Marine Stewardship Council
The MSC Blue label is a widely recognized seafood certification program that focuses on wild-capture fisheries. By rewarding and promoting sustainable fishing practices for over 20 years, the MSC label works to inform consumers of safe, transparent, and sustainable seafood options.
SQF Institute
The SQF program is a rigorous food safety management system applied by food service providers around the world. By meeting the ever evolving market for food safety and quality control checkpoints, the SQF code offers a standardized food safety solution across all industry sectors.
The Global Food Safety Initiative
Setting the stage for global food safety, the GFSI offers a unique international stakeholder platform for collaboration and knowledge exchange within the global food safety industry. Established in 2000, the GFSI works to continuously improve upon food safety management systems by engaging with international organizations, governments, academia and food service providers.
FishChoice
FishChoice helps to bring clarity to the various sustainable seafood labels available in the marketplace. By collaborating with the most respected seafood certification organizations from both the fisheries and aquaculture industries, FishChoice helps clarify seafood ratings, scores and certifications.
NOAA/Fishwatch
NOAA Fisheries measures the sustainability of the United State’s fisheries through the Fish Stock Sustainability Index (FSSI). The FSSI tracks the status of rebuilding and maintaining 230 commercially and recreationally important stocks. NOAA leads various initiatives to control harvest rates, maintain population size, and increase knowledge about the status of fish stocks and ecosystem interactions. The NOAA FishWatch program offers up-to-date information on valuable marine and freshwater fish that are harvested or farmed in the U.S.
US Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is an agency of the federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats.
New England Fishery Management Council
The New England Fishery Management Council, one of eight regional councils established by federal legislation in 1976, is charged with conserving and managing fishery resources from three to 200 miles off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is dedicated to research and education to advance understanding of the ocean and its interaction with the Earth system, and to communicating this understanding for the benefit of society.
FDA Fish & Fishery Guide
The FDA Fish & Fishery Guide, is intended to assist processors of fish and fishery products in the development of their Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans. Seafood processors, retailers and general consumers can find information that will help them identify hazards associated with seafood products, and help them formulate control strategies.
HACCP
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points. The HACCP system focuses on identifying and preventing hazards that could cause foodborne illnesses rather than relying on spot-checks of manufacturing processes of finished seafood products to ensure safety. FDA’s 1997 science-based HACCP regulations initiated a landmark program designed to increase the margin of safety that U.S. consumers already enjoyed and to reduce seafood related illnesses to the lowest possible levels.
Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List (ICSSL)
The Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List (ICSSL) includes accredited and trusted shellfish harvesters and farmers throughout the United States, Canada, Korea, New Zealand and Mexico. Used by food control officials, seafood industry members and other regulatory bodies, the ICSSL is updated monthly and distributed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Bluewater Association
Blue Water Fishermen's Association (BWFA) is a trade organization representing domestic fishing and associated businesses that are involved in the harvest and sale of highly migratory species – primarily swordfish, tuna and sharks – from U.S. and international Northern Atlantic waters. Since the late 1980’s, members have individually and collectively committed to a sustainable fishery with minimal impacts on the ocean environment.