Boston, MA 06/05/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM), together with leading scientific organizations, The Safina Center and Monterey Bay Aquarium seeks to ease seafood sustainability rating while widening scope for research.
More Seafood Choices
The three have been working together for around four years and have now decided to use Monterey Bay Aquarium’s (MBA) scientific criteria and procedure to rate the sustainability of seafood caught in the wild. Consumers could also avail consistent advices from reliable non- profit conservation organizations. While MBA and The Safina Center, formerly called the Blue Ocean Institute, or the TSC will be sharing responsibilities catering to research and will follow the same criteria and procedure for rating seafood consistency. This would offer a wider scope in research as together they could access more species variety and fisheries. The move will benefit retailers such as Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) as it could broaden their seafood choices.
Increasing options in “Best Choice” or “Good Alternative” seafood variety is expected to favor the oceans and fishing communities effectively. Fisherman from fisheries who get these ratings through proper practices could lead their way into the sustainable seafood market. The ratings scheme, hence, allows for an economic boost to fish responsibly and ultimately assist in shifting the seafood industry nearer to sustainability.
Transparent Methodology
MBA has developed the methodology with inputs from TSC as well as other stakeholders. The procedure accesses the key criteria that TSC previously used, such as quantity of the fish species, effects of fishing, and how the fishing procedure is leveraged and controlled. Apart from these key criteria, other points include if the fishing methodology is aimed at particular fish species, or whether other species are caught during the task, a procedure termed as ‘bycatch’. Another criterion accesses the effect of fishing gear on the natural habitat. The evaluations are not only robust, but also peer- reviewed, with ensured transparency.
