True North's brand salmon product - Heritage Salmon - will now be able to boast a Seafood Trust eco-label on its packaging. (Photo: True North Salmon)

True North Salmon earns eco-label

CANADA
Wednesday, June 10, 2009, 15:30 (GMT + 9)

True North Salmon, a subsidiary of Cooke Aquaculture Inc, is now offering eco-certified Atlantic salmon in North America - the first company in Canada to do so.

Acquiring the Seafood Trust Eco Label meant the firm's salmon product had to undergo third-party audits by the International Food Quality Certification in order to ascertain that its quality is in line with the label’s strict standards.

The Blacks Harbour-based company has branded the fish Heritage Salmon, and expects that more of its products will earn the eco-label soon.

True North Salmon farming pens. (Photo: True North Salmon )

"What we've done is we've taken the extra step and said, look, we want to be as green and friendly as possible, but we also want to be sustainable, and we've done that," said Glenn Cooke, president of Cooke Aquaculture, the New Brunswick Business Journal reports.

Eco-certification was acquired after an 18-month long audit by an independent body and the fulfilment of five international requirements. The label informs customers that the product was raised and processed sustainably.

The independent body was tasked with finding out that the company grows its fish in a “pristine quality environment in a sustainable, low impact and responsible manner.”

Sociology professor Ralph Matthews at the University of British Columbia has researched the aquaculture industry, including fisheries, and noted that the high tides of the Bay of Fundy most likely enhanced the salmon’s environment.

"When you have those extreme tides, you disperse effluent very quickly. That's something you can't do on the West Coast," he said.

True North Salmon has also managed to lower the total use of fishmeal and fish oil in the salmon feed throughout all its farms, from 60 to 20 per cent during the audit. It also replaced air for ground transportation and reduced water use and packaging in a bid to minimise its impact on the environment as well.

Related article:

- Eco-friendlier fish farming model announced

By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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