Why traceability on canned fish isn’t required - and why we choose to do it anyway
As a consumer, you want to know what you’re eating and where it comes from. Yet canned fish doesn’t always have to list the species inside, where it was caught, or how it was caught. Strange, right? For fresh fish, EU rules are strict and straightforward. But once fish is processed and ends up in a can, the legislation changes.
Why isn’t this information required?
Canned fish falls under the category of processed products. For these products, the law focuses mainly on food safety, accurate ingredient labeling, and nutritional information. Details about species, catch area, and fishing method aren’t required.
That’s odd, especially because those details matter for sustainability, quality, and ecological impact. The differences between species - like skipjack versus yellowfin tuna—are significant, and the same goes for catch areas and fishing methods.
At Fish Tales, we choose full transparency
We believe you should be able to see exactly what you’re eating and exactly where it comes from. Not vague information - precise information. Since the day Fish Tales was founded, we’ve gone beyond what the law demands.
For all our products, we provide:
- Full traceability all the way back to the fishery
- Information about which fishery caught your fish
- Fishing methods chosen per species to minimize bycatch
- Direct contact with the fisheries we work with
For us, transparency isn’t optional. It’s fundamental.
Traceable all the way to the source
Because our products are fully traceable, we know exactly which fishery every fish comes from. And we actually visit these fisheries - we meet the fishers ourselves. That allows us to tell the story behind our fish honestly.
Pilchard sardines from Cornwall
Our sardines are Pilchard sardines - European sardines (Sardina pilchardus) that swim in compact schools off the coast of Cornwall. In Newlyn, a small harbor town in southwest England, fishers like David head out into the bay in the evening with their small purse-seine boats.
Using special lights, the crew draws the sardines to the surface. When a school becomes visible, the purse seine goes out. It closes around the dense school like a basket. Thanks to the natural behavior of Pilchards, the catch is efficient, careful, and minimizes bycatch.
Because we work directly with this fishery, we know exactly:
- where the fish are caught (Cornwall)
- how they’re caught (small purse seines)
- which fishery our fishers come from
That information comes from direct collaboration. Want to learn more about the fishery? Find out more here!
Why this matters
Origin, species, and fishing method shape the health of the ocean and the quality of what you eat. By sharing that information, we make it possible for consumers to choose fisheries that work responsibly and deliver high-quality fish. As long as the law doesn’t require this, we’ll keep doing it voluntarily. In the meantime, together with our partners, we’re pushing the EU to update its legislation and close this outdated loophole with genuine, full traceability across the entire seafood supply chain.
Yesterday, our Impact & Fisheries Manager Irene brought this message to Brussels. Invited by Oceana, she joined two other organizations to explain to the Oceans Unit of the European Commission that it’s long past time to close this gap in the law and enforce real traceability.
When information disappears, accountability disappears. And without accountability, our oceans have no future.
