Our Fishing For The Future Partners

The World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (WWF-SA) has been a key adviser to the Woolworths seafood department for a number of years and we will continue to work closely with WWF-SASSI as we continue on our sustainable seafood journey.

WWF-SASSI was launched to inform the seafood industry, from wholesalers and retailers to restauranteurs and seafood lovers, about the threats facing South Africa’s marine ecosystems. It aims to shift consumer demands from overexploited species to more sustainable options. WWF-SASSI compiles a colour-coded list of seafood species, indicating those that are plentiful and those that are overexploited or caught in a way that is not environmentally responsible and urges consumers to use this list to check the sustainability status of species. 

MSC is a leading global certification and eco-labelling programme for sustainably caught seafood. It was established in 1999 to create and maintain robust sustainability and traceability standards for wild-caught seafood. Fisheries are assessed against standards by independently accredited certifiers, and products from certified fisheries carry the blue MSC eco-label as a guarantee of their sustainability. An MSC certificate is valid for five years, during which the fishery undergoes annual surveillance audits. WWF-SASSI recognises the MSC as the world's leading eco-label for wild-caught seafood and automatically includes MSC certified seafood on its green list.

Woolworths offers a wide range of MSC certified species, from a wide variety of frozen hake to canned sardines and Alaskan salmon. Our MSC certified species can be identified by the blue MSC eco-label on pack.

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) was co-founded by WWF and the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH). It aims to be the world’s leading certification and labelling programme for responsibly farmed seafood. Seafood farming operations may be audited against the standards to achieve certification.

In 2009, acclaimed marine scientists, leaders in industry and leading conservation organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), launched the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) based on shared concerns about the future of tuna fisheries and a desire to do something about it – together.
The ISSF’s objective is to improve the sustainability of global tuna stocks by developing and implementing verifiable, science-based practices, commitments and international management measures that result in tuna fisheries meeting  the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) certification standard without conditions and becoming the industry standard for vessel owners, traders, processors and marketers.

ISSF is not an eco-label or a certification body. Rather, it is working in collaboration with stakeholders committed to the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna resources to address core challenges, including supporting effective management, limiting fishing capacity, reducing by-catch and promoting ecosystem health.
With our supplier, we have jointly agreed to adopt and achieve the ISSF conservation measures for all Woolworths canned tuna. Click here to find out more.

You too can partner with us on our sustainable seafood journey. Click here to find out what you can do.