M&S launches interactive seafood map
M&S has made it possible for consumers to identify the source of every variety of fish sold by the retailer, using a groundbreaking interactive online tool aimed at promoting responsible and sustainable fisheries..
12 October 2018
At a time when issues of sustainability, conservation and the environment are at the forefront of many conversations, Marks & Spencer has launched an interactive tool that allows users to identify where every type of seafood it sells was sourced, be it caught or farmed. The first website of its kind from any UK retailer, the Seafood Map incorporates 47 species of fish and shellfish, across 71 fisheries in 29 countries all over the world.
Hannah Macintyre, marine biologist and M&S’ aquaculture & fisheries manager, said the retailer knows how much its customers care about responsible fishing. “Transparency is an important part of the trust that our customers and stakeholders put in us,” she said, “that’s why we’ve published this smart tool which lays bare our whole fish supply chain, wherever it is in the world and however it is fished or farmed.”
The Marks & Spencer Seafood Map is the first website of its kind from any retailer. It shows the location of where the fish or seafood is caught by country, the catch method used and whether the fishery is certified or, if not, details of the improvement work taking place. For farmed fish, the map shows the location of the farm by country and region, the farming method, M&S Select Farm status and whether the farm is third-party certified.
Clarus Chu, WWF’s Seafood Manager, said: “All businesses need to take a responsible approach to seafood sourcing if we’re to protect and restore our precious oceans. It’s a great step for M&S to be increasing transparency in this way and showing how the fisheries they source from are improving.”
The Seafood Map ties in with the M&S Interactive Supply Chain Map, which lists the locations of all M&S supplier factories, the farmers that produce M&S beef, M&S dairy farmers and details of where the wool comes from that makes M&S products.
Marks & Spencer says that all the wild fish it sells is either sustainably sourced, part of a FIP (Fishery Improvement Project), or caught in conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund for risk assessment.
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