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H-E-B's Sustainable Seafood Policy

Our Purpose

At H-E-B, our goal is to make smart seafood buying easy for all Texans. Our sustainable seafood program, developed in partnership with FishWise, was created with the best interests of the environment, our fishermen partners, and our customers in mind. We are committed to creating an industry-leading, best-practice program for all of our fresh, frozen, prepared, sushi, and shelf-stable (e.g., canned) seafood, which continuously improves its social and environmental performance through regular monitoring and incorporation of new information.

What is Sustainable Seafood at H-E-B?

H-E-B defines sustainable seafood as wild-caught or farm-raised seafood that is harvested or produced in ways that protect the long-term health of species populations and ecosystems, respect human and labor rights, and comes from transparent, traceable, and legal supply chains.

What are H-E-B’s Sustainable Seafood Standards? 

All seafood purchased by H-E-B must meet the following criteria for environmental sustainability:

Abundant, well-managed fishery. Environmentally friendly catch method.

Some concerns with abundance, catch method or fishery management.

Of course, our seafood supplier partners play a critical role in delivering high quality, sustainable seafood to our customers at H-E-B. We thank our suppliers for their collaboration in:

  • Following our Supplier Code of Conduct, which sets strict guidelines on social responsibility, including upholding human and labor rights
  • Complying with our Seafood Supplier Sign-Off and Special Requirements for Seafood, as described above
  • Reporting supply chain traceability data (as shown in Traceability section below) with every purchase order
  • Agreeing to participate in supply chain verification activities upon request

As part of our mission to improve human rights issues in the seafood industry, we require suppliers to collaborate, cooperate, and operate transparently with H-E-B. If they are unable to do so, we will cease purchasing from any noncompliant supplier.

H-E-B has additional criteria for the following:

Farmed Seafood

    • No genetically modified farmed fish
    • No added growth hormones (per federal regulations)

Tuna

Locally Sourced Seafood

    • Offer sustainable seafood from the Gulf of Mexico and Texas whenever possible
    • Local fisheries or farms without applicable ratings or certifications assessed on case-by-case bases to ensure alignment to our standards, such as membership in a U.S. state fisheries management program and/or permits from Texas Parks and Wildlife and TCEQ
    • Continue to partner with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in understanding our local ecosystem

Lobster (American Lobster)

    • Currently, MSC-certified Canadian-caught American lobster meets H-E-B’s sustainable seafood policy
    • In support of this historic domestic fishery in the U.S., H-E-B looks for meaningful opportunities to aid improvements in this industry, and, when available, prioritize sourcing from fishery improvement projects and/or American lobster caught with ropeless gear

Sustainable Tuna

We recognize the higher-risk nature of tuna supply chains. As a member of the Global Tuna Alliance (GTA), the preeminent sustainable tuna organization in the world, H-E-B preferentially sources tuna that aligns with the GTA’s Five-Year Strategy for improving traceability and transparency, environmental sustainability, and social responsibility. This includes requiring tuna suppliers to provide data around vessel identification and tracking, including: vessel names, vessel identification numbers such as International Maritime Organization (IMO) numbers, and transshipment events.

Tuna harvesting and at-sea transshipment–the transfer of fish, supplies, or other cargo between vessels at sea–often occur in remote locations where monitoring and oversight are minimal, making workers particularly vulnerable to human rights and labor abuses.

We work with FishWise and our suppliers to identify and implement best practices. We recommend the following to improve the transparency of tuna harvesting and at-sea transshipment:

Monitoring & Oversight

    • Authorization by relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs)
    • Appropriate record-keeping
    • Monitoring by human or electronic observer(s)

Transparency

    • Provide harvest and at-sea transshipment documents upon request
    • Documents may include: post-activity declarations, authorization to fish or transship in RFMO waters, proof of monitoring, and/or proof of worker protection processes 

Worker Protection

    • Adherence to all national and international regulations related to vessel and crew safety and worker protections
    • Prioritize suppliers with the highest level of protection for workers
    • Protections may include: time spent at sea, vessel safety inspections, training and equipment for crew injuries, and protections for observers

How Does H-E-B Support Seafood Traceability, Verification, and Transparency?

H-E-B is committed to knowing not only where a product came from but also how it was produced, by whom, and how it made its way to our stores. That is why we work with Trace Register, a third-party traceability platform, and require all our seafood suppliers to report data aligned to the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) with every purchase order.

We also use supply chain traceability data to check suppliers’ compliance with our seafood procurement criteria and support risk identification, counter-IUU fishing efforts (Illegal, Unreported, or Unregulated), and verification activities undertaken as part of our regular Seafood Supply Chain Due Diligence (see more below). We regularly update our sourcing grid and continually work toward full visibility into the origin and journey of our products. By strengthening our traceability, providing clear and accessible information, and engaging with our suppliers, H-E-B promotes transparency across our seafood supply chains.

How Does H-E-B Support Social Responsibility, Collaboration, and Advocacy in the Seafood Industry?

In addition to the environmental impacts inherent to fishing and fish farming, H‑E‑B is aware of how the seafood industry intersects with issues of human rights and social responsibility. We are committed to working with our seafood supply chain partners to combat recurring human rights abuses in the seafood industry.

To that end, we assess the steps each vendor is taking to improve their supply chain operations for workers before we agree to source from them. We also use data to identify higher-risk sources (e.g., Trafficking in Persons (TIP) reporting through the State Department) and ensure we have allocated resources appropriately that will help preserve the integrity of our program.

Tackling these complex challenges requires a multi-stakeholder approach. H-E-B’s participation with and alignment to the Global Tuna Alliance, Global Seafood Sustainability Initiative, Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Marine Stewardship Council, and more, illustrate just a few ways H-E-B is working collectively toward improved transparency and traceability, environmental sustainability, and social responsibility in seafood supply chains.

How Does H-E-B Maintain its Sustainable Seafood Program?

As we hope is clear, H-E-B takes seafood sustainability seriously. That’s why we’ve developed a 5-step approach to uphold and continuously improve our seafood program, called the Seafood Supply Chain Due Diligence plan (also developed in partnership with FishWise). This plan not only incorporates environmental, labor, and human rights and aligns with international best practices (see below for more information), but also requires integration into our everyday work.

Due Diligence Steps & Descriptions

  • Embed – Create policies and commitments addressing environmental, labor, and human rights that are embedded into company strategy, operations, and culture.
  • Collect & Assess – Collect data and information to support the assessment, identification, and prioritization of risk. Track, monitor, and verify progress towards commitments and policies. 
  • Engage – Interact and collaborate with suppliers and peers. Advocate for management improvements at all levels of the supply chain.
  • Act – Upon risk identification, take timely and appropriate action to mitigate, prevent, cease, and remediate where necessary. Develop internal processes to enable prompt and effective responses.
  • Communicate & Iterate – Communicate seafood sustainability efforts both internally and externally. Use findings and lessons learned to inform iterations of this plan and continually progress toward goals and objectives.

International standards referenced: OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Businesses, United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions Guidance for Companies on Environmentally and Socially Responsible Seafood.

Together, these efforts and frameworks serve to support sustainable seafood practices for environmental, social, and economic benefits for today and for generations to come. To learn more about what H-E-B is doing to preserve and protect our natural resources, feel free to visit other pages on www.ourtexasourfuture.com.