Juneau, AK – Certified Seafood Collaborative is pleased to announce direct marketers, Net to Table Seafoods and Great Northern Seafoods, are the first Bristol Bay direct marketers to receive Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Chain of Custody (CoC) certification for Alaska salmon.
Both Net to Table Seafoods and Great Northern Seafoods participated in RFM’s Chain of Custody pilot program for direct marketers, which was designed to make the chain of custody process more accessible to this sector known to have minimal risk. They were certified to the Unified RFM Chain of Custody Standard, Issue 2.5, which is a joint CoC owned by the Certified Seafood Collaborative and Iceland Responsible Fisheries Foundation (IRFF). Both assessments were conducted by the certification body Global Trust Certification and each certificate is valid for three years with annual surveillance audits.
Jeff Regnart, RFM Program Manager states “Having both of these outstanding direct marketers achieve RFM CoC will give their customers further confidence that their wild-caught Alaska sockeye salmon comes from well-managed fisheries, without illegal or destructive fishing practices. It’s our hope that other direct marketers will see the value of achieving RFM CoC, and join our growing program.”
“The fishermen and fishing families of Bristol Bay have been deeply committed to ensuring a successfully managed fishery for 130 years. However, consumers and businesses don’t always know whom to trust. This is why responsible and sustainable food systems are built on accountability and transparency. And while the world looks to Alaska’s fisheries management system as the model of sustainable fisheries, we live in a time where independent verification is often a necessary requirement for doing business. RFM Certification provides that verification for the Bristol Bay fishermen,” states Lilani Dunn, Marketing Director for the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA).
Seth Cooke owner of Great Northern Seafood said “RFM CoC means we can answer the growing demand for sustainable seafood and create confidence and loyalty in our catch by offering traceable, sustainably caught, and responsibly managed sockeye salmon. No other reputable wild-capture sustainability certification program offers a similar certificate opportunity that acknowledges our lower risk within the overall supply chain.”
Luke and Eliza Owens, owners of Net to Table agree with Cooke. “We are thrilled to have obtained our RFM CoC certificate. Unlike other sustainable seafood certification programs, with RFM, there are zero logo fees and RFM features the ‘Alaska’ origin on their eco-label, and that is important to us,” states Luke Owens.
Studies from Datassential show that 85% of consumers believe featuring origin on an eco-label is important, and 89% of consumers are more likely to purchase seafood with the ‘Alaska’ origin RFM eco-label.
Learn more about Net to Table Seafoods and Great Northern Seafoods by visiting their websites.
The Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Certification program is owned by the Certified Seafood Collaborative (CSC), a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation made up of a diverse board of seafood and sustainability experts. The RFM Certification program is founded on the strongest and most widely acknowledged international standards and practices. It is the most credible wild-capture sustainable seafood certification program that doesn’t charge logo licensing fees. RFM was the first sustainability eco-certification program to be benchmarked and recognized by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI).
