Sourcing seafood

Our sustainability efforts aim to address numerous factors

When sourcing seafood, we consider numerous factors to meet our goals of providing high-quality and more sustainable products for our members: How are the fish stocks? Are the local ecosystems protected and are governmental and regulatory agency guidelines met? Are the livelihoods of the fishery communities supported? Here’s a look at our approach.

Protecting wild species

First, we don’t sell certain wild species that have been identified as being at great risk, such as Atlantic halibut, unless our sources are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC; msc.org). The MSC is an international nonprofit organization that works with fisheries, processors, distributors, retailers and restaurants for responsibly sourced, traceable and independently certified seafood.

Our fish buyers monitor situations where there are concerns about the health of the species. For example, we’re currently not selling wild king salmon from the Salish Sea in the Pacific Northwest for that very reason.

Another important step is our support of fishery improvement projects (FIPs). These projects gather many entities, such as retailers, local governmental agencies, processors and suppliers, to help local fisheries work toward meeting MSC requirements.

Costco partners directly with World Wildlife Fund and our suppliers to support FIPs. They’re good for the local economies and for us as a potential supply of seafood. Our buyers prefer to work with suppliers that are part of a FIP because it shows a commitment to sustainable sourcing policies.

Seeking sustainable aquaculture

Our seafood sourcing practice extends to aquaculture, which can support the preservation of wild species. We believe farming seafood can be done in a responsible way. As with wild species, we support leading organizations that set standards for responsible practices.

One key organization is the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC; asc-aqua.org). Our goal is to purchase shrimp, salmon, tilapia and other seafood from ASC-certified farms. The MSC and the ASC take the same approach in supporting better practices. Working with scientists, the fishing industry and conservation groups, they set standards designed to protect fish stocks, minimize environmental impacts and meet local laws.

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