How supermarket ‘fresh’ salmon has been transported 18,000 miles – and could be almost a year old
Some wild salmon is caught in Alaska before being frozen for up to a year and travels 18,000 miles around the world before ending up on your plate
WILD salmon might sound like the eco-friendly choice but your fish dinner could be nearly a year old and have travelled more than 18,000 miles to get to your plate.
The only wild salmon sold in British supermarkets is imported from the Pacific Ocean because Atlantic salmon – the type native to the UK and Europe – is at critically low levels in the wild.
The fish is often frozen for months while it is transported and stored before being defrosted to go on supermarket shelves.
Tesco sells frozen wild salmon fillets which are caught in Alaskan waters and frozen at sea before being transported to Qingdao, China.
There the fish is partly defrosted to around 0C, filleted and portioned before being speed-frozen.
It is then shipped around Asia and the Middle East, through the Mediterranean and around southern Europe to reach the UK.
The total journey from the fish being caught to reaching supermarket shelves in the UK is a total of more than 18,000 miles.
Fishermen are only allowed to catch wild salmon in short six-week seasons between May and September, so salmon caught in this period is canned or frozen and stockpiled so it can be sold all year round.
It means you could be eating salmon today which was caught nearly a year ago at the start of last year’s season.
Despite the long journey wild salmon takes to reach supermarket shelves, some packets of the fish state they are “produce of the United Kingdom” because it is processed in Britain.
Online shoppers at Asda were told the store’s Wild Keta Salmon Fillets were “Origin of the UK” - despite keta salmon being from the Pacific Ocean.
Asda said this was a mistake caused by “human error” and said it would update its website after it was contacted by The Sun.
The packaging on its wild salmon states it is “produced in the UK” but “caught in the North East Pacific”.
British supermarket labels tend to describe where and how the fish was caught and where it was processed or packaged but not when the fish was caught or how long it has been frozen.
Campaigners say customers need more information so they can make an informed choice about which fish to buy.
Ruth Westcott, of food campaign charity Sustain, says: “Consumers are being left in the dark. They want to know how many food miles are on a product and how it has been produced.
“To be confident you’re buying sustainable fish you should also know where it’s processed.
“You can’t make an informed decision about what to buy without accurate labelling and that’s something we’ve been calling for.”
The UK is a major producer of farmed salmon, with Scotland exporting £600million of the fish last year alone.
Julie Hesketh-Laird, chief executive of Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation, says: “Farming salmon offers an opportunity for a high quality product to be reared in the UK.
“It is also the UK’s top food export, produced to exacting standards set by the UK and Scottish Governments, from farm to fork. It is fully traceable, providing an added level of consumer protection and reassurance.”
But fears over the way salmon can be farmed, including the use of antibiotics and pesticides to control disease, has led to a growing trend for customers to buy wild salmon instead.
Wildlife authorities like the Marine Stewardship Council monitor wild salmon fishing to make sure it is sustainable and doesn’t impact on other species. Packets of UK wild salmon should carry a blue label to show they are MSC certified.
Consumers wanting an eco-friendly alternative can try British trout, herring or mackerel, which all contain high levels of Omega-3.
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A Tesco spokesperson said: “We are very proud of the quality of our wild Alaskan Salmon.
"It is caught in a sustainable fishery in the inshore waters of Alaska and frozen as soon as it makes land.
"The frozen salmon is shipped to our plant in China where it is keep it frozen until we need to fillet it.
"The salmon is then very carefully defrosted to a temperature around zero centigrade, when it is filleted and portioned by skilled fishmongers, before being packed and rapidly frozen.
"This ensures that there is no loss of quality in the salmon that is then shipped to the UK.”
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