By Bradley George
The fish sold at your local Publix will soon carry a new label. The grocery chain, headquartered in Lakeland, is promoting sustainable seafood
The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership already works with Walmart, McDonald's, and large supermarket chains and restaurant suppliers around the world.
“The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership aims to stop overfishing and protect marine ecosystems at global scale,” CEO Jim Cannon explained in a YouTube video. “Because boycotts, red lists, and ecolabels weren’t getting results in enough fisheries around the world.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuOE8492mYI
The partnership wants 75 percent of the world’s seafood supply to be sustainable, though it hasn’t set a timeline for meeting that goal. Seafood sold at Publix will feature a special label if it was raised or caught using the partnership’s guidelines.
“Publix regularly brings together all its seafood suppliers to talk about sustainability and works with the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) to drive change in the industry,” the company said in a press release.
Jacksonville-based Southeastern Grocers, parent company of Winn-Dixie, also works with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership.
The push for sustainable seafood comes as the fishing industry faces pressure from global demand and threats from climate change.
A recent study from the National Academy of Sciences found that commercial fishing fleets have grown dramatically since 1950. But the total amount of fish caught dropped in most countries by 20 percent over that same time period.
