Making smart seafood decisions for today and tomorrow.

By Lana Gunnlaugson, National SeaChoice Manager

SeaChoice Member, Kelly Roebuck (Credit: Leader Post)

Having grown up in the Prairies, I know how difficult it can be to find ocean-friendly seafood, let alone seafood at all in your community grocery store. As a child, I can recall a fish transporter visiting my hometown once every month with everything from frozen Alaskan king crab legs and scallops to whole spring salmon. Nowadays, the seafood selection in Prairie communities can seem somewhat limited to only frozen fish sticks and burgers.

In the past few years when I go back to Saskatchewan to visit my family, I have struggled to help them find sustainable seafood choices from the SeaChoice seafood guide. Luckily this is all changing thanks to the dedicated work of Federated Co-operatives Ltd (FCL) as they work to achieve their sustainable seafood goals in partnership with SeaChoice.

Just last week, Co-op grocery stores with fresh and frozen seafood departments unveiled a new labelling system that identifies SeaChoice “best choices” and “some concerns” options for customers. By using the SeaChoice traffic light system, Co-op will now label their seafood products with green and amber SeaChoice stickers to reflect the sustainability of each product. Customers will not only have more access to ocean-friendly choices, but it will be much easier for shoppers to identify sustainable products with improved labelling. With 165 Federated Co-operatives Ltd stores from British Columbia to Ontario, Co-op is helping to shift the supply towards more sustainable choices for Canadians.

Credit: Federated Co-operatives Ltd

If you live in a community with a Co-op grocery store, be sure to stop by to pick up your SeaChoice seafood guide and some ocean-friendly seafood. We hope that you will support their efforts to encourage more sustainable fishing and aquaculture practices in communities around the world. On behalf of the team at SeaChoice, we thank Federated Co-operatives Ltd for their efforts in supporting healthier oceans.