Supporting a Healthy Ocean
Playing our part
Serious About Seafood Sustainability
Lusamerica Foods is committed to environmentally responsible business practices and to helping our customers meet their corporate responsibility goals by offering a broad range of sustainable seafood products.
You have the power to offer your customers ocean-friendly seafood. Let us help you expand your sustainable seafood choices.
- We offer a wide range of sustainable seafood products that have been certified by credible third parties such as Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP). These rigorous, independent eco-certification programs are widely recognized and directly engage with fisheries or farms to address social and environmental challenges.
- We partner with FishChoice, a non-profit organization focused on market-based approaches to marine conservation, and are actively supporting recommendations of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program.
- We research each and every product we sell to understand and address any associated environmental issues, ensure traceability, and provide transparent information to our customers and staff.
- We have implemented Trace Register with our clients and continue to expand.
Through these programs and initiatives, Lusamerica Foods is strengthening both its longstanding commitment to offering safe, sustainable, and traceable products, and working with vendors, customers, and environmental partners to affect positive change in the seafood industry.
Traceability
Tracking seafood throughout the supply chain is an integral part of maintaining the accuracy and credibility of data to help inform sustainability levels and ensure food safety protocols. At Lusamerica, we use SAP as our in-house tracking system to trace seafood throughout our warehouses. Sustainability data is associated with each incoming batch and is available upon request. We also utilize Trace Register as a third party system available as a means to transmit data securely. Key data elements tracked on our seafood includes, but is not limited to:
- Common name
- Scientific name/Latin Name
- Country of Origin
- FAO Fishing Area
- Fishing or farming method
- Eco-certification numbers, if applicable
- Fishery Improvement Project details, if applicable (FIP name and participant)
We are also starting to track vessel-level information for West Coast groundfish and key tuna products.
Continuous Improvement
- We will regularly review and assess the effectiveness of our sustainability practices and make necessary improvements. To accomplish this, we review and focus on the largest volume products in our portfolio. We also are actively helping our largest customers meet their sustainability goals which naturally improves the sustainability of our seafood over time.
- We will actively seek feedback from our customers, suppliers, and stakeholders to identify areas for improvement and implement appropriate measures.
- We will remain open to adopting new technologies and innovative approaches that promote sustainability in the seafood industry.
- We will utilize the Roadmap for Improving Seafood Ethics (RISE) platform created by FishWise to identify high-risk fisheries and countries where we need to dig into our supply chains for a deeper dive. The RISE platform aims to promote human rights and decent work environments for individuals working in the seafood industry.
Meet our Fishermen
Get to know the people catching our local fish.
Our Products
We carry over one hundred species and carry everything you need!
Go Local
See the different local species we catch off the West Coast.
Our Commitment to the Environment Goes Beyond Seafood
In addition to the efforts we make in sourcing sustainable and responsibly-produced seafood, we are doing even more for the environment as part of our business practices. Our management and staff are dedicated to finding additional ways to reduce our impact on the global environment. Here are some examples:
Innovative Product Packaging
One of our most significant achievements was designing new packaging to replace the heavily waxed cardboard and Styrofoam boxes often used to transport seafood. Our Tasty Catch® box is completely recyclable, so it can be turned into new boxes at the end of its use. We even designed it with a special closure to eliminate the use of tape, which is often not recyclable.
General Recycling
Our offices and plants all participate in the recycling of cardboard, glass, metals and paper to reduce waste as much as possible.
Styrofoam Recycling
We have created an innovative way to recycle 100% of the Styrofoam that enters our plants. We also recycle all incoming waxed cardboard boxes.
Vehicle Emissions
Our trucks all comply with current California emissions standards, which are the strictest in the nation.
About Lusamerica
Family, woman and minority owned since 1975 distributing seafood to the Western United States and beyond.
Tel: (408) 778-7200 | toll free: (800) 974-6622 | email: info@lusamerica.com
