Hello FAST community!

Leading wholesaler in the Horeca sector, METRO Italy has published a policy on the welfare of farmed fish, thus becoming the first company to sign up to our campaign Anche i Pesci (Fish Too), which calls on food companies to phase out the main causes of suffering for these animals.

The policy outlines a set of criteria to improve the living conditions of farmed fish – starting with sea bass and sea bream – and primarily focuses on two key areas, in line with the guidelines of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and EFSA’s scientific opinions:

• Effective stunning: As a current policy, all METRO’s own-brand fresh sea bass, sea bream and salmon products come from animals that have been effectively stunned (specifically, sea bass and sea bream by electrical methods, and salmon by either electrical or percussive methods).
• Reduced stocking densities: All farms supplying METRO’s own-brand fresh sea bass and sea bream currently apply a stocking density of ≤ 15 kg/m³.

We estimate that this commitment will impact an average of 805,000 fishes per year.

Conversations with METRO began two years ago, when we first presented our corporate fish ask, and have continued with a collaborative approach since then.

We will continue working with METRO to ensure the policy is extended to cover an increasing number of fish product categories under the company’s own brand. We will also leverage this significant step forward to promote further farmed fish welfare commitments from other food companies in Italy.