What It Means When You See A Blue Fish Label On Canned Tuna
When it comes to pantry staples, canned tuna is one of the greatest. There are many reasons why, but first and foremost is that there are a number of ways to seriously upgrade canned tuna into an elegant dinner, a delicious salad, or even tuna fish tacos. There are also a ton of different tuna brands available. In fact, it can be tough to choose between them, especially if you're trying to make choices that are sustainable and environmentally friendly. In your efforts, you might see cans with a little blue label depicting a fish. What exactly does it mean? This label is given out by the Marine Stewardship Council, and it's a sign that a particular product was sourced and produced in compliance with the organization's guidelines for sustainable fishing.
Said guidelines are an exhaustive set of rules created to help prevent the overfishing of marine ecosystems. They cover much more than simple limits on how much fish can be caught and processed; the guidelines also look at things like long-term management of fish stocks, fair labor policies, and the fisheries' impact on other kinds of wildlife. All of those data points are monitored by independent assessors. It's a long, complicated process that helps guarantee sustainable choices.
It's meant to be a guarantee of responsible fishing practices
In 2024, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations released its annual report on the state of the world's fishing industry, and it was a mix of good news and bad. Although some things — including the management of wild tuna stocks — were becoming increasingly well-managed, continuing a trend of responsible sourcing at all levels was clearly still critical. Programs from the Marine Stewardship Council were named as key to maintaining a balance between fish populations and increasing demand, and at the customer level, approved products are identified by that blue fish label.
At the time of the 2024 report, there were 75 fisheries in the U.S. that had been awarded their MSC Certification, and about 7,000 other businesses have been MSC Chain of Custody certified, working along the long supply chain that gets fish from the water to your plate. That gives an idea of the scale of the program, and yes, certifications can be revoked. Overseeing responsible fishing is just one part of what the label indicates, though. The MSC Fisheries Standard also considers things like protections put in place for other marine species, habitats, and ecosystems, procedures for recovering and minimizing the loss of gear and fishing equipment, minimizing environmental impacts while maximizing efficiency, and helping to assess the stability of marine life. While there are a lot of false facts about canned tuna out there, one thing that's absolutely true is that sustainability is the key to our future.