, notably octopus and squid,, and we believe more effort is needed to engage consumers in Eastern and Southern Europe in support of responsible and sustainable seafood”, Kontny said.
Source : Aqua International