SEATTLE, Wash. — Two food companies, Findus and Duchy Originals, have begun offering customers new products bearing the Marine Stewardship Council seal of approval. The MSC logo indicates the seafood product is from a fishery meeting the MSC’s strict environmental standard -- the logo also provides consumers with a quick and easy way to identify to the best environmental choices in seafood.

Leading Swedish processor Findus is launching a New Zealand hoki product as an alternative to its cod dishes. The New Zealand hoki fishery has earned certification under the MSC program and its products are viewed as a similar-tasting, sustainable alternative to depleted cod stocks. Findus is the first Swedish processor to launch a product with the MSC eco-label and is planning a campaign this autumn to educate Swedish consumers about the MSC program and sustainable fishing.

In Great Britain, Duchy Originals has launched a new fish paté made with mackerel from the South West Mackerel Handline Fishery, which earned certification under the MSC program. Duchy Originals was established ten years ago by the Prince of Wales to promote sustainable food sources -- the patés were developed after the Prince of Wales visited Padstow to present the fishery with its MSC certificate. Duchy, which has a number of products available in the U.S., plans to launch additional MSC-labeled seafood products later this year.

The MSC’s chief executive Brendan May notes that an increasing number of businesses around the world are recognizing the MSC program as both a tool to demonstrate their commitment to sourcing sustainable seafood and as a way to help consumers identify responsible seafood selections. “Consumers concerned about overfishing and its environmental and social consequences are increasingly able to make informed decisions about the seafood products they buy thanks to leading companies, such as Findus and Duchy, which are setting excellent examples,” said May.

Currently, more than 170 MSC-labeled product lines are now available in 11 countries around the world. In the United States, MSC-labeled seafood products are available in Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats supermarkets, on Lindblad Expeditions cruises, in mail-order food catalogs from SeaBear Smokehouse and Norm Thompson Outfitters and in various restaurants across the country including Xanterra Parks & Resort’s restaurants in nine national parks. Xanterra is promoting MSC-labeled Alaska salmon in its national park properties this summer and Whole Foods Market is promoting MSC-labeled wild Alaska salmon in its stores nationwide.

Seven fisheries have been certified under the MSC program to date and ten more are currently in the full assessment stage, including Alaska halibut, sablefish, and pollock. More than two dozen fisheries are at other stages of the MSC process.