Reducing the negative impact on our oceans, one No Net Tuna can at a time

by Safcol 27/09/2022

Food and Drink, Sponsored Content, Tinned Food

This is a sponsored article from SustainabilityTracker.com member Safcol.

True to their claim as a leader in responsible fishing, renowned Aussie brand Safcol is launching a new ‘No Nets Tuna’ range which will be appearing on supermarket shelves starting September 2022.

This new ‘No Net Tuna’ range consists of four delicious flavours: Springwater, Oil, Chilli in Oil and Lemon Pepper.

As the name suggests, Safcol catches their tuna for this range without using nets and relying on handline fishing, which prevents over-fishing and focuses on the target catch only. With this method, the risk of capturing other sea creatures such as turtles or rays as bycatch can be minimised, when compared to conventional net fishing methods.

The Australian tuna industry has committed to better, more responsible fishing practices, however, fishing nets are still being utilised in the process and they have a greater chance of catching non-targeted species.

It is known that up to 110 sea creatures are accidentally caught in tuna fishing nets as bycatch, negatively impacting the biodiversity of oceans. As Charles Clover wrote in ‘The End of the Line’, net fishing indiscriminately harms the ocean ecosystem by accidentally catching juvenile stock, turtles, sharks, – “almost the entire cast of Finding Nemo”.

Other than committing to protecting sea creatures from destruction by minimising bycatch, Safcol also prioritises local supply chains over large commercial fishing companies through buying tuna stock from smaller fishing boats and homegrown fishing families.

Doing our bit to give back

As a way to amplify the heritage of the Safcol brand and do our bit to contribute to environmental clean-up initiatives, we have secured a partnership with Clean Up Australia, a not-for-profit environmental conservation organisation who aims to inspire and empower communities to clean up, fix up and safeguard the future of our environment.

Through our partnership, 5 cents from every can of Safcol product sold in Australia will be donated to Clean Up Australia’s conservation initiatives, to support the local areas and communities where Safcol products are sold, where our customers live.

Read more on Clean Up Australia’s initiatives here.

Looking ahead while drawing on rich history

The South Australian Fishermans Co-Operative Limited (S.A.F.C.O.L.) was founded in 1945 by a group of South Australian Fishermen to sell their catch; the first of its kind in Australia. This connection with the craft and the catch has been constant throughout our history.

Today, Safcol continues to manage the thriving South Australian seafood industry and is a diversified consumer products group, marketing its products across retail shops, supermarkets and other speciality stores.

Safcol Australia has been a leader in responsible fishing since 2011, realising that as a fishing company, the future of our business and planet depended on the health and sustainability of the oceans.

Protecting tuna stocks that were being overfished was key to Safcol’s future, and we decided to lead the way in helping transform the fishing practices within the industry.

Our team worked hard in collaboration with Greenpeace and were the first brand in major Australian supermarkets to launch our responsibly-fished range of tuna. As a way to ensure that our oceans and marine life can be better-protected for generations of tomorrow.

Safcol’s new ‘No Nets Tuna’ range offers a triple benefit of support for helping create a sustainable future for our oceans and sea creatures, supporting smaller family-run fishing businesses, and Australian communities at large too.

This new range is yet another way through which Safcol is leading the way in caring for our sea creatures and protecting our oceans for the generations of tomorrow, and this is one of the reasons why we proudly proclaim that we indeed are ‘The Seafood Experts’.

This is an article from a SustainabilityTracker.com Member. The views and opinions we express here don’t necessarily reflect our organisation.

by Safcol

This a sponsored post published on behalf of Safcol.