With annual per capita fish consumption at 20 kg worldwide, fish is an important part of our diets. Fishing and aquaculture are also very important economically, 59.5 million people make their living in these industries. Yet, both industries also have negative ecological, social and economic impacts that the REWE Group wants to actively help remedy and reduce.
Background
Working conditions and adherence to international standards – with regard to health and safety issues, for example – vary significantly by country. This is a problem particularly in parts of Asia and Africa, where workers aboard fishing boats may be at risk of physical abuse, murder or human trafficking. Of the world’s wild fish stocks, 35% are overfished and 65% are fully exploited. Around 650,000 marine mammals, such as whales and dolphins, and 10 million sharks are caught as bycatch every year; and humane killing is often not the reality at wild fisheries or aquaculture.
Taking animal welfare aspects into account in aquaculture, especially for fish and crustaceans such as shrimp, lobster, etc., is complex. The focus is on water quality in the habitat of aquaculture animals, feeding requirements depending on the growth phase, gentle and stress-free handling of the animals, oxygen percentage in the water tank during live transport, and the appropriate, gentle stunning of aquaculture animals before slaughter.
Furthermore, dwindling numbers of predatory fish species could alter the structure of marine ecosystems. As the rapid increase in aquaculture farms takes up more and more space, this is affecting biodiversity in areas such as tropical and subtropical coastal regions. It is possible for fish feed and harmful substances in the waste water of these farms to pollute aquatic ecosystems.
Our Goals
To actively contribute to reducing and remedying negative ecological, social and economic impacts on the fish and seafood supply chain, the REWE Group has set itself the following goals: In Germany, REWE wants to ensure that 100 percent of its private-label products in the areas of deep frozen, convenience, and fresh and tinned fish and seafood are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), GLOBALG.A.P., Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), or organic certification, as applicable. Also, in the long term, the packaging of all fish mono-products will be marked with a tracking code providing customers with detailed information on where the fish was sourced and how it was processed.
Our Measures
To reach these goals, the REWE Group requires that its suppliers, including its fish suppliers, meet the International Labour Organization’s core labour standards in order to ensure the safeguarding of human rights and the adherence to social performance and occupational safety standards along the entire supply chain. In addition, all processing plants in risk countries must prove that they regularly submit to social auditing in accordance with standards such as amfori BSCI, and that they therefore meeting minimum social performance requirements. When procuring wild fish species to be sold, the REWE Group adheres to a positive list that systematically assesses the health of fish stocks, the recommendations of leading environmental organizations (such as the WWF), the fishing gear used, any existing certifications and – in the case of certain species – potential social risks. In aquaculture, fish is procured from certified sources (certified organic farms, GLOBALG.A.P., and ASC) in order to ensure, among other things, that fish and shrimp farms meet all the statutory requirements in the country of production.
In addition, we, at REWE Group, are also setting standards in animal welfare with this certification goal: all certified organic shrimps are already offered without eye stalk manipulation. By 2030, 100% of ASC-certified whiteleg shrimp (L. vannamei) and by 2031, 100% of ASC-certified black tiger shrimp (P. monodon) will be offered without eyestalk manipulation. Many of our suppliers have already achieved eyestalk-manipulation-free shrimp farming. However, due to the standard’s comprehensive implementation, a longer transition period is necessary in some cases. We seek to achieve implementation in our private label supply chains by 2027 if possible.
In addition, before sourcing private label shrimp, an internal assessment is already carried out. Recognising that further developments are needed in the field of shrimp stunning to improve animal welfare, we are actively committed to driving forward the development and introduction of more animal-friendly stunning methods in shrimp production. For this reason, we are participating in the Responsible Stunning Coalition to work alongside the scientific community, standards-setting bodies, industry and civil society to develop robust and widely applicable solutions – including electrical stunning or other scientifically validated methods – and to accelerate their implementation. To this end, the Responsible Stunning Coalition has commissioned a study. Once the Responsible Stunning Coalition’s study has been completed, our aim is to systematically drive forward the transition to electrical stunning or other measures validated by the study across the global supply chains of our private label shrimp products. We aim to achieve this transition by 2035, provided that scientific evidence confirms its effectiveness and the relevant requirements are integrated into recognised certification standards such as ASC and GLOBAL G.A.P.. To support transparency, from 2028 onwards we will annually report on available information regarding the implementation status of preslaughter stunning methods. We are convinced that sustainable progress for animal welfare in aquaculture can only be achieved through joint action across the entire value chain and through transparent, verifiable standards.
We are also currently conducting internally to what extent acceptable killing methods are used on fishing vessels whilst taking animal welfare aspects for fish and crustaceans into account. We exclude the sale of certain fish and crustaceans, such as wild-caught lobster and octopus from aquaculture.
The REWE Group also requires that its suppliers be able to disclose all details concerning their entire supply chain if asked to do so.
Our Commitment
As a member of the Global Seafood Alliance, we at REWE Group promote responsible practices in the fish and seafood sector.
Since 2018, as a founding member of the “Aquaculture Welfare Standards Initiative” (AWSI), we at REWE Group have been committed to integrating animal welfare aspects into the standards’ certification process. This joint commitment has come to fruition. Important label organizations have significantly tightened their animal welfare requirements in recent years (ASC and GGN). For Naturland certified fish and crustaceans stricter requirements (e.g., the ban on shrimp eye stalk manipulation) have been in place for a long time. In the fishing industry, we at REWE GROUP are committed to MSC certification. MSC requires the minimization of negative impacts of fishing on other species, e.g. through bycatch.