North American seafood companies to buy more wild salmon from Russia
Close to mid-May ForSea Solutions, a sustainability and technical consultancy for the seafood industry, has announced that it will work closely with several major North American seafood companies, notably The Fishin’ Company and Gorton’s, Inc., to promote continued fishery improvement in Russian Far East salmon fisheries.
According to ForSea Solutions, this will help increase the amount of wild salmon from the Russian regions of Kamchatka, Sakhalin, and Khabarovsk that meets these companies’ high standards for sustainable sourcing before import to North America.
“ForSea Solutions was formed in 2016 to provide technical guidance to Russian salmon fishermen to achieve Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification. We are excited that The Fishin’ Company and Gorton’s have similar goals to advance the sustainability efforts of these fisheries. These efforts include fishery improvement projects (FIPs), Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification and much more,” says Natasha Novikova, Founder and President of ForSea Solutions.
Russia is the fifth largest seafood producer in the world, harvesting approximately four million metric tons of seafood annually and accounting for 45% of wild-caught salmon globally. The Kamchatka, Sakhalin Island, and Khabarovsk regions produce over 80% of Russia’s wild salmon harvest.
“Since 2012, when it became obvious the demand for salmon outpaced the supply from Alaska, The Fishin’ Co. began working to identify new MSC-certified sources for its supply of salmon and the Russian Far East region became essential for meeting the demand for salmon in the United States,” said Justin Baugh, Director of Sustainability at The Fishin’ Company. “ In 2017, ForSea Solutions emerged as a strategic partner for The Fishin’ Co. We are excited to continue our work with ForSea Solutions and are pleased that Gorton’s also supports ForSea Solutions and their valuable work with Russian fishermen to move the dial on sustainability.”
“We are excited for this opportunity to work with ForSea Solutions to drive meaningful improvement in Russia’s Far East salmon fisheries,” added Stu Hudson, Sr. Manager of Seafood Procurement for Gorton’s. “These fisheries are tremendously important to the global wild salmon supply and supporting them on their path towards certification helps ensure the health of this resource for generations to come.”
ForSea Solutions has provided technical guidance and leadership support to over 30 Russian salmon companies, resulting in MSC certification for many, with five others currently in various stages of their sustainability efforts. In 2020, half of the salmon harvest from the Russian Far East was MSC-certified. ForSea Solutions aims to increase this percentage significantly with the support of these North American seafood companies.