Safe Catch Sustainability and Socially Responsible Sourcing Policy

Mission

Safe Catch will always provide pure sustainably sourced seafood and help to protect purity in our oceans, lakes, and rivers. Providing seafood from well-managed fisheries using sustainable fishing methods is essential to promoting a healthy ecosystem and to conserve populations for the future.

Our sustainability policy focuses on protecting the entire marine ecosystem, and we believe sustainable use requires supporting conservation while reducing our environmental impact. We have chosen our catch methods very carefully. We are proud to partner with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and are committed to sourcing all of our tuna and salmon products from MSC certified fisheries! Beginning in 2022, these products will bear the blue MSC-ecolabel, ensuring the highest levels of sustainable and fully traceable product for you. As a further show of our commitment to sustainability, Safe Catch is an Ocean Wise Seafood Program partner and follows the recommendations of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch® program.

Safe Catch tests each sustainably-caught fish to our strict mercury standard, which is published on every package.  If it doesn’t meet our published mercury standard, we don’t purchase it. We are the only seafood brand with the technology to test every single fish, and we are the only brand that does.

Safe Catch Elite Wild Tuna

Safe Catch Elite wild tuna is made with skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) caught in the Western Central Pacific (FAO 71) which are part of the Western Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) skipjack tuna stock. The most recent Western & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission assessment of WCPO skipjack tuna shows populations to be healthy and sustainably fished.

Safe Catch Elite only uses free school skipjack tuna that are caught by purse seine boats without the use of fish aggregating devices (FADs).  All the skipjack tuna we purchase must be accompanied by a FAD-Free certificate that states the catch was monitored by an independent observer. In order to be certified MSC, all fish must also be fully traceable through the chain of custody, to show it has adhered to MSC sustainability standards at every step of the supply chain.

Considering all aspects of environmental sustainability, FAD-Free purse seining of free school skipjack is among the best methods for ocean health. During each voyage using this method, boats are able to catch a healthier load, reducing the need for frequent smaller fishing trips. When practiced sustainably, FAD-free purse seining reduces carbon emissions and associated cascading effects of climate change and environmental degradation.

Safe Catch Wild Ahi Tuna

Our Wild Ahi tuna, made with yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) are caught in the Western Central Pacific catch area (FAO 71).

Safe Catch Wild Ahi tuna are only caught by purse seine boats without the use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) or using the pole and line method. Like our skipjack tuna, all of our wild ahi tuna must be accompanied by MSC compliant chain-of-custody documents to ensure the catch has met high standards of sustainability and traceability.

Albacore Tuna  

Our albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga) belong to the North and South Pacific Ocean Albacore populations and are caught in the Northwest Pacific (FAO 61), the Western Central Pacific (FAO 71). 100% of our albacore products will be sourced from MSC certified fisheries beginning in 2022, attesting to the high levels of sustainability and oversight in the stocks we are selecting from.

Albacore are a large-sized fish and accumulate mercury as they mature. In order to obtain lower mercury levels, some companies choose smaller, younger albacore tuna. Not only is this ineffective, but highly unsustainable. Harvesting juvenile albacore restricts population growth because tuna are harvested before reproducing. Safe Catch tests and uses all sizes of tuna to determine exactly which ones meet our purity standards.

Wild Pink Salmon

Our Wild Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) are caught using Set Gillnets, Purse Seine, and Driftnet methods in the Northern Pacific Ocean (FAO 61 & 67).  We only use wild pink salmon that are caught in Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified fisheries.

Wild Mackerel
Our wild Mackerel (Scomber scombrus) are sustainably caught from a comprehensive Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) in the cold, clean waters off the coast of Scotland in the North-East Atlantic (FAO 27). A comprehensive FIP is a fishery committed to attaining MSC certification within a specified timeline. Our wild Mackerel are caught using midwater otter trawls and “free-school” purse-seine fishing.

Wild Sardines

Our Wild Sardines (Sardina pilchardus) are “free school” purse seine caught in the Eastern Central Atlantic Ocean (FAO 34) off the coast of Morocco. We exclusively source sardines that are certified by Friend of the Sea to be in compliance with the Friend of the Sea Criteria for sustainable fisheries.

Dolphin Safe

Safe Catch is an approved Earth Island Institute (EII) Dolphin Safe company. In addition to this, and to adhere to federal Dolphin Safe tuna regulations, we only purchase tuna that has Dolphin Safe certificates signed by the captain of each ship and verified by an independent third-party observer on board each ship. Safe Catch will never source fish caught with dolphin associated sets.

Statement on Illegal and Wasteful Fishing Practices

We do not and will not source from fishing operations engaged in shark finning or other wasteful fishing practices. We do not and will not source from companies associated with illegal operations or that have ever been listed on any blacklist. We do not support practices such as transshipment at sea that can facilitate illegal activities.

Statement on Sourcing of Endangered or Threatened Species

We do not and will not source any species listed as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. We do not and will not source tuna or salmon from overfished stocks or stocks undergoing overfishing as officially described by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission or other science reports.

Social Responsibility

We will not do business with any vessels, canneries, or processors that we suspect or know to be engaged in any human rights or labor abuses. If any vessel, cannery or processor is suspected of human rights or labor abuses we will support and participate in a full investigation in cooperation with all relevant worker organizations, civil society or intergovernmental actors and applicable enforcement agencies.  We support any and all opportunity for interventions that prioritize the social and economic welfare of workers and protection of the victims of trafficking, forced and bonded labor.

Ocean Conservation

As our oceans continue to be threatened by overfishing and environmental destruction, Safe Catch supports the creation of marine protected areas to restore and protect marine ecosystems. Safe Catch supports the creation of new marine protected areas and reserves that sustain critical spawning and nursery habitats, diversity hot-spots, and regions subjected to overfishing.

We believe that by giving consumers an opportunity to voice their opinions on harmful polluting practices by choosing products that specifically address these practices we can contribute to a more environmentally friendly, circular economy, and sustain fisheries for future generations.  Safe Catch also donates to ocean conservation groups that are working to educate consumers and directly remove plastics from our oceans.

Pacific Commons Marine Reserve

All vessels Safe Catch sources from operate under the PNA vessel day scheme. Safe Catch supports the creation of high sea pockets under the Pacific Commons marine reserve and supports development of Pacific Island nations. We recognize reserves in the eastern high seas are essential for recovery and protection of vulnerable species. Safe Catch does not and will not source from vessels using purse seine fish aggregated devices (FAD’s) .

Labeling & Transparency

Not only do we want our customers to know exactly what is in the food they eat, we want them to know where it came from as well.  All of our products are fully traceable from captain to table. All of our chain-of-custody information is carefully managed, and we are working with Trace Register to bring that information to customers. The blue MSC ecolabel also shows that each can of tuna and salmon we’ve produced is fully traceable at every step of the way.