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Blueyou creates its own animal welfare policy for sustainable seafood

A Swiss seafood company, Blueyou Group, has launched an animal welfare policy for its 24 seafood brands worldwide. The company said this new policy signifies aquatic animal welfare considerations for the seafood sector and sets a new standard for its brands to strive for.  

The policy was created with guidance from the Aquatic Life Institute, a nonprofit organization based in the United States that advocates for certifiers, labelling regimes and policymakers to include “meaningful, high standards” of animal welfare.

Blueyou said animal welfare in capture fisheries and aquaculture has been “excluded from meaningful welfare consideration” and it hopes to address these issues for its network of seafood producers, distributors, food service companies, and retailers.

“We believe that future seafood origins must be aligned with the planetary boundaries in terms of the environmental impact dimension, including climate change,” said René Benguerel, founder and managing director of Blueyou. “However, of equal importance for Blueyou is the social and community dimension of the seafood industry, as well as the animal welfare of the species being caught and harvested for human consumption – including the species which are affected by indirect side-effects of the industry, such as aquatic animals being used for feed in the farmed sector as well as those being affected by the wild capture fisheries, such as the bait species and by-catch.”

The company commits to addressing several animal welfare concerns by December 2025, including ethical stunning & slaughter methods, feeding practices, stocking density requirements and water quality parameters.

Aquatic Life Institute said Blueyou’s commitment to welfare could pave the way for other seafood companies to follow in their steps to meet the growing demand for comprehensive policies from consumers.

“Their specific language around minimizing animals’ stress and suffering, educating the supply chain around them to create a domino effect, and a commitment to publicly reporting on progress is an excellent model for other seafood companies to adopt. We applaud Blueyou for taking this significant step forward in their business priorities,” said Sophika Kostyniuk, managing director of Aquatic Life Institute about the policy.

The policy also aims to improve welfare in wild capture fisheries. For this reason, Blueyou has plans for a gradual approach, starting with awareness raising among actors in their supply chain followed by welfare improvements on a pre-competitive basis using guidance from Aquatic Life Institute.