Seafood Sustainability Program

Leading the way in seafood sustainability and working closely with our partners, we have developed and begun to implement our seafood sustainability program.

Unlike other programs, we do not believe that change can happen by avoiding products. The fact is that all harvested seafood is sold to someone. In a worldwide industry such as seafood, change is truly driven by supporting the industry as they work through the issues that are causing them to be unsustainable.

Our program is divided into three phases:
Phase 1 — Research and data collection
Phase 2 — Product evaluation, product decisions and improvement projects
Phase 3 — Continue improvement projects and measure progress.

During Phase 1, which was completed in August 2010, we conducted thorough research and data collection for every product that we sold in our fresh seafood department.

During Phase 2, which is currently underway, our evaluation process examines three primary areas that impact sustainability: fishery management, stock status and environmental impact. These evaluations will help us decide whether to sell a product, help improve a fishery through an improvement project, or to discontinue selling a product until issues are resolved.

Finally, in Phase 3, we will implement improvement projects and measure our progress. We will track the number of products and pounds and, over time, we’ll see progress as improvement projects lead to more sustainable seafood options for our customers.