Start-up to launch salmon range for a ‘resource-strained world’

A new brand of Atlantic salmon is striving to establish a new path for sustainable fishing, as pressure continues to grow on marks like MSC-certified.

Pure Salmon will offer a range of premium products, starting this spring with smoked salmon. The company has pledged to be locally sourced and sustainably farmed close to where the products will be consumed – as well as free from any microplastics, chemicals, pesticides, antibiotics, mercury and pollutants.

Stephane Farouze, chairman and founder of 8F Asset Management – the company behind Pure Salmon – said: “We’re delighted to be launching what is the most exciting global development in land-based Atlantic salmon farming. Pure salmon is not only healthy and delicious, it is an excellent choice in a resource-strained world, where producing sustainable food without further damaging our oceans is paramount.”

The brand uses a technology called Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) in its land-based farms, a proven and scalable method of aquaculture. This means the fish grow in the healthiest living conditions possible that closely replicate the positive qualities of their natural environment.

As the process does not use sea water or come into contact with the sea, the result is a product that is free from pollutants, the company said.

Earlier this month, a UK parliamentary committee recommended that the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) – the world’s largest sustainable fishing supply chain – “strengthen its standard” for certification following a number of criticisms into how it evaluates sustainable practice.

The committee noted that “these criticisms include [MSC’s] unit of assessment, the need to factor in carbon from ships into its standard, concerns about shark finning… and barriers to entry for small scale fisheries”.

Pure Salmon says consumers are “becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impact of eating fish”, including the vulnerability of fishing stocks, with the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimating that 90% of marine fisheries are overfished or fully fished.

And its commitment to offering products that are free from plastic pollution – spurred on by recent pressure on plastic waste – is a reflection on the extent of plastic littering the world’s oceans.

Figures from the University of Plymouth show that a third of UK-caught fish were found to contain microplastics – including small cosmetic beads used in household products that have since been banned in the UK, as well as several other countries.