Responsible Sourcing

Joseph Robertson has built its business reputation on the quality of Scottish fish and we have remained committed to our local markets for a large proportion of our business – a firm supporter of the Seafish Industry - Responsible Fishing Scheme (RFS) we were delighted to be the first manufacturer to be allowed the use of the RFS logo on our retail frozen Swankie brand packaging.

Because Scottish waters cannot supply all our needs, we procure supplies from other Northern waters principally off Iceland & Norway and we have invested a great deal of time and effort into ensuring fish from these sources is fully sustainable and are caught using methods that minimise effects on the marine environment. Line caught Haddock and Cod form the vast majority of the raw material we get from these Northern seas.

Salmon used in many of our recipes is principally sourced from Scottish and Norwegian farms renowned for excellent fishery management practices – RSPCA monitored Freedom Salmon from Scottish farms and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Wild Salmon from Alaska are additionally sources of supply and form the sustainable policy the company holds dear.

Marine Stewardship Council - www.msc.org

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an independent non profit organisation committed to the highest benchmarks for credible certification and eco-labelling programs.

Their stated mission is to use ecolabel and fishery certification programmes to contribute to the health of the world's oceans by recognising and rewarding sustainable fishing practises - fisheries that are assessed and meet the standard are encouraged to use the MSC blue ecolabel.

When fish is bought that has the blue MSC ecolabel, it should indicate that this fish comes from an environmentally responsible fishery that does not contribute to the global environmental problem of over-fishing.

The blue ecolabel is designed to inform and influence the choices people make when buying seafood.

Joseph Robertson is proud to have achieved MSC Certification and is able to provide full Chain of Custody practices.

Seafish Responsible Fishing Scheme - www.seafish.org/rfs/

The UK Responsible Fishing Scheme has been developed to raise standards in the catching sector. The UK Responsible Fishing Scheme was created in response to the needs of the seafood supply chain to demonstrate their commitment to the responsible sourcing of seafood. The aim is that over time it will become a condition of supply.

Based on a Publicly Available Specification from the British Standards Institution (BSI), the UK Responsible Fishing Scheme is an independent, audited assessment of the application of good practice by a vessel skipper and crew in their fishing operations.

It covers four key areas, namely:

• Fishing practices.
• Vessel criteria.
• Crew competence.
• Environmental considerations.

Freedom Food - www.rspca.org.uk/freedomfood

Freedom Food is the RSPCA monitored farm assurance and food labelling scheme. It is the only UK farm assurance scheme to focus solely on improving the welfare of farm animals reared for food.

Some Scottish Salmon farms have been certified by the RSPCA as meeting their criteria for Freedom Foods. This means providing Salmon with a stimulating environment that meets their needs and enables Salmon to exhibit their natural behaviour.

As more of us look for food with higher welfare credentials, more farms are being encouraged to invest in farming this way. In fact you can already find Freedom Food labelled products in most of the major supermarkets, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrison's, Waitrose, E.H. Booth's, The Co-operative Group including Somerfield and Budgens.

The Freedom Food scheme covers every stage of a farmed Salmon's life, each stage governed by strict and compulsory RSPCA welfare standards.

Not only do the RSPCA inspect farms against the RSPCA welfare standards, but also check the fish are handled, transported and processed to RSPCA standards.