Fish - Our Most Important Commodity

Our most important frozen commodities are fish blocks, fish filets, shrimps calamari products and mussels as well.

The following ocean areas for our open sea catches are especially important for our global commodity supply: the northeast, southwest and southeast Atlantic, the north and southeast Pacific and the western and eastern Indian oceans as well.

The only commodities that come into consideration are those which are either immediately frozen after the catch on ships for fishing and processing or those that are immediately frozen on land in processing plants that are in the direct vicinity of the fishing area.

The following criteria are decisive in selecting our suppliers:

 

1. In the purchasing of commodities, fisheries are preferred over traders.
2. Does the supplier have direct access to the resources?
3. If so, how high are the proportions of the fishing quotas and are these conducted with the use of corresponding authorized fishing licenses?
4. How is their fleet structured?
5. How many fish are processed at sea on fishing and processing vessels and which fresh catches are used for processing on land?
6. Is adherence to purchasing specifications (technical and qualitative standards, traceability etc.) guaranteed?
7. Which additional measures does the supplier take in regards to lasting fish management that surpass the legal standards? In these regards, which additional certifications are being pursued like those of the MSC for example?
8. In its business relations with the company FRoSTA, is the supplier willing to orient itself towards a long standing commitment?

 

For the supply in the area of aquaculture, the following countries play a special roll: Chili, India, Indonesia, Norway and Vietnam.

In addition to the aspects of direct access to the resources and a license for aquaculture, the questions 6 and 8 are in regards to the purchase of commodities   of particular importance.

Worldwide standards like the GLOBAL-GAP are currently being developed for lasting and ecologically oriented aquaculture management. Suppliers  that already have certificates for environmental sustainability will be given preference.

 In some instances it may be necessary to obtain the commodities from traders. In addition to the previously stated selection criteria the following will also be checked beforehand:

 

1.      Is the dealer in direct contact with the supplier?

2.      If so, does the dealer have knowledge of the operative locations and productivity?

3.      Does the dealer check for conformance to the purchasing specifications using it own quality control inspection team on location?

Support for sustainable fisheries is an inherent part of our company activities. As a member of the Registered Association for the Federation of German Fishing Industry and for the Fish Wholesale Trade (Bundesverbandes der deutschen Fischindustrie und des Fischgroßhandels e. V.), we support the initiative that was founded in 1996 for "Fish Population Preserving Fisheries" (in German: „Bestanderhaltende Fischerei“). Through additional voluntary purchasing agreements, our fish suppliers guarantee,

 

1. That they are not involved with the processing or trading of fish species that are endangered (e.g. on the CITES list) and under legal protection.
2. That the delivered fish come from areas in which the allowable total fishing quantities are enforced or comparable international or national fishing regulations are in existence.  
3. That the relevant legal regulations were upheld during the catching of the delivered fish. 
4. That you will disclose to us for each occasion the areas and methods of the fishing.

Furthermore, we support the demands for effective inspections out at see and in the ports. Our contribution towards this is continually optimizing the traceability and transparency within the chain of supply all the way back to the initial catching location. In this way, we are already implementing „Traceability Reports“ for the fish species of the Alaska Pollock, Cod and Ocean Perch.

For several years, FRoSTA has been working continuously on expanding its line of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified sustainable seafood products. In this way we wish to promote the efforts of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) in the realization of global management for sustainable fishing resources. The MSC principles and criteria for sustainable fisheries correspond to the premises of the "Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries" which was developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1995.

We also place a focus on the role of aquaculture in regards to sustainability. This is due to the fact that mostly natural habitats and ecological systems are used for this purpose. We seek to confirm that the relevant legal regulatory requirements are being observed by regularly conducting onsite audits and strive in this matter also to contribute towards optimizing the traceability and transparency throughout the entire chain of supply back to its origins.

Regularly participating in national and in international conferences on  the topics of fishing policy, the implementation of prudence and sustainability in managing resources, avoiding illegal fishing etc. is a matter of course for us.