Safeway Inc. Announces FishWise Partnership

Safeway Inc., one of the nation’s largest grocery retailers, today

announced it will join forces with FishWise – a non-profit organization

focused on improving the sustainability and financial performance of

seafood retailers, distributors, and producers – to develop and

implement a more comprehensive sustainable seafood policy. The

partnership will strengthen Safeway’s earlier commitments to

environmentally responsible seafood by requiring suppliers to

participate in sustainability assessments and sourcing improvement

plans, training staff on the company’s sustainability policy, and

providing science-based information on sustainable seafood to Safeway

customers.

“We look forward to working with FishWise,” said Jim Bluming, Vice

President, Seafood Marketing. “We hope this partnership will lead to a

more sustainable product selection for our customers as well as improved

transparency with our suppliers, and ultimately, healthy oceans and

freshwater ecosystems for future generations.”

By deploying a detailed sourcing assessment on behalf of Safeway,

FishWise will prioritize suppliers and products for environmental

improvement plans. These plans will be developed and implemented over

the coming years, helping Safeway’s seafood procurement to become more

sustainable over time. Safeway will implement a traceability system to

screen out suppliers of seafood products not meeting Safeway’s new

sustainable seafood policy. In addition, Safeway has agreed to

discontinue the sale of grouper, red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus), and

monkfishuntil these overfished stocks recover. FishWise will

also draw upon its experience working with other leading retailers to

develop a staff training program on the key components of seafood

sustainability.

“FishWise commends Safeway’s progress on seafood sustainability and

looks forward to working together to develop and execute these plans. We

believe Safeway is an industry leader in establishing responsible

business practices and we are eager to demonstrate how this can lead to

verifiable conservation gains,” said Tobias Aguirre, Executive Director

of FishWise.

The agreement between Safeway and FishWise is consistent with the Common

Vision for Environmentally Sustainable Seafood. Common Vision is an