Do Our Childreneat At-Risk Fish Species?

Fish Consumption in School Canteens Do our children eat at-risk fish species?

CONTENTS

Introduction...... 4

Methodology...... 6 Summary: school catering in France...... 6 Sample for the study...... 6 Method of enquiry...... 6 Questionnaire...... 7

Analysis of results...... 8 Sample obtained...... 8 The supply chain...... 8 The Catering Service Providers...... 8 Supply and purchase...... 8 Sustainable development policies...... 9 Species consumed...... 9 Most-consumed species...... 9 Deep-sea fish...... 10

Analysis of telephone interviews...... 11 The constraints upon school catering...... 11 Supply chain...... 11 Species consumed...... 11 The beginning of sustainable development policies...... 12

Discussion...... 12 Fish in school catering: a taboo?...... 12 The omnipresence of hoki and Alaska pollock in canteens...... 13 Deep-sea fish on school canteen menus...... 14 The MSC label, a guarantee of sustainable fisheries?...... 18 Re-thinking the supply chain...... 20

Bibliography...... 22

Appendix: Table of scientific and commercial names for fish 4

SUMMARY as yet no systematic analysis of species according to More than six million pupils eat canteen their conservation status, the fishing methods used meals every day without them or their parents having to catch them, the associated carbon footprint or the any detailed information on the origin of seafood impact of fisheries on ecosystems. It even seems that served, despite the fact that the canteen is where certain purchases directly concern fish that comprise children eat fish most often1. This study analyzes the endangered species (deep-sea sharks). supply chain of fish catering for school canteens and shows that French schoolchildren are the unknowing and unconsenting accomplices of overfishing, species extinction and destruction of the marine environment. It was carried out in State pre-schools and elementary schools in France’s thirty largest cities and in the twenty districts (‘arrondissements’) of Paris, using questionnaires and telephone interviews with public 1 AFSSA, INCA2 study: http://www.afssa.fr/Poisson/Documents/AFSSA-Fi- authorities and contract catering companies. Using Poisson-F1.pdf 2 2010 ICES advice (book 11) : “It is considered that a stock is within safe data from twenty questionnaires, representative of biological limits if its spawning stock biomass is above the value 2.5% of schools and for 5.92% of half-board pupils corresponding to a precautionary approach advocated by ICES”. in pre-schools and primary schools, we were able to determine that the most commonly consumed species are hoki (blue grenadier, Macruronus sp.), a deep-sea fish imported from New Zealand and South America, and Alaska pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), both served in 85% of cities. By extrapolating the volumes of hoki consumed, it can be seen that as much as two thirds (64%) of French imports are destined for Introduction school canteens. Nine out of twenty cities also serve ‘rock salmon’, a composite that incudes several species The French today are becoming more and more of sharks, some of which are in danger of extinction preoccupied with their diet and want ‘behind the (such as the spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias and the scenes’ information on the food industry, i.e. on gulper shark Centrophorus granulosus). The following the ‘hidden’ costs of food (particularly the impact deep-sea fish are also found on school menus: redfish of production methods on the environment and (Sebastes marinus and Sebastes mentella), roundnose health). Has this debate reached the contract grenadier (Coryphaenoides rupestris) and blue ling catering industry, particularly that for schools? (Molva dypterygia). Deep-sea species are generally What is the status of fish in this public reflection? very vulnerable to exploitation. In 2010, International While traceability of meat products is becoming Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) scientists the norm, little information is provided on fish, even emphasised that 100% of the deep-sea fish catches in though the EU imports 80% of its seafood. With the European waters were outside of safe biological limits2. rise of globalization, the renaming and mislabeling of seafood has become a global issue; in the U.S. Contract catering companies cover 40% of 3 the school market between them, with Elior, Sodexo alone, more than one third of seafood is mislabeled . and Sogeres as the lead players. They increasingly ‘Fish’ is merely a generic ‘catch-all’ term covering a emphasise their policies for sustainable development, wide range of products and realities: abundant or compliance with the red species lists of environmental overfished species, fish caught in European waters organisations and, in some cases, proclaim their or on the other side of the world, using destructive, commitment to source from Marine Stewardship indiscriminate fishing methods or those more Council (MSC) certified products. However, there is respectful of marine ecosystems. Despite growing 5 consumer expectations of transparency and catering sector organized? Does any sustainable traceability, dishes on school canteen menus are development policy exist for fish? The study, often identified simply as ‘fish’, as in ‘breaded fillet of conducted over a period of three months, focused fish’ or ‘diced fish in a lemon sauce’... on state pre-schools and elementary schools in The second question addressed in this study is: do the thirty largest French cities and in the twenty our children eat endangered fish species, notably districts of Paris. The information was gathered deep-sea fish? The deep-sea fish found on the French using a questionnaire sent to public authorities and market are mostly the product of deep-sea trawling school catering companies, as well as by telephone taking place at depths between 200 and nearly 2000 interviews with key players in school catering. metres in the North-East Atlantic. The main target First, the method of enquiry is outlined, then the species are blue ling, grenadier, black scabbardfish, questionnaires and interviews are analysed with redfish and certain species of deep-sea sharks, often two main themes in mind: the species consumed sold under the label ‘rock salmon’. Orange roughy, and the supply chains. Finally, the principal issues at for which fishing was closed in Community waters stake in the consumption of fish in school catering in 2010, was also formerly among the principal are identified: is the awareness of ecological issues target species of industrial and semi-industrial concerning marine resources and fish consumption trawlers. Deep-sea fish inhabit fragile ecosystems good or poor? Is it possible to revise the supply and are often fragile in their own right (long-lived, chains? slow-growing, reproducing late in life, irregular and often unknown recruitment). Bottom trawl nets make contact with the ocean floor and alter its physical and biological structures, as well as the associated fauna, with well-known consequences for ecosystems, notably a drastic reduction in the biomass and productivity of the benthic community4. The depths of the ocean are often host to unique structures now designated as ‘vulnerable marine ecosystems’, such as coral reefs and sponge beds - still poorly mapped - which are crushed under the weight of trawl nets. The bycatch in the nets is very high (around 52 species are caught unintentionally in French fisheries for an average discard rate of 48.5% in weight5), including critically endangered deep-sea sharks. Fishing for hoki in New Zealand and South America presents similar characteristics. Its impact on the deep-sea environment, on the aggregations formed by hoki as well as on the sea birds and mammals accidentally caught, is well documented by scientists and criticised by environmental organisations. Certain species, such as hoki, are rare in retail sales in France and thus unfamiliar to the 3 Jennifer L. Jacquet & Daniel Pauly, Trade secrets: Renaming and general public. mislabeling of seafood, Marine Policy 32 (2008) 309–318. The aim of this study is thus to find out about fish 4 Samuel Shephard et al., Can bottom trawling indirectly diminish carrying capacity in a marine ecosystem? Mar Biol (2010) 157:23752381. consumption in French schools, by seeking answers 5 Allain V., Biseau A., Kergoat B., Preliminary estimates of French to the following questions: which species are deepwater fishery discards in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, Fisheries consumed and in what forms? How is the school Research 60 (2003) 185–192. 6 Methodology contract catering company (hereafter abbreviated CCC), which takes on all aspects of the catering Summary: school catering in France process, whilst remaining within the requirements imposed by the local authority. Which companies provide contract catering services? Most are To understand how school catering works, it is first united under a union called the ‘Syndicat National necessary to describe the management structure de la Restauration Collective’ (National Union for that applies to educational establishments, which is Contract Catering8), the lead players in the market organised according to three distinct administrative being Compass Group, Sodexo and Elior9... zones6:

Study sample • Pre-schools and primary schools, with 6 643 592 pupils across 54 875 establishments, are managed by communal authorities. It quickly became apparent that the best way to obtain representative information was to precisely Secondary schools (eleven to fourteen years), • demarcate a sample sector for the study. For the with 3 189 763 pupils across 7 031 establishments, following reasons, the choice was made to focus on are managed by departmental authorities. the following: • High schools (fifteen to eighteen years), with 1 446 866 pupils across 2 630 establishments, are managed by regional authorities. • Metropolitan France, to ensure the consistency of the sample. The state sector, because it covers 80% of French Out of the 11 983 311 school pupils in France, half • pupils and school establishments10. (around six million7) take school lunches. There are two ways of providing canteen meals for each type • Pre-schools and primary schools, because more of establishment: of these establishments are managed by municipal authorities than by general or regional authorities. • Local authorities can provide this service • The thirty largest cities in France11 and the twenty themselves; where this is the case, town hall 12 authorities possess a school catering service, Parisian districts, in order to give a wide sample . under which purchase and the drafting of menus are centralised. The meals are prepared either Method of enquiry in independent kitchens within schools, which receive deliveries of primary ingredients only, The survey was carried out in several consecutive or in a central kitchen, which then delivers to phases, according to the cities studied. surrounding school canteens, via a ‘cold-chain’ The first phase consisted in telephoning town system in cases where the dishes can be cooked hall authorities in each of the thirty cities and the on site, or ‘hot-chain’ if the satellite kitchens do twenty districts of Paris to find out whether local not have the necessary cooking equipment. authorities were directly responsible for catering • The local authority can also decide to delegate this services or whether a contract caterer was used. In service by contracting it out to a service provider: a the first instance, the aim was to obtain the name and

6 French National Ministry of Education, Key Figures (Les grands chiffres 11 INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) Municipal 2008-2009), 2010 Population, legal data for population in force 7 Figure as indicated by www.cantinescolaire.net from 1st January 2010 (Population municipale, données légales de 8 SNRC (Syndicat National de la Restauration Collective), list of SNRC population en vigueur à partir du 1er janvier 2010) members http://www.snrc- Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice, Nantes, Strasbourg, Montpellier, site.com/uploads/ListedesadherentsSNRC.pdf Bordeaux, Lille (Sud), Rennes, Reims, Le Havre, 9 XERFI, Study: ‘Group catering, positions and strategies of CCCs’, Saint-Etienne, Toulon, Grenoble, Dijon, Angers, Le Mans, Nîmes, Aix-en- September 2008 edition (‘La restauration collective, Positionnements et Provence, Brest, Clermont-Ferrand, Limoges, stratégies des SRC’) Villeurbanne, Tours, Amiens, Metz, Besançon, Perpignan 10 There are 8871 private sector establishments, or 13.4% of school 12 Target sample in terms of global population: 8 567 292 citizens, establishments and 2 025 5000 pupils, or 16.9% of corresponding to 13.64% of the French population (8 the French total (Ministère de l’éducation nationale, Les grands chiffres 567 292 ÷ 62 800 000) INSEE, Demographical Assessment 2009, (Bilan 2008-2009) démographique 2009) 7 contact details for the person in the school catering The first category - menu composition - consists service best placed to answer questions on fish of questions on the frequency of consumption, the purchase, be it the dietician, the purchasing director, weekly volume of fish eaten (in kilograms), and the or the head of the central kitchen. Following this different preparation methods. call, a questionnaire was sent by email. If the person There are two questions concerning fish species, as so wished, the questionnaire could be carried out follows: what are the top five species consumed, in orally. If there was a contract with a CCC, the aim kilograms per month, and what is their price per was to obtain the name and contact details for the kilogram? The questionnaire then proposes a list of Head of Catering for the city who had the necessary deep-sea fish including the following species: black knowledge concerning fish purchases. As with town scabbardfish, grenadier, redfish, blue ling, orange hall authorities, the next step was a questionnaire roughy and rock salmon. There are questions sent by email, or carried out by telephone if desired. concerning their presence/absence on menus, the For CCCs, the second phase was to ascertain the monthly volume in kilograms, and the price per policies of the principal groups in fish procurement, kilogram. This more direct method allows us to so as to permit a more wide-reaching reflection determine whether or not deep-sea fish are present on group catering as a whole. In order to give a on school canteen menus. qualitative approach to the study, preference The section on ‘supply’ attempts to elucidate the was given to long telephone interviews, with the policies of each public authority or CCC. The objective of identifying those responsible on a questions concern the suppliers used and the form national level for the purchasing or sustainable in which the fish is bought (fresh, frozen...). Finally, development policies of each CCC. three questions on the knowledge and application The third stage was to contact the organisations of certain practices examine the sustainable in a position to supplement the contacts and development policies: whether fish purchases follow information, for both the global functioning of the a specific calendar, i.e. according to reproduction sector and the specific purchase policies of CCCs periods and abundance; the Mr. Good Fish initiative, concerning fish supply. The organisations contacted launched by the World Ocean Network in 2010 during this study were: and under which three European aquariums work in association with the Ministry of Agriculture and • The Association Nationale des Directeurs de Fisheries, to provide monthly updates on which fish la Restauration Municipale, ANDRM (National are abundant and should be chosen for consumption. Association of Municipal Catering Directors); The question is then expanded to the application or • The Comité de Coordination des Collectivités, non-application of other environmental measures. Association de la restauration collective en gestion directe (Commitee for the Coordination of Communities, Association for Directly Managed Analysis of results Group Catering); • The Fédération Nationale d’Agriculture Sample obtained Biologique, FNAB (National Federation for Organic Agriculture); Out of fifty questionnaires sent out to the thirty • The Syndicat National de la Restauration Collective, largest French cities and to the twenty Parisian SNRC (National Group Catering Union). districts, twenty were returned. Fifteen were filled out in written form then returned by email by the following towns: Angers, Bordeaux, Dijon, Grenoble, Questionnaire Le Havre, Limoges, Nantes, Nice, Nîmes, Paris 10th, Paris 17th, Paris 19th, Rennes, Toulon and Toulouse. The questionnaire is made up of three parts: menu Five were completed over the telephone: Amiens, composition, fish species purchased and supply. Besançon, Paris 1st, Paris 7th and Paris 18th. 8

The twenty questionnaires returned represent the Supply and purchase following urban population sample size: 3559 754 citizens, or 5.67% of the French population13. According to the answers given in the questionnaire, The sample obtained for pupils taking school the kitchens obtain 100% of their supply from lunches was of 196 563 pupils, or 5.92% of half- wholesalers, and not directly at the fish-market board pupils in pre-schools and primary schools14. (auction) or from wholesale fish processors. The sample obtained in terms of numbers of pre- As concerns the fish itself, 76% is bought frozen schools and primary schools was of 1 524 schools, and 20% fresh, with a very small proportion bought or 2.65% of French schools15. The school sample is ready-prepared or canned. Supply varies according lower than the pupil sample (2.65% versus 5.92%), to geographical location. For seven towns, 100% of because of the decision to study large cities, where fish is bought frozen, with an opposing trend applying the number of pupils per school is higher than the for three towns on the Atlantic Coast: Rennes, national average. Thus, the sample is slightly more which buys 90% fresh and 10% frozen fish, Nantes, representative for the number of pupils studied than with figures of 80% and 20% respectively, and finally for the geographical distribution. Le Havre, with 67.7% and 14.7%. The higher level of fresh fish in these towns may be explained by their The Supply Chain proximity to the Atlantic Coast. Nonetheless, there is a general trend towards frozen fish, particularly The Catering Service Providers in the case of CCCs, which buy on average 88.4% Out of the twenty questionnaires completed, the frozen products. number of cities contracting out to a CCC was determined. Graph showing the predominance of fresh fish purchases in three towns compared to the national Service provider Number of cities average: AVENANCE (ELIOR) 2 SOGERES (SODEXO) 3 100 SODEXO 2 Ready- EPARC 1 prepared ALSACIENNE (ELIOR) meals 80 SCOLAREST (COMPASS) Total using CCCs 8 Frozen Municipal authority kitchen 12 60 TOTAL 20

Fresh The distribution between the two types of 40 catering is 60% for Municipal authority kitchens and 40% for CCCs. According to the sample data, the three biggest companies in school catering are AVENANCE, SOGERES and SODEXO. The 20 leadership of these three companies and their fish supply policies were analysed by means of telephone interviews. 0 Rennes Nantes Le Havre Average for the 20 cities 13 3 559 754 ÷ 62 800 000 (INSEE, Demographical Assessment 2009 , 14 196 563 ÷ (6 643 592 ÷ 2) (see. Appendix 3: Results of the Bilan démographique 2009) questionnaire) 15 1524 ÷ 57 417 (see. Appendix 3: Results of the questionnaire) 9

Sustainable Development Policies strategies to protect fish resources. Certain cities The questionnaire contains three questions answered that they buy MSC (Marine Stewardship concerning the sustainable development policies Council) certified products, or that they avoid applied in school catering. Eighty-five percent of purchasing species that appear on Greenpeace’s and subjects questioned follow no particular sustainable the WWF’s red species lists. There are thus some development initiative. Fifteen percent know of or policies in place, but they remain marginal. follow seasonal patterns of reproduction. This low figure can presumably be explained by the high Species consumed rate of frozen fish purchase, which is not directly subject to seasonal fluctuations. The Mr. Good Fish Most-consumed species initiative was known to 10% of subjects questioned, This table shows, for each city, the five most-eaten namely in the cities of Bordeaux and Toulon. These fish species. The ‘consumption units’ correspond to two cities, as well as Le Havre and the 1st district the number of times the fish is cited in the list of the of Paris (20% of answers), know of or apply other five most-eaten species.

SPECIES KG/Month Consumption Units / Rank Price per KG TOTAL 1th 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Min Hoki 15513 17 4 8 3 2 4,42 Alaska pollock 14490 17 9 4 2 2 3,5 Coley (saithe) 13840 12 6 1 1 4 6,15 Salmon 10845 14 3 3 4 4 5,55 Hake 5560 8 1 1 2 3 1 6,15 Cod 1200 8 1 5 1 1 6,5 Rock salmon 1215 4 1 2 1 3,9 Tuna 470 3 1 2 Halibut 700 3 1 2 Redfish 2 1 1 Haddock 500 1 1 6,5 Ling 1 1 Swordfish 1 1 Skate 1 1 TOTAL 64333 92 20 20 19 18 15

First of all, it should be noted that the species were The answers in the above table are analysed not referred to by their scientific name (except for in qualitatively, since they are relatively exhaustive. Bordeaux), but only by their commercial name. Alaska Ninety-two percent of tick-boxes in which subjects pollock was thus often cited simply as ‘pollock’. Coley were asked to indicate a species were completed. was also referred to as saithe, but the most frequently However, the quantitative data are not as complete: used name ‘coley (saithe)’ in the questionnaires – only 53% of the spaces provided for the indication which corresponds to frozen saithe (Pollachius virens) of the volume of each species and 34% of those for – has been retained in this study. Fish sold under the price were filled out; these figures are analysed, but commercial names ‘hake’ or ‘rock salmon’, which in are of indicative value only. reality refer to a variety of species, have been counted 16 as a single species in the questionnaire . 16 See Appendix 1: Scientific names! 10 Of all the species that make up the five most- The data for volume of fish consumed are eaten species for different cities, six represent the representative for hoki, which ranks first, with majority of fish consumed: hoki, Alaska pollock, 15 513 kilograms per month (twelve answers coley (saithe), salmon, hake and cod. The species specify the purchase volume for seventeen boxes that rank first among those most consumed are ticked). Seven answers were given concerning the almost exclusively hoki, Alaska pollock and coley volumes of other deep-sea fish for sixteen boxes (saithe). This is even more striking if the whole of ticked, which gives a less representative sample: rock the sample is taken into consideration, because salmon comes to 4 402 kilograms per month (six hoki and Alaska pollock feature on seventeen volumes specified for nine boxes ticked) and redfish menus, equivalent to 85% of the sample. Eight 1 700 kilograms per month (two volumes for five other species are listed: rock salmon, tuna, halibut, boxes ticked). No volumes are given for grenadier redfish, haddock, ling, swordfish and skate. There and blue ling. Finally, the information given on prices are thus fourteen principal species consumed, two is too limited to support a representative analysis. of which predominate. This reflects an absence of Hoki is eaten in 85% of the cities sampled. Out of the diversity in fish species eaten that corresponds to cities not citing hoki among their five most-eaten a characteristic disposition of French consumers as species, one serves rock salmon instead. Thus, the a whole17. total percentage of cities consuming deep-sea fish Finally, the approximate price range is between four is 90%. If hoki, which is present in almost all cities, and seven Euros or six and nine Euros. The sample is discounted, an interesting pattern appears: eleven displays no particular consistent pattern, since out of twenty towns in which deep-sea fish are prices do not change according to the volume of eaten are those which consume a high proportion species eaten. of frozen fish; indeed, deep-sea fish often comes Deep-sea Fish in the form of frozen fillets. Six towns consume a single species; three towns consume two species, 100 one town consumes three and another consumes CitiesNombres serving dedeep-sea communes fish four. servant du poisson profond, 80 (by type of fish) par type de poisson (Questionnaires were returned Analysis of telephone interviews 60 (20 communes by twenty cities) ont répondu Telephone interviews lasting on average thirty 40 au questionnaire) minutes were carried out with those responsible for purchase, sustainable development and food safety at Sodexo, Elior and Sogeres. A one-hour interview 20 was conducted with the project officer in charge % % % % % 5 5 of contract catering at the Fédération Nationale de 85 45 25 l’Agriculture Biologique (National Federation for 0 Hoki Rock Redfish Grenadier Blue Salmon Ling Organic Agriculture). Three topics were discussed in each interview: the constraints that apply to school catering, the company’s sustainable development One of the most salient findings arising from this policies and their supply channels. study is the presence of deep-sea fish among the five species appearing most frequently on menus: hoki (cited seventeen times), rock salmon (cited four times) and redfish (cited twice). 17 In 2008, 62% (85 057 tonnes) of French fresh fish consumption (138 116 tonnes in total) concerned ten species. Source: FranceAgriMer ‘2008 Annual Statistics, Consumption of fishing and aquaculture produce’ (‘Bilan Annuel 2008, Consommation des produits de la pêche et de l’aquaculture’) 11

The constraints upon school catering Supply chain

Contract catering companies feel constrained by the The three leaders in school catering, Elior, Sodexo conditions imposed upon them by local authorities and Sogeres, buy as much fish as twelve French or by the market, which according to them limit hypermarkets (out of a total of around 1 50022). their freedom of choice in the supply chain. Their fish purchases are therefore not of very The constraint most frequently cited by CCCs is significant volume, which does not give them much the ‘war on bones’ waged by local authorities. Thus, room for maneuver in the organisation of these the French norms18 and technical specifications19 purchases. Three suppliers share the provision of for frozen fish state that ‘for contractors catering supplies for the CCCs studied: Pomona, Creno and for children and the elderly, the buyer is advised to Davigel (the latter of which belongs to Nestlé and buy boneless fish20’. They define ‘boneless’ products owns its own fleet). as follows: ‘the product is defective if it contains more than one bone per kilogram21’. The majority Species consumed of municipal authorities apply this norm, sometimes imposing fines of 1 000 Euros per bone found on The interviews showed which fish species were CCCs. This requirement has implications for the most used in general by CCCs. These results whole production chain. For example, some factories are consistent with those provided by the in China use X-ray detection systems to find even questionnaires. The results concerning Elior are as the smallest bones in fish fillets. This explains the fact one would expect: Alaska pollock, coley (saithe) that CCCs have come to rely partially upon deep-sea and hoki make up the three main species handled. fish, which offer the advantage of fillets containing This picture is somewhat nuanced by Sogeres, for few bones (sharks being entirely boneless). which the principal species in decreasing order are Patagonian hoki, New Zealand hoki, Alaska pollock, Other factors are also seen as constraints by coley (saithe) and salmon. The presence of two CCCs. Firstly, fish is an expensive food item, whose species of hoki in first and second place shows the price orients choice towards the more affordable predominance of this fish on canteen menus. species on the market. Secondly, frozen products are preferred out of concern to keep a fragile All three companies have removed certain species and quickly perishable product in good sanitary from their purchase list, in order to honour condition. This in turn influences the choice of those agreements made with the WWF and Greenpeace species preferred for consumption, such as hoki, and to respect the red lists of endangered species. Alaska pollock and coley (saithe), which are well SODEXO applies a ban on bluefin tuna (Thunnus suited to being packaged in frozen fillet form. thynnus), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), certain shark species sold as rock salmon, orange roughy and ling In order to comply with these constraints, fish (however, the company still permits orange roughy usually comes prepared in the form of frozen, and ling to be served until frozen stocks are used boneless fillets or cubes. The ‘boneless’ criterion is up). The company also wishes to apply a long-term clearly imposed by local authorities. However, the policy for the reduction and eventual cessation purchase policy in terms of price and preference for of certain purchases: Nile perch, Chilean salmon, frozen products is not a response to constraints, codfrom overfished populations, as well as all deep- but to a purchase strategy, which could be modified sea fish, particularly grenadier and redfish, for which in cooperation with local authorities, consumers SODEXO limits its imports to fish from Iceland and suppliers. and Greenland (and does not import from Norway or the Barents Sea) and demands fish caught with specific mesh sizes on nets. SOGERES prohibits 18 AFNOR (French Standards Authority, Association française the use of skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), de normalisation) - Norme AFNOR NF. 45-074 – Processed fish 6 Frozen fish fillet portions – Specifications (Poissons transformés 6 Portions de filet de poisson surgelé – Spécifications). 19 Technical Specification N° C9-01 from 21-06-2001 concerning 22 Atlas LSA 2007, figures available on www.lsa-conso.fr frozen or deep-frozen fish 20 See note 13, p.6 21 See note 13, p.10 12

tilapia, pangasius and Nile perch. For ELIOR, the the company, stipulates a progressive referencing, prohibitions concern orange roughy, bluefin tuna, to take place by 2015, of species to be banned in grenadier and sikis (deepwater sharks). Because the 85 countries where the group has a presence. of the conservation status of deepwater sharks Thus, internal initiatives exist, which are worthy of which partly make up ‘rock salmon’, ELIOR ensures interest, despite not being very visible. that its rock salmon purchases only comprise cat sharks. Companies and their clients have been Discussion responsive to the awareness campaign about bluefin tuna, which has allowed for a debate to exist on Fish in school catering: a taboo? the need to remove certain species from menus. Deliberations are underway concerning certain Throughout the study, the receptiveness of the deep-sea species, such as orange roughy, for which professionals interviewed varied. Within public fishing has been banned in Community waters since authority entities, individuals were generally 2010, but which continues to be fished elsewhere fairly amenable and forthcoming when it came and can thus always be imported. However, there is to sharing information. Conversely, those within no such deliberation for hoki, which benefits from a CCCs were at first reluctant to give anything ‘protection’ thanks to its MSC certification, despite beyond very general information. They emphasized the controversy that surrounds the specific New the constraints, particularly the requirements for Zealand hoki fishery and the severe criticism of the ‘guaranteed boneless fillets’, that prevented their MSC ecolabel by academics23. instituting a large-scale sustainable development policy, as is increasingly the case for organic fruit The beginning of and vegetable purchases. However, the reason for sustainable development policies this delay in the environmental commitment of professionals is perhaps to be found elsewhere. The CCCs have both internal and external sustainable general public does not yet see the protection of development policies. Externally, they use oceans and marine resources as an issue of great partnerships to further the evolution of their importance. Consumer awareness concerning fish purchase and consumption policies. Their aim is is growing, but remains generally poor: the public to comply with the WWF’s and Greenpeace’s consumes a limited variety of species despite the red lists and to give increasing priority to MSC- multiplicity of possibilities available, and they are certified products. ELIOR has a different approach largely unaware of the problems that fishing causes to the MSC label. Although it may at times purchase to marine ecosystems and/or of the degraded MSC-certified products, the company does not status of fish populations. Nevertheless, fish comes publicize this fact, partly because of the high highly recommended by nutritionists, due to the amount owed to the MSC for the use of its label supplement it provides in oligo-elements, vitamin, for communication purposes. However, ELIOR mineral and lipid content (the famous ‘Omega 3’ in is a member of the ‘Responsible Fishing Alliance’, the case of fish rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids). which unites distributors supporting sustainable Consequently, consumers still pose few questions fisheries24, and has established a partnership with about their fish purchases, and product traceability the Senegalese association Abepa, in order to for fish remains vastly insufficient compared to improve the environmental and social conditions other food items. surrounding the supply and purchase of Nile perch. Control in fisheries is indeed more difficult than ELIOR has also drawn up, in collaboration with the in terrestrial processes and the sector still lacks IFREMER and the French National Institute for the transparency and traceability necessary to Agricultural Research (INRA), an internal list of establish real environmental policies on both a species for consumption and species to be ruled national and international level. The responsiveness out. SODEXO’s ‘Better tomorrow plan 2012- of CCCs to the discourse of environmental defense 2015’, drawn up in 2008 by a working group within organisations like Greenpeace and the WWF is on

23 See section entitled « The MSC label: a guarantee of sustainable 24 Responsible Fishing Alliance Website: http://r-f-a.org/ fisheries? », within the section Comments/Remarks/Discussion, p. 13 13 the increase; they have taken symbolic measures, Statistical Database, France imported 4 085 tonnes of such as the application of lists prohibiting certain hoki in 200925. It is therefore possible to hypothesise species. Yet these initiatives often concern species that France’s imports of hoki are mainly, although that are not used in school catering anyway (bluefin not exclusively, destined for school catering. Even if tuna, for example, was never served in canteens) hoki is absent from fishmongers’ stalls, it is widely and they do not yet proceed to a rigorous analysis present in mass distribution in frozen form (often of all species consumed. breadcrumbed) or in ready meals, as well as in Certain promising initiatives have nonetheless contract catering. As stated on the site of a health come to light in the course of this study, notably insurance group: ‘Offering good value for money and the supply and purchase policies of certain cities a low bone content, hoki is the fish of choice for studied. Le Havre, Rennes and Nantes buy mostly contract catering26’. fresh fish and canteens in Rennes in particular do In fact, hoki is one of the main species used by Cité not serve hoki or any other deep-sea species. This Marine, France’s leader in breadcrumbed fish, whose model provides an interesting reference point for factory, based near Lorient (Kervignac), produces other French cities. 900 000 portions per day and imports 20 000 tonnes of fish per year, primarily Alaska pollock and Chilean 27 The omnipresence of hoki or Argentinian hoki . Indeed, the breadcrumbed and Alaska pollock in canteens fish sector is faring well. Thus Halieutis, a company based in Brittany (Lorient), which produces frozen This study has highlighted the omnipresence of hoki breadcrumbed fish, mainly using Alaska pollock, and Alaska pollock on menus. Based on the results hoki or hake, has decided to double its production from the questionnaire, a hypothesis can be made. capacity from 7 000 to 14 000 tonnes per year28. First of all, the volume of the sample of Alaska pollock In addition, hoki is one of the main ingredients of is indicated in nine of the seventeen questionnaires McDonald’s ‘filet-o-fish’. In 2009, McDonald’s France that cite this species. It is 14 490 kilograms per used 2 780 tonnes of fish in total, but no hoki. In month, or 144 900 kilograms per year, given that 2010, however, 27% of fish supplies are made up the school year is ten months long. If one considers of hoki (with 23% Alaska Pollock and 50% cod). that this figure represents the volume consumed by McDonald’s France’s purchases of hoki in 2010 a sample equivalent to 5.92% of pupils taking school should be around 750 tonnes. This estimate, added lunches, a hypothetical annual value of 2 444 tonnes to the estimated volumes of hoki served in school can be obtained for the volume consumed by 100% canteens (2 620 tonnes), indicates that school meals of half-board pupils. French annual imports of frozen and the American fast food giant probably absorb fillets of Alaska pollock total 40 000 tonnes; thus, the more than 80% of France’s hoki imports29 (64% Alaska pollock eaten in canteens accounts for only and 18% respectively). Like CCCs and processing a small fraction of French imports. The situation companies, McDonald’s justifies hoki procurement30 concerning hoki is different: the volume for the by emphasizing a purchase policy in which fish is sample is 15 513 kilograms per month (twelve bought from MSC-certified ‘sustainable fisheries’. answers for volume out of seventeen boxes ticked), This issue will be further examined, but for the or 155 130 kilograms per year. Thus, the same moment let us note, with the caution necessary calculation process gives a volume of 2 620 tonnes about the controversial labelling of hoki, that only per year, for half-board pupils of pre-schools and New Zealand hoki, and not that from Patagonia primary schools alone. According to the EUROSTAT (Chile/Argentina), is MSC-certified.

25 EUROSTAT 28 Le Télégramme, ‘Frozen fish, Halieutis on the increase’ 26 Mutuelle Générale Website: http://onmangequoi.lamutuellegenerale. (‘Poisson surgelé. Halieutis monte en puissance’), article of 2 October fr/encyclopedie/les-aliments/poissons-crustaces-mollusques-a-produits- 2010. transformes/le-hoki 29 A total of 3370 tonnes out of an imported volume of 4085 tonnes 27 Le Télégramme, ‘Brittany’s food industry, Japan creates jobs’, in 2009, assuming that France’s hoki imports for 2010 are almost identical (‘Agroalimentaire breton. Le Japon crée de l’emploi’), article of 16 June to its 2009 imports. 2010Font:Times New Roman, 12 pt, English: http://www.letelegramme. 30 http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/food/fish/filet-o-fish.mcdj com/ig/generales/economie/agroalimentaire-breton-le-japon-cree-de-l- emploi-16-06-2010-957039.php 14

Deep-sea fish on school canteen menus shark Galeorhinus galeus, the kitefin shark Dalatias licha, the gulper shark Centrophorus granulosus, the Hoki is not the only deep-sea fish found on school leafscale gulper shark Centrophorus squamosus and canteen menus. Other deep-sea species are present, the Portuguese dogfish Centroscymnus coelolepis33. as shown by the questionnaire: rock salmon (cited nine The danger of a name as widely inclusive as rock times), redfish (cited five times), grenadier and blue ling. salmon (‘saumonette’) is that it groups together species whose statuses are radically different. Thus, ‘Rock salmon’ (saumonette in French) the small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) Rock salmon is not technically a species in its own is a relatively abundant species34 at present, with right, but a ‘catch-all’ name covering several small a moderate lifespan (twelve years35), whose stock shark species from various habitats, mostly small- levels present no particular cause for concern spotted catshark (4 303 tonnes fished in France in among researchers, although there are no EU limits 2007, about 30% of the global French shark catch31), for the species so overfishing remains a risk in the smooth-hound (1 807 tonnes, or 12% of shark future. The majority of other shark species sold as catch) and spiny dogfish (453 tonnes, or 3% of shark ‘rock salmon’ appear on the International Union catch). What is more, France imports sharks whole for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List in or in fillets, mainly from the USA and Canada, to the threatened categories. Some are vulnerable to meet national demand. In 2006, out of a total of exploitation due to their long life-span (among other 3 364 tonnes imported, 57% consisted of spiny biological characteristics). The conservation statuses dogfish32. The name ‘rock salmon’ (and sometimes of these species are summarised in the table below. ‘siki’) can also apply to species such as the tope

Common Scientific Global Conservation statut Decline Maximum name name conservation in the North-Est in biomass longevity status Atlantic Kitefin shark Dalatias licha Near-threatened Vulnerable ? Portuguese Centroscymnus Near-threatened Endangered ? dogfish coelolepis Smooth-hound Mustelus mustelus Vulnerable Data Deficient 24 years Tope shark Galeorhinus galeus Vulnerable Data Deficient36 55 years Leafscale Centrophorus Vulnerable Endangered 21 à 70 years gulper shark squamosus (Clarke et al. 2002) Gulper shark Centrophorus Vulnerable Critically 80 to 95% in the > 30 years granulosus Endangered North-Est Atlantic (Guallart 1998) Spiny Squalus Vulnerable Critically Over 95% in the 40 years dogfish acanthias Endangered North-Est Atlantic (ICES)

Table based on information from the website for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, http://www.iucnredlist.org, as well as on information from the Fishbase database and ICES.

31 2007 is used here as a reference year, because the 2008 shark catch 34 J.C. Quéro & J.J Vayne, Les Poissons de mer des pêches françaises, data are not complete Delachaux et Niestlé, 2005 32 Shark Alliance Report: France is Europe’s Biggest Consumer of 35 Fishbase: http://www.fishbase.org/summary/speciessummary. Endangered Sharks, 2007 php?id=845 33 Shark Fisheries and Trade in Europe, a TRAFFIC Europe report, March 36 IUCN SSG Northeast Atlantic Red List report, available for download 1997, and list of French coast chondrichthyan species cross-checked on line: http://www.comminternet.com/websites/choircoalition.org/media/ with the list of commercial names authorised by the French Ministry of detail.php?id=28Formatted: No underline, Font color: Economy, Industry and Employment (MINEFE) 15

The names of commercial fish are defined by It is now prohibited to catch and land deep-sea legislation and published in the ‘Official Journal’. They sharks, but the mixed trawl fisheries operating in the are generally followed in the collection of statistical Northeast Atlantic, which are responsible for the data on fisheries, but information is lost at the level catch of deep-sea sharks, are, authorized to continue of consumption. The term ‘rock salmon’ is misleading their activities. This raises the question of the fate of for consumers since it comprises the word ‘salmon’. sharks, as the non-selective nature of these fisheries Altogether, the term should be discarded and a means they will be discarded at sea. If European distinct name using the word ‘shark’ used for all sharks cease to be included in the composition of species of sharks. All the European populations of rock salmon (unless special landing permits are issued species sold as ‘rock salmon’ are either classified by the EU), sharks can nevertheless continue to be as Threatened or completely unregulated, and thus imported from other nations that are not subject none should be considered environmentally sound to similar fishing measures. French consumers have choices for seafood. a taste for shark, especially deep-sea shark, and In fact, it is difficult if not impossible to be sure that France is thus the third greatest importer of sharks a fish labeled as ‘rock salmon’ is not endangered or in Europe, after Spain and Italy. It would therefore even critically endangered. The biomass of the spiny only need to increase its imports to offset the zero dogfish, for example, has fallen dramatically by more catch quota for sharks in the EU. In 2006, only half of than 95% in the North East Atlantic; International shark imports came from European nations. In 2009, Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) this percentage had increased to 60% and European scientists warn that ‘the stock is depleted and may shark imports (mostly spiny dogfish) had increased be in danger of collapse37.’ by about 10%40. This shows an upward trend in The European Commission proposal of October consumption of shark meat and signifies that it 201038 concerning deep-sea species confirms the is and will remain impossible to ensure that ‘rock wish announced in 2008 to achieve zero catch rates salmon’ is not composed of endangered species. for deep-sea sharks. The TAC remains at zero for deep-sea sharks in 2011/201239. However, not all Redfish targeted species, particularly Centrophorus lusitanicus, Redfish in turn comprises two main deep-sea fish are included in the European Commission’s list species: the golden redfish Sebastes marinus and of deep-sea sharks. The tope shark, Galeorhinus the beaked redfish Sebastes mentella. Both species galeus is not regulated in Europe outside of the are very long-lived: sixty years for S. marinus and UK. After many years at an excessive level, the EU seventy-five years for S. mentella (source: Fishbase). Total Allowable Catch limit for spiny dogfish,Squalus No distinction is made between these species acanthias was reduced in 2010 by 90% to discourage in landings and commercial circuits, nor even in targeted fishing. In December 2010, the TAC for management plans41. One speaks of ‘Sebastes spp.’ spiny dogfish was further reduced to zero (for the in the plural. S. mentella was not described as a 2011 fishing year). separate species until 1951. This amalgam does

37 ICES advice 9.4.6, Northeast Atlantic spurdog (Squalus acanthias) 40 3 364 tonnes in 2006 to 3 683 tonnes in 2009 in ICES Areas I-IX. http://www.ices.dk/committe/acom/comwork 41 ICES Advice 2008, Book 2: ‘TAC or effort allocated to demersal redfish report/2008/2008/9.4.06%20NEA%20Spurdog.pdf fishery should be given separately for each of the redfish species.’ 38 Proposal for a Council regulation fixing for 2011 and 2012 the fishing (2.4.7 Sebastes marinus in ICES Divisions Va, Vb, VI, and XIV) opportunities for EU vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks. Brussels, 6.10.2010 COM(2010) 545 final, 2010/0284 (NLE) 39 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/1441&f ormat=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en 16

not facilitate the scientific task to improve stock and slow growth and is hence considered to be knowledge, nor the responsibility of fisheries vulnerable to overexploitation. It can therefore only managers to reach a sustainable exploitation of sustain low exploitation and management should be the species. The quota is allocated jointly to both based on that consideration.’ species, which prevents the direct management of the fishery for S. marinus, according to ICES. In Roundnose grenadier fact, researchers believe that the redfish fishery in The grenadier is a ‘typical’ deep-sea species, that the North Atlantic initially focussed on S. marinus is to say, long-lived (fifty-four years), slow-growing and S. fasciatus and that once these species had and late-reproducing (ten to fourteen years), which been depleted, fishing efforts turned to S. mentella, makes it vulnerable to overexploitation. Thus, the occurring in deeper waters42. Management of these International Council for the Exploration of the stocks is further complicated by the fact that their Sea (ICES) considers that deep-sea trawling in the genetic structure is not yet known with certainty. North East Atlantic has caused an 80% decrease These multiple unknown factors mean that both in grenadier stocks from their ‘initial level’. ICES fishermen and managers proceed almost blindly and researchers point out, however that the real have been unable to prevent the collapse of stocks decline compared to the virgin biomass is probably and the ‘boom and bust’ cycle of these fisheries. In much higher, given that the estimates start with the 1990s in the North West Atlantic, redfish stocks the analysis of catch data, that is to say long after had fallen to less than 10% of their 1978-1985 level fishing began45. It follows that grenadiers, like 100% and the average size of fish was half of that seen in of deep-sea species under European management, the previous decade. In the North East Atlantic, the are outside safe biological limits46 (the average for all relative stability of the fishery is due only to a transition European stocks is 20.6%). Researchers meeting in to the deeper-dwelling stock of S. mentella, after the the ICES acknowledge that they have no data on the depletion of S. marinus43. The status of these fisheries genetic stock structure, stock status or stock trends can only be considered precarious. The ICES advice of grenadier. The following table summarizes the concerning S. marinus reflects the difficulty faced by knowledge gathered by the ICES working groups managers in ensuring the sustainability of fish stocks (ICES scientific data are classified by statistical with vulnerable biological characteristics44: ‘Sebastes rectangles used in the management of European marinus is a deep-sea species with late maturation waters).

Common name ICES Structure Stock Stock (Scientific name) Assessment unit of stock status trends Roundnose grenadier IIIa Unknown Unknown Unknown (Coryphaenoides Vb, VI, VII, XIIb Unknown Unknown Déclinant rupestris) Va1, Xb, XIIc, XIIa1, XIVb1 Unknown Unknown Unknown I, II, IV, VIII, IX, XIVa, Va2, XIVb2 Unknown Unknown Unknown Analysis of ICES data extracted from the document ‘Recommendations to the European Commission and EU Member States for setting TACs and Quotas for Deep Sea Species in the Northeast Atlantic’, published in July 2010 by the Pew Environment Group, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, Seas at Risk and the Shark Alliance47.

42 Tony Koslow, The Silent Deep, University of Chicago Press, 2007. believed to correspond to the start of the fishery, the true decline is likely 43 Tony Koslow, ibid.. to be greater than this. » 44 ICES Advice 2008, Book 2 : « Sebastes marinus is a deep-sea species with 46 ICES Advice 2008, Book 1, Status of fish stocks managed by the late maturation and slow growth and is hence considered to be vulnerable Community in the North-East Atlantic, http://www.ices.dk/committe/ to overexploitation. It can therefore only sustain low exploitation and acom/comwork/report/2008/Special%20Requests/EC%20Stock%20 management should be based on that consideration. » : http://www.ices.dk/ status%20report%20January%202008.pdf committe/acom/comwork/report/2008/2008/smr-5614.pdf 47 http://www.savethehighseas.org/publicdocs/20100715-policybrief-TACs- 45 CIEM 2008 : « The relative abundance index for this stock has declined quotas.pdf to about 20% of its initial level. As the start of the CPUE series is not 17

Blue ling • As noted by the ICES working group for deep- Blue ling, in contrast, is not a ‘typical’ deep-sea sea species (WGDEEP), blue ling are likely to species. It actually belongs to the Gadidae family be serially overexploited, due to the easily- (relatives of cod). Its maximum lifespan is thirty exploitable aggregations that they form at the years, it reaches sexual maturity at around six years, time of reproduction. The scientific opinion is that it is relatively fast-growing and displays high fertility. no targeted fishery should take place. Despite this, ICES considers that the biomass of blue • The depths at which blue ling are caught (700 - ling has fallen by 75%, and warns that the decline of 1 100 m) are essentially host to ‘real’ deep-sea the virgin biomass is probably much higher due to species, that is to say those possessing biological the fact that the reference year used for the stock characteristics that make them highly vulnerable: evaluation does not match the start of the fishery. extreme longevity, slow growth, late reproduction, Despite the biology of blue ling making it a potential low fertility, sometimes irregular recruitment. This candidate for a sustainable fishery, the following is true of mobile fauna (which, as previously seen problems remain, for the moment, obstacles to its for deep-sea sharks, is taken as bycatch in nets) exploitation: and sessile fauna (deep-sea corals are champions • As for all deep-sea stocks, the genetic structure of longevity, with some species living over 4 000 and status of the stock are not known for certain years49). In addition, over 99% of deep-sea corals (see table below). do not live around reefs and are well dispersed • Data showing its recent relative stability are throughout the substrate, so the low weight that derived from fishing data, which researchers deep-sea corals represent in fishing nets does consider to be inadequate sources of information. not allow us to measure the true scope of the • Researchers have found that although some deep- destruction of deep-sea biodiversity. sea species have become relatively stable over the • The impact on habitats and peripheral species last ten years, so far their populations have failed by deepwater trawls makes blue ling fishing to show signs of recovery towards past levels of unsustainable from an ecosystem perspective. abundance48.

Common name ICES Structure Stock Stock (Scientific name) Assessment unit of stock status trends Blue ling Va, XIV Unknown Unknown Increasing but data considered inaccurate (Molva dypterygia) Vb, VI, VII Unknown Unknown Possibly stable /increasing I, II, IIIa, IVa, VIII, IX, XII Unknown Unknown Declining Analysis of ICES data extracted from the document ‘Recommendations to the European Commission and EU Member States for setting TACs and Quotas for Deep Sea Species in the Northeast Atlantic’, published in July 2010 by the Pew Environment Group, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, Seas at Risk and the Shark Alliance50.

48 F. Neat & F. Burns, Stable abundance, but changing size structure in grenadier 49 Roark E.B. et al. (2009), Extreme longevity in proteinaceous deep-sea fishes (Macrouridae) over a decade (1998–2008) in which deepwater fisheries corals, PNAS March 31, 2009 vol. 106 no. 13 5204-5208. became regulated. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 50 http://www.savethehighseas.org/publicdocs/20100715-policybrief-TACs- Volume 57, Issue 3, March 2010, Pages 434-440 quotas.pdf 18

Deep-sea fish and health recommendations which are subject to significant bioaccumulation of It is interesting to note that many deepwater species mercury and other heavy metals in their tissues. Even appear on the French Agency for Food Safety’s list if the safety limits are calculated for young infants, of species presenting a health risk for pregnant and one can question the willingness to offer, even to lactating women and for children aged under thirty older children, species containing concentrations of months51. Of seventeen species listed by name, mercury so high that the official recommendation six are deep-sea fish (monkfish, orange roughy, of the French Agency for Food Safety is not only grenadier, halibut, scabbardfish, siki). These species to limit weekly intake but to avoid consumption are predators found at the top of the food chain, entirelyn.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women Children under 30 months Wild predatory fish: No more than 150g per week No more than 60g per week monkfish (anglerfish), European seabass, bonito, eel, orange roughy, grenadier, halibut, pike, bream, skate, scabbardfish, tuna. Swordfish, marlin, siki, Avoid consumption Avoid consumption sharks and lampreys, may contain high levels of mercury

Reflection on deep-sea species Independent since 1999, the goal of the MSC label In light of the status of various deep-sea species is to identify the actors of sustainable fishing and and fisheries, the issue arises of participation by present them to consumers and professionals collective entities (city halls, other public authorities wishing to obtain supplies of ‘environmentally or CCCs) in non-sustainable and non-ecosystemic responsible’ seafood. Today, 7% of the world catch purchases. If the will of those responsible for feeding is certified by the MSC, which shows a dramatic children in school canteens is to ensure that they growth of eco-labeling over a very short time. But serve fish without hidden ecological burdens, the label is going through a critical legitimacy crisis. it would be useful to add all deep-sea fish and Indeed, the MSC has recently been questioned threatened fish species to the red lists that provide by researchers (some of whom were founding purchasing guidelines to buyers. members of the label), who accuse it of not using sufficiently demanding environmental factors in the The MSC label, certification process of fisheries, and of not applying a guarantee of sustainable fisheries? an ecosystem approach when assessing a fishery. Another critique concerns the lack of consideration The MSC, or Marine Stewardship Council, is an of objections made by third parties during the international environmental certification body certification process52. created in 1997 by the WWF and the retail Let us take, for example, the case of hoki: the giant Unilever to certify fisheries according to fishery for hoki in New Zealand was certified by environmental criteria, including good stock the MSC in 2001. However, certain factors cast management, preservation of ecosystems, law doubt on the sustainability of this fishery: hoki are enforcement and traceability from catch to plate. caught at depths between 200 and 800 meters

51 http://www.afssa.fr/Poisson/Documents/AFSSA-Fi-Poisson-F2.pdf 52 J. Jacquet et al., «Seafood stewardship in crisis», in Nature 467, 28-29, 2 September 2010 19 using deep pelagic trawl and bottom trawl fishing being designated as ‘sustainable’ fisheries. In essence, techniques53 that damage both the seabed (a pelagic the MSC label is reproached for being unable to trawl can spend nearly half its time in contact with resist the market demand for environment-friendly the substrate and generate environmental impacts seafood, even though in reality, such products as worrying of those of bottom trawling54). The do not yet exist in the desired volumes. In other Ministry of Fisheries in New Zealand has even words, there are too few truly ‘sustainable’ fishing established that hoki fishing generates more damage practices (ecosystem-friendly, using selective, low- to corals than any other fishery in New Zealand55. impact gear and targeting well-managed stocks) in Bycatch of mammals, seabirds and sharks56 are also the world to meet current demand, such as that of abundant in this type of fishing57. In addition, hoki U.S. hypermarkets Safeway and Wal-Mart, to buy catches, which were well over 200 000 tonnes per 100% of their fish from sustainable fisheries. In this annum in 1990, dropped to 29 000 tonnes in 2007, tension between drastically insufficient supply and a sign of poor management of the fishery (quota growing demand, the MSC could have set targets set too high) and of an alarming decline in stocks. for true ecosystem sustainability and thus lead Finally, fishermen exploit the vulnerable aggregations the world’s fisheries in a process of profound and formed by the fish during spawning periods (as is ambitious transformation. But this would require the case for bluefin tuna and a large number of badly instigating long-term transformations, whose time managed fisheries). However, fishing on aggregations scale does not match market demand, nor perhaps is a practice condemned by scientists, as it allows the interests or growth targets of the certifying body. fish concentrations to be fished in an economically Instead of taking on this role and these aims, the viable manner to the last, leading to the collapse of MSC has chosen to redefine ‘sustainability’ in order the stock58. Nevertheless, in spite of protests from to meet demand for ‘sustainable’ seafood products: environmental groups including the WWF, which “When Men cannot change things, they change was an initial co-founder of the MSC label, the hoki words” said XIXth Century French Statesman Jean fishery was recertified in October 200759. Jaurès. Thus, the MSC affixes a seal of approval on destructive and non-selective fisheries, and certifies Other MSC-certified fisheries are also criticized, only a minute fraction of low-impact fisheries62. including those targeting Patagonian toothfish, yellowfin tuna, Antarctic krill and Alaska Pollock60. A company or entity whose environmental policy For the latter, the spawning stock of the Bering consists of buying MSC-certified products thus runs Sea, a fishery certified in 2005, decreased by 64% the risk of participating in the overexploitation of between 2004 and 200961. In interviews, the CCCs certain fish stocks and the widespread destruction justified their hoki and Alaska pollock purchases of the marine environment. It would thus also with the legitimacy of the MSC label. Yet, as we have promote the purchase of fish caught far away, with a seen, this label does not exclude destructive and questionable carbon footprint, rather than favouring non-selective fishing techniques such as bottom shorter circuits, which would benefit a more local, trawling, and it certifies fisheries for which the French or European, fishery on a scale potentially degraded state of the stocks should prohibit their less industrial than that of MSC-certified fisheries.

53 Seafood Choices Alliance, « Guide des espèces à l’usage des 56 Livingston, M., Clark, M. & Baird, S. (2003) Trends in incidental catch of professionnels, Species Guide for Professionals » (in French only), major fisheries on the Chatham Rise for fishing years 1989-90 to 1998- April 2008, p.51 99. New Zealand Fisheries Assessment Report 2003:52 74pp. Livingston, 54 See NOAA on pelagic trawl fisheries for Alaska pollock generating M. & Stevens, D. (2005) Trawl survey of hoki and middle depth species a large catch of benthic species (alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/habitat/seis/ on the Chatham Rise, January 2004 (TAN0401). New Zealand Fisheries efheis.htm) or on the conflict between pelagic trawlers targeting Assessment Report 2005:21 62 pp. herring (www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/tm/tm195/tables/tm195app. 57 Greenpeace, A recipe for disaster, Supermarket’s insatiable appetite for htm) and a coalition of fishers from Maine and New England arising seafood, oct 2005, p.19 due to the impact of pelagic trawls on demersal species, revealed by a 58 Sadovy, Y. & Domeier, M. (2005) Are aggregation-fisheries sustainable? In 2004,inspection of trawlers by the Maine Marine Patrol and the National Coral Reefs, 2005: 24 pp. 254-262cf. note 24 Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) http://www.comminternet.com/ 59 The New York Times, From Deep Pacific, Ugly and Tasty, With a Catch, websites/choircoalition.org/media/detail.php?id=28 article de William J. Broad, 9 sept. 2009 55 Ministry of Fisheries of New Zealand, Bottom Fishery Impact Assessment 60 and 61 See note 20 Bottom Fishing Activities by New Zealand Vessels Fishing in the High Seas in 62 J. Jacquet et al., «Seafood stewardship in crisis», in Nature 467, 28-29, 2 the SPRFMO Area during 2008 and 2009, Dec. 2008, p.63 September 2010 20

Re-thinking the supply chain use of bottom trawls in the fishery) based on the internal guidelines that the group has set for itself. Understanding fisheries issues is a task almost as Waitrose follows many principles64, among which complex as the actual management of marine impact criteria and selectivity of fishing gear take resources... Thus, anyone seeking to adopt a truly precedence. Waitrose privileges fish purchases from sustainable consumption of fish would have to selective fisheries such as pots and trap or line take an interest in stock status, adequacy of fishing fishing (static gears). It has stopped buying fish from limits, fishing techniques, their impact on marine bottom trawl fisheries, and when purchasing flatfish ecosystems, bycatch and discard rates, the fuel (lemon sole, dover sole, plaice...), it opts for that consumption of ships etc. Otherwise, it is also caught by Danish seine, which is less damaging to possible to strictly follow the recommendations of the seafloor than bottom trawling. the sustainable seafood pocket guides published by many NGOs. But what guide should one choose One last observation must be made about this among the dozens of initiatives in existence? And study: hoki from New Zealand and Patagonia and how does one avoid confusion when the same Alaska pollock, which were predominant in the species (e.g. albacore tuna) is found throughout all sample, are imported from geographically distant three conventional categories (to avoid/consume areas. The combined carbon footprint of industrial- with moderation/preferred) depending on the fishing scale fisheries and the transportation of imported zone or the fishing gear used63? Using one of these fish has not been calculated but it is certainly ‘guides’ is, it must be confessed, a challenging, if not incomparably higher than that of fish caught in almost impossible task. Buying a certified seafood EU waters. Given the fragility of the fishing sector product means that it has been analyzed beforehand in Europe, particularly of small-scale fisheries, it by experts, therefore dramatically facilitating the task might be worthwhile rethinking the supply chain for the buyer, retailer or restaurant owner. An eco- according to the example set by certain cities such label implies a contract of trust that cannot support as Rennes and Nantes. This could both increase the any fault without threatening the entire credibility proportion of fresh fish in school catering (which of the process and the label itself. This is, as we have would allow consumption to follow the seasonality seen, the challenge that the MSC is currently facing. of landings), and establish purchasing guidelines that As a result of the crisis of trust that is currently shaking favour selective fishing methods, short production the largest fishery certification organization, it is now circuits and fish products from French and European impossible for buyers, whether they be individuals fisheries. In May 200965, the French newspaper Le or professionals, to simply rely upon an eco-label Marin published a forum entitled ‘Hake for fishmeal, to ensure that they are supporting sustainable hoki in the canteen and fishermen to ruin’, which fishing practices through their procurement policy. reflected the disarray of French professionals faced Some retailers have understood that they have a with an inconsistent system that sees a fishing nation responsibility to develop internal guidelines in order throwing away perfectly edible and even savory to evaluate their purchases according to multiple, locally caught fish, while at the same time importing ambitious criteria. This is what the British chain tonnes of fish from distant countries. There is no Waitrose has done; their seafood procurement doubt that, beyond the environmental standards that guidelines are certainly among the most demanding suppliers and buyers (local authorities and CCCs) and comprehensive currently in existence. Thus, the of school meals have set for themselves and still British chain partly buys MSC-certified products, need to improve, these entities are also in a position but does not follow the label as if it were an infallible to influence the socio-economic organisation of the dogma, and Waitrose has even rejected certain MSC sector by rethinking their fish purchase standards as products (such as New Zealand hoki, due to the well as the distribution circuits of fish.

63 Pers. Comm. Jennifer Jacquet, 2010 65 Le Marin, Alain Le Sann, 29 may 2009 64 Waitrose Directives, « Fishing for a better Future »

Acknowledgments Heartfelt thanks to all those who took part in this study, contributed data and gave us time, as well as to the following individuals for their precious critiques: Philippe Cury, Sonja Fordham, Mark Gibson, Richard L. Haedrich, Jennifer L. Jacquet, Marie-Christine Monfort, Bernard Séret and Les Watling.

Translation from French: Julia Bilby (Lingualise).

Bibliography Greenpeace, A recipe for disaster, Supermarket’s insatiable appetite for seafood, Oct. 2005, available Official documents at http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/MultimediaFiles/ Live/FullReport/7281.pdf Circular n°2001 - 118 of 25/06/2001 on the composition of school meals and food safety. Hansford David, “The price of fish”, in Good, New Zealand’s guide to sustainable living, n°11, février/ (Circulaire n°2001 - 118 du 25-6-2001 : Composition mars 2010 des repas servis en restauration scolaire et sécurité des aliments) INSEE, Demographic results 2009 (Bilan démographique 2009), available at http://www.insee. AFNOR (French Standards Authority, Association fr/fr/themes/detail.asp?ref_id=bilan-demo française de normalisation) - Norme AFNOR NF. 45-074 – Processed fish 6 Frozen fish fillet portions INSEE, Municipal population in 2007, legal data – Specifications (Poissons transformés 6 Portions population from 1 January 2010 (Population de filet de poisson surgelé – Spécifications) municipale 2007, données légales de population en vigueur à partir du 1er janvier 2010), available Technical specification N° C9-01 of 06-21-2001 at http://www.insee.fr/fr/ppp/bases-de-donnees/ on the frozen fish (Spécification Technique N° C9- recensement/populations-legales/ 01 du 21-06-2001 relative au poisson congelé ou surgelé) Jacquet Jennifer, Pauly Daniel, Ainley David, Holt Sidney, Dayton Paul & Jackson Jeremy, “Seafood stewardship in crisis”, in Nature 467, 28-29, Selected documents 2 September 2010 Allain V., Biseau A., Kergoat B., Preliminary estimates French Ministry of Education, 2008-2009 figures of French deepwater fishery discards in the (Ministère de l’éducation nationale, Les grands Northeast Atlantic Ocean, Fisheries Research 60 chiffres 2008-2009) (2003) 185–192. Ministry of Fisheries of New Zealand, Bottom Colin d’Alaska : la mort du « poisson roi » de la Fishery Impact Assessment Bottom Fishing Activities transformation ?, 11 February 2009, available at // by New Zealand Vessels Fishing in the High Seas in aquaculture-aquablog.blogspot.com/2009/02/colin- the SPRFMO Area during 2008 and 2009, December dalaska-la-mort-du-poisson-roi-de.html 2008 DGCCRF, List of commercial fish names available Ofimer, Key figures in the fishing and aquaculture atwww.minefi.gouv.fr/DGCCRF/consommation/ industry, 2009 edition (Chiffres clés de la filière information_consommateurs/poissons/poissons. pêche et aquaculture, 2009 edition) htm Seafood Choices Alliance, Species guide for use EUROSTAT, Statistics: Intra + Extra E.U. Data, 2010 by professionals, April 2008 (Guide de espèces à edition l’usage des professionnels, April 2008) France Agrimer, Consumption of fishery products Shark Alliance, Rapport: France is the largest and aquaculture, Statistical data, 2009 consumer of endangered sharks in Europe, 2007 (Consommation des produits de la pêche et de (La France est le plus grand consommateur de l’aquaculture, Données statistiques requins menacés d’extinction en Europe, 2007) 2009) SNRC, Members list available at http://www.snrc- France Agrimer, Deep-sea species (Espèces de site.com/uploads/ListedesadherentsSNRC.pdf grands fonds) Xerfi, Study: Catering, Positions and strategies France Agrimer, Catering trade, Purchases of aquatic of the CCC, September 2008 edition (Etude products, Summary Tables, 2009 (Restauration hors La restauration collective, Positionnements et foyer, Achats de produits aquatiques, Tableaux de stratégies des SRC, September 2008 edition) Synthèse 2009) 23

Appendix: Scientific and commercial names for fish species

Scientific name Commercial name (French) Commercial name (English) Name in questionnaire Coryphaenoides rupestris grenadier de roche roundnose grenadier grenadier Gadus morhua* cabillaud cod cod Macruronus magellanicus hoki de Patagonie Patagonian hoki hoki Macruronus novaezelandiae hoki de Nouvelle-Zélande New Zealand hoki hoki Melanogrammus aeglefinus églefin haddock haddock Merluccius merluccius merlu commun common hake hake Merluccius capensis/paradoxus merlu blanc du Cap/merlu profond shallow-water Cape hake/deepwater Cape hake hake Merluccius hubbsi* merlu argentin Argentine hake hake Merluccius sp. merlu bleu blue hake blue hake Molva molva julienne ling ling Molva dypterygia lingue bleue blue ling blue ling Pollachius virens lieu noir coley (saithe) when frozen coley (saithe) lieu coley coley (saithe) colin (lieu) when frozen coley (saithe) coley (saithe) Raja sp. raie skate skate Reinhardtius hippoglossoides flétan noir black halibut halibut flétan du Groenland Greenland halibut halibut Salmo salar saumon atlantique Atlantic salmon salmon Sebastes marinus* dorade sébaste golden redfish redfish Sebastes mentella* dorade sébaste beaked redfish redfish Squalus acanthias* saumonette ‘rock salmon’ ‘rock salmon’ roussette dogfish ‘rock salmon’ aiguillat dogfish ‘rock salmon’ Theragra chalcogramma colin d’Alaska Alaska pollock Alaska pollock colin pollock (coley) Alaska pollock Thunnus albacares* thon tuna tuna Xiphias gladius espadon swordfish swordfish

* The names as proposed by Technical Specification No. C9-01 concerning frozen or deep-frozen fish. Common names from Fishbase and FAO.

About the authors Photos Credits: Hoki and seagulls: © Claire Nouvian Victoire Guillonneau carried out this survey during Children: her Summer 2010 internship with BLOOM, as part © Getty Images & © Thinkstock Coral: of her first year Masters in Sustainable Development © Les Watling at Paris-Dauphine University. for the Mountains-in the Sea Research Team, IFE, URI-IAO, and NOAA Claire Nouvian is founder and president of The BLOOM Association. She is author of the book THE DEEP (Fayard, 2006) and curator of the THE DEEP Exhibition (launched in 2007 at the Paris Natural History Museum). http://www.bloomassociation.org/

BLOOM is a non-profit organization whose mission it is to protect the “ Deep-sea fish are vulnerable oceans and the species that live in them, by informing the public about the current state of ocean environments and educating people about due to being long-lived and slow growing the way forward. The association also carries out independent research on marine issues. and to reproducing late in life.”