Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.-based Mind Fish Co. has begun selling canned tuna sourced from pole-and-line fisheries in the Maldives.
The company’s new products include Wild Skipjack Tuna in spring water and Wild Skipjack Tuna in olive oil on Amazon and via distributor United Natural Foods. The tuna is also being sold at the store Urban Radish in downtown Los Angeles.
The tuna products, which retail for a suggested USD 3.00 (EUR 2.43) per can, are MSC-certified, non-GMO, mercury-tested, and dolphin-free. Supplied by Horizon Fisheries in the Maldives, the tuna is caught one at a time with pole-and-line fishing.
“Pole-and-line fishing is a centuries-old technique and continues to employ the fishing communities of the Maldives, where their only natural renewable resource is the wild skipjack tuna,” Mind Fish Co-Founder Jerry Lin said in an email to SeafoodSource.
“We have the first product in the U.S.A. processed in the Maldives, as opposed to Thailand/Vietnam/Indonesia,” Lin said. “All our skipjack tuna are pole-and-line caught and processed/packed in the Maldives. This ensures traceability and support for the fishermen and the community surrounding the fishery.”
Mind Fish is planning to add a line of canned sardines and anchovies in late 2018. In 2019, Lin said the company is eyeing products from sustainable shellfish farming projects in Alaska and Chile.
“We would like to continue working with sustainable fisheries and products. This means focusing on fish lower in the food chain and minimal-input aquaculture species, such as oysters and mussels,” Lin said. “We want to change consumer behavior and protect our oceans for future generations by educating and bringing awareness to the environment and fisheries by sourcing and selecting the right products. Seafood is such an amazing, healthy, and renewable source of protein, and we need to ensure food security for the world.”
