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Sustainability at Sealord

As New Zealand’s largest deepwater fishing company, we are honest and open about how we fish.

Doing the right thing and looking for better ways to do things is important to Sealord. We believe we can meet the needs of today, without damaging the needs of generations to come. Fishing sustainably is ingrained within our business. Without this, our industry has no future.

For Sealord, fishing is only one component of sustainability. We are equally mindful of important environmental issues such as climate change, water quality and waste reduction, and our workstreams to address these areas align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. New Zealand has one the best fisheries management systems in the world, and we play an active and leading role in this.

Sealord invests heavily in protecting the marine environment in which we operate. We do this through the levies we pay the government to support marine science and monitoring, and by supporting industry-run programmes that promote and encourage better environmental performance.

We also invest millions on sustainable fishing technology to use on our vessels and provide comprehensive training to our crews, who care deeply about the ocean.

Commercial fishing is one of the most tightly regulated and studied food production industries in New Zealand. We have a lot of fish in this part of the world, and we manage this resource carefully. Backed by technology and science, as a country we produce 700 million seafood servings from the comparatively tiny part of our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that we fish each year.

New Zealand’s marine conservation measures have been designed to ensure food production is balanced with environmental protection. New Zealand takes an ecosystem approach to fisheries, which makes it possible to manage activities like bottom trawling and conservation of our native flora and fauna on the seabed in our EEZ, just as we manage conservation and food production on land.

Sustainability is a journey – with continual review and improvement of our fishing practices, informed by science, research and development.

Doug Paulin
Chief Executive Sealord

For the people of Sealord, sustainability is a journey

Come with us, as we aim to do right by the environment and right by our future. 

Doing the right thing and looking for better ways to do things is important to us. We believe we can meet the needs of today, without damaging the needs of generations to come.  Fishing sustainably is ingrained within our business. Without this, our industry has no future.  For Sealord, fishing is only one component of sustainability, we are equally mindful of important environmental issues such as climate change, water quality and waste reduction. 

For Sealord, sustainability is a journey that we’re all on together. As we learn more about our impact on the environment and the environment’s impact on us, we are changing the way we do things to ensure the best possible outcomes. Playing an active and leading role in addressing the sustainability and environmental issues within our industry is important to us. And we are committed to providing clear and scientifically sound information for our consumers and stakeholders.  

Sealord has developed a total of ten sustainability workstreams focused on climate mitigation and adaption, carbon emissions and waste (refuse, plastic and water). These have all been linked to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. 

For more information about Sealord’s Sustainability Policy, click here

We are committed to the fisheries Code of Conduct

To see the Code of Conduct that guides our decisions and procedures, and ensure that our oceans are protected for years to come, click here.

Finding new ways to improve the sustainability of our fishing practices is crucial to our business which is why we invest significantly into research and development projects.

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