Publix Provides Funding to Sustainable Fisheries Partnership to Help Improve Commercial Fishing Practices

LAKELAND, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Publix is proud to celebrate World Oceans Day while continuing to support sustainable seafood practices and helping to protect ocean wildlife through its donations to Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) over the last 14 years.

“Publix is committed to taking meaningful steps alongside our supplier partners to drive the responsible harvesting of seafood,” said Publix Business Development Director of Seafood Guy Pizzuti. “We are thankful for this important collaboration with SFP and our supplier partners, and we are proud of the work we’re doing together to advance these efforts.”

Reeling in innovative gear to assist commercial fishers

This past year, Publix has donated $130,000 to support fishery improvement projects that enhance sustainable seafood practices. The funds make updated fishing gear and best practice information more available to commercial fishers.

The donations include

• support for the CanFISH Gear Lending Program
• Publix’s annual commitment to SFP’s initiatives to achieve steady and continuous improvements in fisheries
• funding for the SFP Bycatch Solutions Hub and
• support for the Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab fishery improvement project.

CanFISH Gear Lending Program

This program is based out of Nova Scotia, Canada, and provides on-demand, also known as ropeless, fishing gear through a lending program to commercial fisheries. This gear and program help minimize impacts to ocean wildlife by reducing the amount of time the ropes attached to the fishing gear are suspended in the water column. This helps eliminate the risk of whales becoming entangled. The gear supplied to this library and information available through this program are free to fishers and commercial fisheries.

Fishery improvement projects

The company’s annual donation supports SFP’s initiatives and efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming, protect ocean biodiversity, and advance economic opportunities for fishers and their communities worldwide. This includes support of fishery improvement projects globally, such as addressing bycatch in the mahi fisheries in Costa Rica and Panama. Bycatch is when fisheries accidentally catch nontarget wildlife, such as whales, sea turtles, sharks, dolphins and seabirds.

SFP Bycatch Solutions Hub

Publix funds this digital hub, which can be found at https://bycatchsolutions.org, that helps bring together commercial fishers and experts in the field. The hub provides examples of innovations and best practices to reduce bycatch of marine wildlife in commercial fisheries, including events to share new developments and an interactive map that shows projects happening globally to reduce bycatch.

Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab fishery improvement project

This initiative will test multiple new technologies with the goal of reducing harmful interactions between snow crab traps and North Atlantic right whales, an endangered species, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada. This fishery is the largest supplier of snow crab to Publix and the company has a long history of supporting this fishery improvement project.

Support of Sustainable Fisheries Partnership

“Publix's support has helped fishers through difficult transitions necessary to reduce impacts on vulnerable marine wildlife,” said SFP Biodiversity and Nature Director Kathryn Novak. “We are proud to partner with Publix. For nearly 15 years, Publix has invested in solutions that work for the environment and benefit fishers and local communities.”

SFP is a nonprofit marine conservation organization that works with retailers, seafood buyers, and supply chains to help rebuild fish stocks and reduce the fishing industry’s impact on ocean wildlife and the marine environment.

Landing high quality, sustainable seafood for our customers

In addition to focusing on meeting its high standards for quality, Publix also wants to provide a product that is obtained in the most sustainable way possible. Publix wants to make sure its customers can continue to enjoy a variety of sustainable seafood for years to come and make it easy for them to learn how the seafood they’re purchasing has been sourced. That’s why Publix includes responsibly sourced and sustainably sourced icons with its seafood products.

Whether it’s in local communities or the world’s oceans, Publix is committed to continuing to do good, together.

For more information about sustainable seafood at Publix and the company’s additional sustainability efforts, visit csr.publix.com/sustainable-seafood.

Publix, the largest employee-owned company in the U.S. with more than 255,000 associates, currently operates 1,376 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky. For 27 consecutive years, the company has been recognized by Fortune as a great place to work. In addition, Publix’s dedication to superior quality and customer service is recognized among the top in the grocery business. For more information, visit the company’s newsroom at corporate.publix.com/newsroom.