Aquaculture policies

Aquaculture policies

Waitrose's fish buying policy supports the development of sustainable aquaculture; Waitrose is committed to securing its future by working in Partnership with the Soil Association, the MSC and their suppliers.

Waitrose sells a wide range of farmed fish from sustainable aquaculture systems including Atlantic salmon, brown trout, rainbow trout, warm water prawns, carp, mussels, oysters, halibut, sea bass and sea bream.

Uniquely, Waitrose does not buy any farmed seafood on the open market. Long-term working partnerships have been established between Waitrose and the farmers who supply the retailer. This allows for long-term planning and early adoption of practices that lead to improved quality and sustainability of the farming operation.

Waitrose has raised the standard of fish farming through the introduction of our Select Farm schemes, which focus on high standards of animal welfare and health whilst minimising impact on the environment and delicate marine ecosystems.

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Our carefully chosen range of fish

At Waitrose we have an extensive, very carefully selected, range of fresh fish available. However there are some species of fish that we have decided not to sell. Fish not sold on the basis of sustainability and concerns over declining stocks include North Sea Atlantic cod, common skate, wild Atlantic salmon, Bluefin tuna, shark and dogfish.

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Using the best fishing methods

Fishing can also affect the environment through the fishing technique and resultant physical damage, for example deep water trawling leading to physical damage of seamounts. It is for this reason that Waitrose stopped selling orange roughy, a deep water species that is caught using deep water trawling methods.

Over the past 10 years of implementing its sustainable procurement polices, Waitrose has reviewed every species sold with regard to stock levels, management and fishing methods.

Waitrose is now focused on ensuring that all its seafood is caught using the most responsible fishing methods available and is looking at other projects to increase the minimum size of its fish, reduce fuel costs and a reduction of waste.

Waitrose sources the largest range of line-caught fish in the UK and plans to continue increasing this range.

specialised hooks to avoid catching turtles and extra weighting to ensure lines sink quickly to prevent seabirds being hooked or tangled.

Waitrose does not take any flatfish caught from beam trawlers, which are inefficient in terms of fuel consumption and potentially damaging to the marine environment. All of Waitrose fresh, frozen and added value plaice, lemon sole and dover sole are caught using a less-destructive method known as Danish seining.

Waitrose have increased the minimum weight of fresh plaice and lemon sole fillets to exclude immature fish. Quarter cut fillets from these large mature fish have replaced the small paired and sometimes tripled fillets from immature fish, which are commonly used for the production of 'Chunky and Large' breaded plaice and lemon sole.

"Big fish produce many times more offspring than small ones so they are vital to sustaining healthy populations in the sea. There is little chance of recovery while most fish get taken before they have had a chance to reproduce".

Professor Callum Roberts, University of York

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