Download our
Sustainability Brochure!
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Bumble Bee's primary business is in seafood products. We support global policies and management initiatives that ensure the long-term sustainability of these resources.
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As North America's leading supplier of shelf stable seafood, Bumble Bee Foods was the first company in our industry to begin implementation of a corporate initiative to lead the industry in ensuring the sustainable management of the world's canning grade seafood species (including tuna, salmon, sardines and clams). Our program also addresses waste reduction and resource conservation throughout our global processing operations, our purchasing programs and our logistics practices. We are committed to affecting change that will preserve our precious resources for generations to come.
Developing Sustainable Fisheries:
Bumble Bee Foods adopted a corporate sustainability platform four years ago. It has been a key focal point internally driving behavior on how and where we conduct business globally. We fully support global policies and management initiatives that ensure the long-term sustainability of our aquatic resources. We have fostered and supported management measures for many years and the traction we are gaining is growing.
Our approach is science-based. We have engaged third party experts to assess our various fisheries to determine if they are being managed in a sustainable manner. Our assessments are based on the latest scientific stock assessments completed by various national and international research bodies and they encompass a number of criteria including:
- Assessment of the target stock status.
- Assessment of the impact on non-target stocks and related eco-systems.
- Review of on-going fisheries management platforms currently in place.
- Review of enforcement practices and compliance measures.
- Development of recommendations to improve fishery management practices.
As a global buyer and North America's largest shelf stable seafood supplier, we have broken down our fisheries into critical areas of assessment. We have completed sustainability assessments of the four fisheries (tuna, salmon, sardines and clams) that constitute the largest percentage of shelf stable seafood we sell domestically and we will complete assessments and recommended actions for other fisheries in which we participate in 2010.
Please click on the links below to read the assessment reports for the various fisheries.
Tuna
Sardines (Herring)
Quahog Clams
Salmon
In addition to internal efforts, Bumble Bee is a founding member of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). ISSF is a global partnership among scientists, the tuna industry and environmental non-governmental organizations. Its mission is to undertake science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing by-catch and promoting ecosystem health. ISSF's goal is to ensure targeted tuna stocks will be sustained at or above levels of abundance capable of supporting maximum sustainable yield in a healthy ecosystem upon which they depend. Since its March 2009 inception, the ISSF members have already reached several key resolutions including not purchasing seafood from vessels engaged in illegal, unregulated or unreported fishing and submitting to trace-ability standards for our fish to support “ocean to can” tracking. Additionally, in August 2009, Bumble Bee made a commitment to provide funds for an ISSF conservation initiative specifically aimed to support sea turtle conservation in long-line tuna fisheries.
For more information about ISSF and their proactive initiatives, visit www.iss-foundation.org.
Also, additional information regarding Alaska's approach to seafood sustainability can be found at
http://www.alaskaseafood.org/sustainability/ - Alaska is a major source of our salmon.
Bumble Bee Foods is on the forefront of tackling this important issue. Our brand is one of the oldest seafood brands in North America, having been established in 1899. We are confident that our leadership and our actions will ensure the long term sustainability of the fisheries that we depend on.
Reducing Waste
While a central focus for the Company has, and will continue to be, fisheries management, we are also working towards reducing waste and conserving resources – particularly energy and water. Bumble Bee has a dedicated Director responsible for overall sustainability programs and initiatives as well as an internal cross functional Sustainability Committee that includes members from key departments throughout the organization.
All areas of our global factory operations are being reviewed to determine where effective change can occur. By the end of 2009, our factories will have established benchmark analytics for utility usage (i.e. water, oil, electricity, gas), recycling, waste and overall resource utilization. These benchmarks will provide the base as to how we measure our progress in 2010 and beyond.
The Company is also actively engaged in reviewing all of our packaging. We are researching new solutions and working directly with our packaging suppliers to reduce waste and increase usage of more environmentally friendly materials. The review spans virtually every element of packaging the Company procures on an annual basis and progress has already been made.
Transportation and logistics also present numerous opportunities for Bumble Bee to reduce waste. To date, we have implemented several programs to reduce fuel and energy consumption by working directly with customers to maximize full truck load shipments, customer pickups/plant direct ship options, rail transportation and pool shipping alternatives. The entire supply chain will be evaluated to identity further reductions that can be accomplished going forward.
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Our initiatives will not only help ensure the long-term sustainability of our seafood species, but also address waste reduction and resource conservation throughout our global operations in order to better manage our carbon, water and overall environmental footprint.
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