Friend of the Sea

Friend of the Sea is a project for the certification and promotion of seafood from sustainable fisheries and sustainable aquaculture. It is the only certification scheme which, with the same logo, certifies both wild and farmed seafood. Friend of the Sea started as a project of the Earth Island Institute, the NGO which operates the successful International Dolphin-Safe project. Some of the main world retailers participate, such as Carrefour Italy, Coop Italia, Eroski, Manor and Finiper. Some important producers also have their products certified.

Compliance and criteria
Friend of the Sea’s criteria compliance is verified by independent accredited certification bodies. Essential criteria for fisheries are:
 * the product should not originate from overexploited (nor depleted, data deficient or recovering) stocks
 * the fishing method should not impact the seabed
 * the fishing method should be selective (below the world average for discards, which in 2005 was about 8%).
 * the fishery should respect all legal requirements.

Article 30 of the FAO Guidelines for Ecolabelling of Marine Fisheries Products requires that ‘The “stock under consideration” is not overfished, and is maintained at a level which promotes the objective of optimal utilization and maintains its availability for present and future generations, taking into account that longer term changes in productivity can occur due to natural variability and/or impacts other than fishing. In the event that biomass drops well below such target levels, management measures (Code of Conduct Article 7.6) should allow for restoration within reasonable time frames of the stocks to such levels.’ The Friend of the Sea sustainable seafood certification scheme is currently compliant with this article.