Australia is about to start selling its first Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified Spencer Gulf King Prawns in the Japanese retail chain Aeon.
Starting on 13 December, the prawns will be available nationwide in Japan. The prawns are verified sustainable by a third party before getting the MSC stamp of approval.
“This further illustrates how MSC certification and globally recognized ecolabel can open doorways for fisheries to enter into new international markets,” said Patrick Caleo, MSC manager for Australia and New Zealand.
The prawn fishery got its MSC certification in November 2011, the first Australian prawn fishery to do so. Terry Richardson, general manager of the South Australian Prawn Co-operative, said sustainable seafood is in demand in Japan.
“The MSC certification provided a point of difference and confidence to the buyer,” Richardson said. “Supplying to a large player in the Japanese supermarket chain and one that is focused on quality and customer satisfaction is very important to the South Australian Prawn Co-operative and its members.”
Aeon stores are adding the prawns to the list of 14 different MSC-certified sustainable seafoods they already sell.
“We’re very proud to launch MSC certified Australian Spencer Gulf King Prawns at our Aeon stores,” said Kinzo Matsumoto, general manager of Aeon’s food merchandising planning division. “We have been promoting MSC-labeled products as a part of Aeon Biodiversity Policy which aims to mitigate the impact of our commercial activities on ecosystem. It has been seven years since these prawns were exported to Japan and first time we’ve supplied them with MSC certification.”
