Why Should I Care About How My Fish Is Caught?

We all care about the environment. Whether driven by a desire to leave a vibrant world for our children and loved ones or by a love for the diversity of the animal kingdom, we all want to do our best to protect the planet. With so many things to think about these days—sustainability, carbon footprints, tech waste—caring for the environment can feel like an overwhelming task. It needn’t be. As a consumer, one of the best ways you can do good for the environment is to pay attention to what you’re buying and how the brands selling it to you are treating environmental issues. Of course, use your critical thinking, but take note when brands highlight environmental issues that are important to them. Use that as a jumping off point to do some of your own research around these issues and prioritize their importance based on your own values.

At Gold Seal, our focus has always been on protecting our oceans and marine environments through a commitment to using responsibly caught fish in our products. This focus is important to us because marine environments are estimated by scientists to be home to more than 1 million species, most of them still unknown. More than that, the world’s oceans are a source of 50% of our oxygen and regulate our climate. So you see, it’s essential that we protect them. But how does responsibly caught fish accomplish this? And how are we doing our part?

Responsibly Caught Fish

For us, responsibly caught fish means a few things. Most importantly, responsibly caught fish is sustainable. We only work with suppliers and fisheries that are committed to maintaining populations of fish and preventing bycatch. Making sure we keep enough fish (and other species) in the sea not only protects marine environments, but it also protects the livelihoods of coastal and fishing communities.

To us, responsibly caught also means causing minimal damage to marine environments and other species. That’s why our salmon, sardines and mackerel are caught using a method called open water purse seine without the use of fish aggregating devices. This method is commonly used to catch schooling fish and uses a vertical net curtain to surround the fish. The bottom of the net is tightened to enclose the fish. This method avoids contact with the delicate seafloor and, without the use of fish aggregating devices, minimizes bycatch.

Partnerships You Can Trust

We care about the environment and our impact in the world, but we understand that we’re a small fish in a large pond. What we mean is that we feel that one of the best ways we can all make an impact is by working together. That’s why we partner with trusted organizations like the Marine Stewardship Council, or MSC, and B Corp. By meeting the high standards these organizations set out for us and other brands, we ensure that our products and business are good for the environment, good for society, and good for the world.

More specifically, MSC certified products, like Gold Seal canned salmon, meet international best practices for sustainable fishing. This means that you can rest assured that the fish that go into our canned salmon products are wild, sustainable, and fully traceable.

As you can see, we are highly committed to protecting the world’s oceans by ensuring Gold Seal products are made with responsibly caught fish. We wanted to take this commitment a step further, becoming a certified B Corp. B Corp is a network of businesses supporting social, environmental, and business goals. B Corps go through a rigorous certification process, that includes close examination of their business, including each step along their supply chain. In short, by choosing B Corp products like ours, you’re choosing businesses that have proven that they are committed to making a positive impact in the world–a choice that is “Full of Good”, as Gold Seal is.

We hope that, armed with this information, you’ll feel empowered to help us protect our oceans by purchasing responsibly caught fish.