Overwaitea seafood gets 'Ocean Wise' approval from Vancouver Aquarium

Overwaitea Food Group, one ofthe largest grocery chains in Western Canada, has partnered with the Vancouver Aquariumto provide sustainable seafood in itssupermarkets.

The announcement comesnearlya year after the Suzuki Foundation ended its partnershipwith the grocer, due in large part tountraceable fish products.

Overwaitea chains, includingSave-On Foods andUrban Fare, will now offer Ocean Wise seafoodproducts a stamp ofapproval from the Vancouver Aquarium that highlights sustainable fishing practices.

Ocean Wise measures sustainability in terms ofabundant/resilient populations and whetherthe species are well managedand harvested in ways that limit damage to marine or aquatic habitats.

"Today, we focus on providing customers with quality, eco-friendly productsOcean Wise being the latest sustainable choicethat puts an emphasis on local, and particularly, on Western-Canadian products," said Save-On president Darrell Jones at a Wednesday newsevent at the Vancouver Aquarium.

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Untraceable fish

The announcement comes just over a year after Overwaitea was dropped from a different sustainable seafood program the Suzuki Foundation's SeaChoice.

Last summer, SeaChoice severed ties with Overwaitea, due in large partto a lack of information about where the fish being sold in stores wascaught.

At the time, Suzuki Foundation director-in-general Jay Ritchlin said SeaChoice was no longer able to vouch for the sustainability claims being made at Overwaitea stores, due to issues around the traceability of fish.

The Suzuki Foundation was unable to provide a comment on Wednesday's announcement.

One product minimum

Ocean Wise insists that traceability isn't an issue.

According to Claire Li, arepresentative forthe program,in order to become an Ocean Wise partner, Overwaitea had to submit a full list of all itsseafood products, providing detailon the exact species being sold, how it was caught, where it was caughtand if it was farmed.

But despite the partnership, not all the seafood products offered in itsstores will bear theOcean Wise marker.

"Partners need a minimum of one sustainable item in order to join the program," said Li.

Li says the bulk ofOverwaitea'sseafood meets Ocean Wise's sustainability criteria, which isbased on Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program the same sustainable seafood advisory that informs SeaChoice approval.

Ocean Wise will inform Overwaitea of sustainable alternatives forall of itsnon-Ocean-Wise-approved products, said Li.