PLEASONTON, Calif. — Safeway's seafood sustainability efforts have been highlighted in at the ongoing "Science in Action" video series exhibit at museum of The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.
The video examines the food retail industry's progress in sourcing more sustainable varieties of fish.
Safeway's Group Director of Seafood Phil Gibson is featured in the video, as well as representatives from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, and Greenpeace, which awarded Safeway its number one ranking for seafood sustainability among major retailers last spring.
In a partnership with the nonprofit organization FishWise, Safeway developed a seafood sourcing policy that included a sustainable seafood task force, staff training, and customer and supplier outreach, according to a release.
In the spring, Safeway also announced its plan to have all of its fresh and frozen seafood sustainable and traceable by 2015.
"We don't practice our program … to please Greenpeace. We do it for ourselves and for our customers," Gibson said in the video. "Getting the No. 1 rating from Greenpeace is very nice and we really appreciate that. We recognize we have a long way to go, also."
In the video, Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Director Jennifer Dianto Kemmerly commended retailers, foodservice and restaurant operators for their recent sustainable seafood commitments.
"It's become part of their overarching sustainability initiative and it's tremendous because they've made a commitment to source from environmentally responsible fisheries and fish farming operations," she said.
The video, which is located on site at the museum, can also be viewed on the museum’s website.