Fish stocks around the world are under increasing strain from overfishing and pollution. This is why ALDI is committed to the sustainability of the world’s oceans and environment by ensuring that all of the fish and seafood used in our own-label products are responsibly sourced. This will enable fish populations to remain healthy into the future and that the catch methods used have a minimal impact on the environment.
100% responsible fishing since 2018, officially
At the end of 2018, we achieved our goal of being 100% responsibly sourced in our fresh, frozen and canned fish and seafood product categories in the UK. We are very proud to have achieved this amazing goal through the dedication of our suppliers and the team here at Aldi and we continue strive for further improvement in fishery practices and certification.
In light of the recent MSC certification suspension on North East Atlantic Mackerel fisheries and no viable alternative sourcing options, ALDI are working in collaboration with the industry to influence coastal state agreement and to drive improvement in those fisheries. ALDI continues to fully support sustainable sourcing.
We work in collaboration with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) a leading non-governmental organisation in the field of sustainable fishing, to act as our independent adviser on fish sustainability. SFP rate the sustainability of the fish used in our own label products and provide recommendations to drive continuous improvement of fisheries.
We use third party certification bodies such as Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for wild-caught fish and, Aquaculture Marine Stewardship Council (ASC), Global GAP and Global Aquaculture Alliance BAP (2 star and above) for farmed fish.
Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs)
We also encourage our Suppliers to support fisheries in becoming part of a Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) where required, this is to help improve both environmental sustainability and social standards on fishing vessels and throughout production.
Labelling
We provide clear and transparent information for our customers by labelling 100% of our fish products with:
Where you see the MSC blue fish label, this is assurance that the wild-caught fish and seafood has been sustainably caught and can be traced back to source.
Where you see the Aldi Responsibly Sourced Fish logo, this is assurance that the rest of our fish range is responsibly sourced too. All of our farmed fish is third-party certified and our other wild caught fish is sourced from low risk areas or those working towards achieving MSC certification.
Find out more about our Responsibly Sourced Fish Policy below.
Traceability
Click below to explore our profile on the Ocean Disclosure Project website.
Achievements
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The GGGI works to help keep the oceans clear of lost, abandoned or discarded fishing gear (ghost gear).
Participant of a FIP - Moroccan Sardines
We launched our own FIP in the waters off the coast of Morocco to improve the sustainability of our canned sardines. We are doing this in collaboration with SFP, local government and fisheries.
The project aims to help fisheries along the Moroccan coast to establish sustainable fishery practices, using the MSC criteria as a benchmark.
Click here for more information.
We are also a participant of the Asia Reduction Fisheries Supplier Roundtable, a collection of international brands, manufacturers and retailers committed to improving fishing practices in Southeast Asia.
The roundtable focuses on issues such as improving fisheries management and reducing the impact on the environment. The roundtable also works to eliminate illegal fishing and prevent human rights abuses in the seafood industry.
We are continuing to work on increasing the number of MSC certified products, and we have set a new goal to be 100% Responsibly Sourced throughout our whole product range - that’s all products containing fish and seafood be it a sandwich filler or ready meal – we are ready for it!
Animal and Fish welfare are an important part of being a responsible business and we are committed to high standards of welfare for both farmed and wild fish. We believe that a model of continuous improvement is the most appropriate route towards delivery of our animal welfare goals. Our Specially Selected Scottish salmon is farmed to higher welfare standards and certified by RSPCA Assured. Aldi are the 2nd largest retailer of RSPCA Assured products in the UK.
As an international retailer we are aware of our responsibility for more sustainable fishing and fish farming. The farm certification standards that we use, such as ASC, Global G.A.P and BAP, already have requirements about the sourcing of fish food ingredients. To continue to guarantee that our fish and seafood products meet our customers’ expectations, we are in regular contact with these organisations to further develop their certification standards for the responsible sourcing of feed in fish farming. We also support SFP’s work on ‘Reduction Fisheries’ and Sustainable Fishmeal (supporting the Asian Reduction Fisheries Roundtable, for example) and are members of the Seafood Task Force, which among other things advocates the sustainable use of fishmeal in shrimp farming in Thailand.
