Fish & Shellfish
Find out more about our approach to sourcing fish and shellfish
Establishing and maintaining clear minimum sourcing standards
- Work with the best – wherever possible we aim to source from the most responsible sources
- Avoid the worst – we do not source any species that are:
- listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) or listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as ‘Endangered’ and ‘Critically Endangered’; or
- from fisheries and farms that do not meet our minimum criteria
- Invest in the rest – support the recovery and improvement of both wild-caught and farmed species through engagement and actively encouraging participation in Fishery and Aquaculture improvement Projects.
We aim to source wild-caught fish from the most responsible sources available.
Our preference is to source from any fishery that has been certified by a third party sustainability standard that has been formally recognised by the GSSI. Where it is not possible to source from GSSI recognised certified sources (e.g. they are not available), WWF helps us select the most responsible fisheries to source from. In these instances, fisheries must be in a Fishery Improvement Project or in lieu of this be able to demonstrate that they have specific sustainability management measures in place. For example, all of our tuna must be line caught and all of our skipjack tuna is caught by pole and line.
We have established clear requirements on human rights at sea, marine protected areas, fish stocks, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, fishery policy management, discards, sourcing of endangered and threatened species and fishing gears.
Find out more about our position on Indian Ocean Tuna.
Find out more about where our wild-caught species are sourced from.
Modern aquaculture is relatively new, is expanding quickly and globally now accounts for more than 50% of all seafood produced for human consumption. While it is critical to the future of sustainable seafood, the development of this industry continues to present environmental, social and technical challenges. These challenges are global but are very location specific. For example, fish farms can result in the discharge of chemicals used to disinfect production facilities or treat disease, and they can also have social and animal welfare impacts.
The following minimum standards exist across our entire farmed seafood supply chain:
- We require complete supply chain traceability
- As a minimum all our farms must meet at least one of the following standards: Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certified, Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified (relevant to certain farmed species such as rope grown mussels), Global GAP Aquaculture Standard assured, Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certified, or RSPCA Assured. We’ve adopted these as our base standards in recognition of the fact that we source in different locations and markets around the world
- Compliance with our M&S Select Farm Sourcing Standards
We have currently developed seven Select Farm Sourcing Standards on salmon, seabream & seabass, rainbow trout, mussels, farmed shrimp, pangasius and halibut. We are developing a standard for farmed oysters.
Find out more about where our farmed species are sourced from.
- Freedom from hunger and thirst
- Freedom from discomfort
- Freedom from pain, injury or disease
- Freedom to express normal behaviour
- Freedom from fear and distress
Supporting programmes that further our understanding and build capacity within our supply chain
In recent years there has been a shift away from focusing on systems and input standards towards also measuring and seeking to improve the impact of supply chains on the environment, ethics and economic elements of a production system.
We are continuing to roll out sustainability outcome measures for aquaculture and we will use this information, alongside the latest science, to better understand the challenges we are facing together with our suppliers. This outcomes-based approach will allow our farms to pioneer their own solutions and innovations to make progress.
We have developed specific sustainability measures for certain farmed fish species including welfare measures and these are in the process of being rolled out across our supply base as follows:
Sustainability outcome measures for salmon, trout and sea bass/bream
Category | Sustainability Measure |
Welfare Measures | |
Liveability | Percent (%) total mortality at end of production stage |
Percent (%) mortality during transport | |
Disease | Percent (%) fish with fin, skin and eye condition |
Average condition factor | |
Total number of treatments per cage | |
Injury | Not available currently |
Mobility | Not available currently |
Behaviour | Total disturbances / crowding incidence during production |
Maximum stocking density in cage | |
Other | Transport time |
Percent (%) ineffective stuns at first slaughter | |
Environmental Measures | |
Climate Change | Percent (%) total energy use from renewable source |
Land System Change | Not available currently |
Freshwater Use | Not applicable |
Biodiversity | Measurement of benthic fauna presence on seabed at peak biomass (18-24m) |
Sediment geochemistry evaluation of benthic impact | |
Proportion (%) of fishery diet components from certified sustainable sources | |
Escapee incidence at end of production stage | |
Predator control implemented | |
N and P Flows | Redox recordings in sediment at peak biomass |
Chemical Pollution | Not available currently |
Category | Sustainability Measure |
Welfare Measures | |
Liveability | Percent (%) total mortality at end of production stage |
Disease | Percent (%) presence of damage and deformities indicative of disease |
Most prevalent type of damage and deformities indicative of disease | |
Total number of treatments per cage | |
Mg/kg of medicines used per cage | |
Injury | Percent (%) of post larva stocked/year sourced from non-ablated broodstock |
Mobility | Not available currently |
Behaviour | Not available currently |
Other | Percent (%) of shrimp harvested in ice slurry <4oC |
Environmental Measures | |
Climate Change | Percent (%) total energy use from renewable source |
Energy efficiency in usage per tonne of shrimp produced | |
Land System Change | Proportion (%) of soy-based diet components from certified sustainable sources |
Freshwater Use | Not applicable |
Biodiversity | Percent (%) of fishery feed ingredients from a certified sustainable source |
Percent (%) of fishery feed ingredients from trimmings | |
N and P Flows | Total output of Nitrogen and Phosphorous per kg output of shrimp |
Chemical Pollution | Percent (%) total waste routinely recycled |
Supporting market transformation through working with industry partners and other stakeholders
We have helped fund a number of WWF projects since 2012, including protection of marine turtles in Fiji, Stakeholder collaborations of the Celtic Sea Ecosystem and coastal community marine conservation projects in Tanzania.
Our partnership helped deliver a historic vote in the European Parliament for the radical reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the launching of the first UK Fisheries Improvement Project on Orkney brown crab in 2013.
M&S is represented on the Board of Trustees of FIS, a unique public-private collaboration between seafood experts, government and scientists to champion innovation in the Scottish fishing industry. We champion projects which will make the greatest positive change for Scotland’s seafood industry and the people driving it. Since 2014, we have commissioned multidisciplinary research projects worth around £2m to support profitable, sustainable fisheries.
We are a founding Partner of the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI), whose mission is to ensure confidence in the supply and promotion of certified seafood, as well as to promote improvement in seafood certification schemes.
Our preference is to source wild-caught fish and shellfish from a source that has been independently certified to a GSSI recognised scheme.
- Environmental Claims (Labelling Code) – supports labelling of fish and seafood in a harmonised way, adhering to minimum criteria and controlled on pack claims on responsibility and sustainability
- Environmentally Responsible Fish and Seafood Sourcing (Sourcing Code) – this covers two main areas: general good practice and a commitment to do a risk assessment.
We are a member of the IPNLF, through which we develop of one by one tuna fisheries, support community projects and promote sustainable seafood choices.
We are a member of the GTA to ensure that tuna ultimately meets the highest standards of environmental performance and social responsibility.
We are the member of the steering committee of NAPA Group at which we work with other seafood stakeholders to improve North Atlantic pelagic fisheries management at a transboundary seascape level.
Performance summary
We're committed to reporting on our use of animal welfare and environmental outcome-indicators. In 2017, we began to report on a number of key measures for farmed fish below:
Farmed fish supply
Measures | Fresh | Ingredient | ||||||
2015/16 | 2016/17 | 20171 | 2018 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 20171 | 2018 | |
Proportion (%) of fin fish that are fin-clipped | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Proportion (%) of fish pre-stunned prior to slaughter | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
1 From 2017 we moved to reporting calendar year. Previous years data was reported in a financial year basis, i.e. April to March.
Farmed stocking densities:
M&S Select Farm Atlantic Salmon | 15 kg/m3 | Halbut | 50 kg/m2 |
Organic salmon | 10 kg/m3 | Turbot | 50 kg/m2 |
Rainbow trout (sea cage reared) | 15 kg/m3 | Pangasius | 38 kg/m2 |
Rainbow trout (freshwater cage reare) | 15 kg/m3 | Farmed shrimp (extensively farmed) | <5 shrimp / m2 |
Sea bass | 20 kg/m3 | Farmed shrimp (semi-intensively farmed) | <50 shrimp / m2 |
Sea bream | 20 kg/m3 | Farmed shrimp (intensively farmed) | <200 shrimp / m2 |
Antibiotic Usage for Salmon and Trout for 2018:
Salmon | Trout | |
Antibiotic usage | 0.31 mg/PCU | 3.25 mg/kg |
Farmed fish transport times and slaughter methods:
Species | Time and Slaughter Method | Species | Time and Slaughter Method |
M&S Select Farm Salmon | Mix of dead haul and live haul:
| Sea bream | Slaughtered at cage-side at the time of harvest by electrocution. Fish are then immediately immersed in an ice bath. |
Organic salmon (Scotland) | Slaughtered at cage-side at the time of harvest. Percussive stunning followed immediately by exsanguination via gill cut. | Halibut | Live transport time up to 2 hours from farm to factory in a well-boat. Slaughter is by electrical stunning followed immediately by exsanguination via gill cut. |
Rainbow Trout | Large trout are slaughtered at cage-side at the time of harvest. Slaughter is by percussive stunning followed immediately by exsanguination via gill cut. Plate-size trout are slaughtered at pond-side at the time of harvest by electrocution. | Pangasius | Live transport time up to 5 hours from farm to factory in an open-sided well-boat. Slaughter is by electrical stunning followed immediately by exsanguination via gill cut. |
Sea Bass | Slaughtered at cage-side at the time of harvest by electrocution. Fish are then immediately immersed in an ice-bath. | Farmed Shrimp | Slaughtered at pond-side at the time of harvest using ice-bath immersion. |
All of our M&S Select Farm salmon and trout are also RSPCA Assured.
We will publish our year-on-year performance against a more comprehensive set of outcome measures from 2020. We aim to use this data to shape future production standards and drive a continual improvement culture across our farm supply base.
Key documents