I've campaigned against salmon farming for over two decades and have written extensively on the greenwashing of toxic farmed salmon. But it wasn't until I read a report in Which magazine last month that I began to uncover the full extent of the scam of 'sustainable' seafood. Which magazine reported (6 October 2021):
Pardon my ignorance but this was the first time I'd even heard of the 'Sustainable Seafood Coalition'. I knew that a complaint filed by Fishy Business in 2019 had forced US-owned Loch Duart to drop the use of the word 'sustainable' in their advertising of Scottish salmon but I didn't appreciate the key role of the 'Sustainable Seafood Coalition' whose members include a who's who of supermarkets and who is brokered by ClientEarth.
In July 2021, the Sustainable Seafood Coalition published a 'Strategic Plan' which advanced the vision that "all seafood sold in the UK is from sustainable sources" (a laudable goal but not one that can ever happen if farmed salmon is included):
In view of the Advertising Standards Authority's position against the use of word "sustainable" in relation to Scottish salmon, you would be forgiven for thinking that the Sustainable Seafood Coalition would therefore be supporting a supermarket boycott of farmed salmon.
I did some digging around the operations of the 'Sustainable Seafood Coalition' which ended up in the complaint filed last week with the Advertising Standards Authority (19 November 2021):
The minutes of the meeting on 25 July 2011 included:
Another meeting of the 'Sustainable Seafood Coalition' in June 2012 included:
The distinction between 'sustainable' and 'responsible' appears to be something which supermarkets are still struggling to grapple with a decade later. Animal Concern Advice Line News reported in May 2019 how the Coop (a member of the 'Sustainable Seafood Coalition') had stopped using "sustainable" to describe Scottish salmon but changed it to "responsible":
An email to the Coop from John Robins of Animal Concern Advice Line dated 3 May 2019 concluded:
The Coop replied on 15 May 2019 pledging to remove the "sustainable" description from Scottish salmon:
Here's the reply on 15 May 2019 from John Robins at Animal Concern Advice Line:
When I contacted the 'Sustainable Seafood Coalition' this week I was pleasantly surprised to get a positive response - here's the email correspondence:
From: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 22, 2021 at 12:03 PM
Subject: "Responsibility" claims by SSC - any update?
To: <ssc@clientearth.org>
Do you have an update?
Thanks and best fishes,
Don
From: Oliver Tanqueray <OTanqueray@clientearth.org>
Date: Mon, Nov 22, 2021 at 12:40 PM
Subject: RE: "Responsibility" claims by SSC - any update?
To: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Cc: ssc <ssc@clientearth.org>
Hi Don
Thanks for your interest. The sections of the SSC Codes you’ve shared below are still current. You can see them in context in the most recently updated Codes here, on pages 10-11 and 17.
I did notice that the URL you sent is for a page containing a link to an older version of the Codes – I’ve now updated this to make sure the website directs visitors to the latest version of that document.
If SSC work on aquaculture is of interest to you, you might also like to look into our ongoing Feed Working Group – minutes for all those meetings are here. We also have responsible sourcing guidance for businesses buying farmed seafood here (particularly pages 18-26 and 29-30).
Please let me know if you have any other queries or feedback on the work of the SSC.
All the best,
Oliver
|
Oliver Tanqueray
|
|
Sustainable Seafood Coalition Coordinator
|
| |
|
t. +44 (0)20 3030 5958
Pronouns: he/his
|
|
ClientEarth, The Joinery, 34 Drayton Park, London, N5 1PB
|
From: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 22, 2021 at 12:53 PM
Subject: Re: "Responsibility" claims by SSC - any update?
To: Oliver Tanqueray <OTanqueray@clientearth.org>
Oliver,
Do you have a view on this?
Best fishes,
Don
From: Oliver Tanqueray <OTanqueray@clientearth.org>
Date: Wed, Nov 24, 2021 at 4:37 PM
Subject: RE: "Responsibility" claims by SSC - any update?
To: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Hi Don
Thanks for your email, and for bringing the complaints you’ve filed to our attention.
With regard to an SSC position on the complaint, I hope the following context and information is helpful:
- The SSC was established in 2011 with the specific intention of ensuring that environmental claims on seafood products are clear, consistent and credible. Like yourself, we had concerns that consumers were being misled by the language used on seafood packaging. At the time, ClientEarth published a labelling report which exposed the inconsistent and misleading labelling practices adopted by many UK supermarkets. In the absence of robust laws controlling environmental claims, we then supported seafood businesses in developing aligned voluntary commitments around responsible sourcing practices and harmonised environmental claims. As part of this process, businesses decided to simplify the types of claims made from seven broad categories (set out in the report linked above) to two – ‘responsibility’ and ‘sustainability’. Members then made public commitments to these Codes, and encouraged their competitors to do so too.
- As highlighted in your complaint, there were discussions around whether it would be appropriate to assign the claim of ‘sustainable’ to any aquaculture sources. Given that credible third-party certification programmes will assess to a level of ‘responsibility’ rather than ‘sustainability’, it was agreed that our voluntary Codes should not exceed those claims. SSC members do not, therefore, make claims of ‘sustainably sourced’ on aquaculture products.
- ‘Responsibly sourced’ can be an indicator of a business’ behaviour & influence on a supply chain, rather than an ecological assessment of the source itself. For example, this claim is often used in wild-capture supply chains where a fishery is not yet sustainable, but where the buyer is supporting a credible improvement project which puts the fishery on a timeline within which it will become sustainable. An SSC member can therefore claim that their aquaculture product is ‘responsibly sourced’ in the following scenarios:
- the source is certified to a third-party responsibility standard OR
- the source is audited to and compliant with a good aquaculture standard or code of practice OR
- the source is audited and this audit identifies necessary improvement actions, and these are communicated with an agreed timescale for completion.
- NB: we set out best-practice criteria for aquaculture third party certification standards on page 21 of the Guidance.
- The SSC isn’t an ecolabel or an assessment body, so our role is not to verify claims or audit specific supply chains. It is the responsibility of individual businesses to justify the claims they make, and we expect members to be transparent around their sourcing and labelling decisions. As per p.16 of the Codes, SSC members agree to provide “sufficient assurance… on request to support any claim”. If you find this not to be the case, please let me know and I will remind specific members of this commitment.
We welcome the perspectives of the ASA, CMA and Trading Standards and will provide any information as needed in their inquiries into your complaints. We appreciate any scrutiny which helps to advance and strengthen the responsibility of seafood supply chains.
All the best
Oliver
|
Oliver Tanqueray
|
|
Sustainable Seafood Coalition Coordinator
|
| |
|
t. +44 (0)20 3030 5958
Pronouns: he/his
|
|
ClientEarth, The Joinery, 34 Drayton Park, London, N5 1PB
|
ClientEarth's response in June 2021 to the Competition and Markets Authority's consultation on 'Misleading environmental claims' is also available online here - it includes:
No further correspondence is attached publicly but ClientEarth's consultation response included an 'Explainer':
Look online and you will be able to download the 'Sustainable Seafood Coalition' voluntary 'Codes of Conduct' (July 2021) which includes:
Another document headed 'Guidance: voluntary codes of conduct' published by the 'Sustainable Seafood Coalition' dated July 2021 includes:
Without a hint of irony, Client Earth have a section of their website on 'Greenwashing':
ClientEarth claims to be challenging supermarkets on fish sourcing:
The greenwashing of seafood via dubious certification systems such as the Aquaculture Stewardship Council has plunged new depths.
Here's an op-ed by Adam Daddino of accredited certification assessment provider SCS Global Services published yesterday (24 November 2021) by Seafood Source:
