CleanFish – a company, an aspiration, a movement

In order to identify seafood from sources that are actively engaged in leading the seafood industry by developing and embracing best practice standards that meet our expressed mission and values, CleanFish uses the CleanFish Index (CFI) system as a clear, robust, standardized methodology of seafood operation assessment based on solid precautionary principals.

CleanFish Index – vetting assessment system

The CleanFish Index (CFI) is a proprietary comprehensive assessment system designed to document the actual status of practices and progress made by individual fisheries and/or operations. The CFI provides the basis for fisheries to undergo an initial self-audit followed by a CleanFish evaluation and, as required, an on-site validation.

The CFI categories cover food safety, traceability, social and community welfare, animal husbandry and welfare, environmental impact, risk mitigation, harvesting techniques, documentation and regulatory compliance, tertiary certifications and/or audits, covering both best practice aquaculture and wild capture procedures.

This approach is grounded in industry standards, vanguard practices and the latest academic research. The CFI comprises a series of targeted questions linked to standards and criteria developed from published sources. A selection of some of the many sources consulted for the CFI is cited below:

FAO
Marine Stewardship Council
World Wildlife Fund
GLOBAL G.A.P.
Global Aquaculture Alliance/Aquaculture Certification Council
Seafood Watch
Greenpeace
Fair-Fish
World Organization for Animal Health
Scottish Producers’ Organization- Code of Good Conduct
Naturland
UK Soil Association
BioSuisse
KRAV Sweden
Label Rouge
Debio Norway
Fishmeal and Fish Oil Code of Responsible Practice
International Union for Conservation of Nature
American Fisheries Society
Government of New South Wales
National Aquaculture Association
RapFish
Social Accountability International

Pauly, Daniel, Villy Christensen, Sylvie Guenette, Tony J. Pitcher, U. Rashid Sumaila, Carl J. Walters, and R. Watson Dirk. 2002. Towards sustainability in world fisheries. Nature 418, no. 6898: 689.

Pitcher, T.J. 1999. Rapfish, a rapid appraisal technique for fisheries, and its application to the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. FAO Fisheries Circular No. 947. Rome, FAO.

Pitcher, T.J. and Preikshot D., 2001. Rapfish, a rapid appraisal technique to evaluate the sustainability of fisheries. Fisheries Research 49, 255-270.

Potts, Tavis 2006. A framework for the analysis of sustainability indicator systems in fisheries, Ocean & Coastal Management, Volume 49, Issues 5-6, Pages 259-280.

Iles, Alastair 2007. Making the seafood industry more sustainable: creating production chain transparency and accountability, Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 15, Issue 6, Sustainable Production and Consumption: Making the Connection, Pages 577-589.

Ashley P.J. 2006. Fish welfare: Current issues in aquaculture. Applied Animal Behavior Science.

Douet D.G., Le Bris H. and Giraud E., 2009. Environmental aspects of drug and chemical use in aquaculture: An overview. Options Mediterraneennes, A, 86.

American Fisheries Society 2011. Guide to using drugs, biologics and other chemicals in aquaculture. Fish Culture Section Working Group of Aquaculture Drugs, Chemical and Biologics.

CFI – traceability, inspiration, respect

Each fishery represented by the CleanFish Brokerage undergoes this index process and is individually evaluated.

CleanFish Indexing is available for producers who look to distinguish themselves from the commodity market. Application of this Indexing system is available without brokerage representation by CleanFish. CleanFish can be contacted directly by fisheries looking to receive a CFI assessment.

The CFI is used as a tool allowing international foodservice clients a comprehensive view of existing product lines. Due to recent scrutiny of hospitality and foodservice industry along with the increasing significance certifications are playing for large-scale retailers and public-facing products, the CFI can be used to assess current product and portfolio offerings by end-users and procurement departments.

Within the marketplace, CleanFish facilitates end users and diners to foster a traceable connection with their chosen fisheries. In turn, fisheries now have a direct link to consumers and can follow their fish from water to waiter. Through this connection, we hope to change the seafood industry one fish at a time.