Food Lion is committed to do our part to ensure that seafood species are protected today and for generations to come.  For us, it’s simply the responsible choice.
 

Our seafood sourcing policy means that, if a seafood product is sold at Food Lion, it was harvested in a manner that ensures its availability today and long into the future.

At Food Lion, you can trust that the seafood products you buy in our stores are brought to you in a way that you can feel good about. Effective March 31, 2012, all seafood products sold in Food Lion stores are fully traceable to the wild fishery or farm, and come from sustainable sources.

We ensure that seafood products sold in our stores are harvested in a sustainable manner. For us, this means that seafood is fished or farmed in a way that means it will be around for generations to come. We will only sell seafood from fisheries and farms that are managed by competent authorities that use a science-based approach to their management plans.

We work closely with our suppliers to make sure we know where the seafood we sell comes from.
 

• Our suppliers provide full traceability back to port of landing or seafood farm.
• Every seafood product in the store is fully traceable, whether it's located in the fresh, frozen, or grocery sections of our store.

Customers can email our seafood expert to find out from where a particular item originates.

This fish story is all true.
 

Food Lion's sustainable seafood policy covers the widest range of products among all major U.S. grocery companies.

• Products in our fresh, frozen, or grocery departments are fully comply with our sourcing policy, making Food Lion (and all the banners in Delhaize America) the first major supermarket in the country to accomplish this.
• The policy covers more than 2,500 seafood items.
• The policy applies to fresh seafood and food products with fish as a primary ingredient as well as to seafood soups and chowders.

Here today. Here tomorrow.

We buy from suppliers who ensure the long-term health of marine resources.

• Food Lion recognizes that there are fisheries and farms that are well managed, and others that are not. To encourage the producers that act responsibly, Food Lion will work with these suppliers to find sources that comply with our sustainability and traceability criteria rather than ban an entire species due to problems in some areas. If suitable sources are not found, then we will not sell that product. 
• Our approach focuses on the health of individual fisheries – specific geographic regions from which a species is harvested. This approach ensures that purchasing decisions are made on the merits of sustaining individual seafood populations (and the local fishermen who rely on them), not broad categories or species.
• Our wild-caught seafood comes from source fisheries governed by credible, enforceable and science-based management plans.
• Management plans govern the amount, timing and method of harvesting to ensure that seafood populations will thrive well into the future.
• Monitoring and compliance measures are in place to ensure that harvest levels are maintained within appropriate limits.

We're all in this boat together.

Food Lion is committed to the long-term health and sustainability of the world's supply of seafood. We're also committed to working with our existing suppliers to improve and preserve the earth’s ecosystems and its biodiversity.

We work with The Gulf of Maine Research Institute, GMRI and our existing supply base to make continual and incremental improvements in harvesting methods that decrease bycatch, promote distribution methods that decrease food miles, and improve handling – all of which enhance the quality of seafood products.

For farmed products, we're requiring certification by the The Global Aquaculture Alliance, GAA; an international, nonprofit trade association dedicated to advancing environmentally and socially responsible aquaculture. GAA recognizes that aquaculture is the only sustainable means of increasing seafood supply to meet the food needs of the world's growing population. Through the development of its Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification standards, GAA has become the leading standards-setting organization for aquaculture seafood.

Food Lion will only sell products harvested using legal methods in regulated environments. We work proactively with GMRI, GAA and our suppliers and the fishing community to encourage investment in gear and farming technologies that reduce adverse seafood production impact on the environment.

Finally, Food Lion is committed to educating our associates and customers on seafood sustainability issues. All of our associates involved with fresh seafood have been given training on our policy and understand our commitment to sustainable seafood products. Information is available in our stores and through our Web site to empower our customers to make responsible and informed decisions based on their values around health, community and the environment when they are shopping for seafood.