The majority of consumers across Europe believe that selling responsibly farmed seafood should be a top priority for supermarkets, according to survey findings published today.
Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) conducted research in France, Germany and The Netherlands to understand consumer perspectives on seafood and sustainability. In France 88 per cent of consumers agree that it is important that supermarkets provide responsibly sourced farmed seafood, with 80 per cent and 79 per cent of consumers doing so in Germany and The Netherlands respectively.
“Our strong relationships with retailers in these countries indicate that many supermarkets have already realised the importance of offering responsibly sourced seafood, and these figures demonstrate the wisdom of this approach,” said Contessa Kellogg-Winters, ASC Communications Director. “It’s clear that consumers value the option of minimizing their social and environmental impacts and we hope that retailers continue to respond to this demand.”
Consumers in all three countries also indicated the importance of a number of environmental and social issues when deciding which fish to buy. Over 80 per cent of consumers in every country said that preventing pollution in the area around the farm is an important factor when they’re choosing farmed fish. Good working conditions for staff was also important for those choosing farmed fish (82 per cent in Germany; 80 per cent in France; 78 per cent The Netherlands).
Products which are certified against ASC standards can display the ASC logo on packaging to indicate to consumers that the fish has been farmed in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible way. The potential benefits of having this logo on packaging was underlined by European consumers – In France and The Netherlands packaging was the main way consumers get information about seafood products (46 per cent and 43 per cent respectively). In Germany packaging was the second most important way that consumers get their information (40 per cent) after television.
In a sign of the growing importance of responsibly sourced seafood, consumers are buying more seafood that is certified than 12 months ago. In Germany and France 12 per cent of shoppers are buying certified seafood more often, with 11 per cent doing so in The Netherlands.
Source: ASC
