A leading UK animal welfare nonprofit is urging retailers to strengthen their internal policies for sourcing farmed salmon, highlighting the inadequacy of relying solely on third-party certification schemes.
Compassion in World Farming has flagged a gap in welfare standards within current certification labels, noting that many lack detailed criteria for species-specific welfare. While some retailers have begun disclosing more about their welfare expectations, the group says these disclosures remain inconsistent and limited in scope.
To accelerate progress, the organisation has launched the Salmon Retailer Spotlight, a benchmarking initiative that compares the welfare policies of UK retailers across own-brand fresh, frozen, and smoked salmon. This complements their existing Salmon Welfare Scorecard, which assesses global salmon producers.
The nonprofit is calling on retailers to take greater ownership of welfare practices in their supply chains, arguing that current assurance schemes do not go far enough in meeting stakeholder and consumer expectations.