YO! Sushi Sustainability And Provenance

As salmon and tuna (along with cod) make up 50% of fish consumed in the UK, here are the facts surrounding our two main types of best sellers:

Salmon

Scottish salmon will come from specific locations at different times of the year, the locations for 2011 are Loch Fyne, Loch Striven East Argyll and Bute mainland Scotland and also Loch Roag Isle of Lewis Outer Hebrides.

The Scottish salmon that we use at YO! Sushi is harvested from farms situated in high quality sea-lochs around the coast of Scotland. Each farm has “pens” which contain less than 2% fish in over 98% sea water.

Through the use of DNA, there is full traceability back to the parents of the egg which produced the salmon. Each pen is left to fallow for a minimum of one year after harvesting.
 
Fresh Scottish salmon is delivered to YO! Sushi restaurants six days per week, within a maximum of 72 hours of harvest. This ensures the optimum quality of fish winds its way around the conveyor belts for our consumers’ enjoyment.

Tuna
 
Due to the steep decline in numbers of Bluefin tuna in the world’s oceans, YO! Sushi has never sold, and will not sell, Bluefin tuna.

Only Yellowfin tuna is sold at YO! Sushi, and is predominantly sourced in the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Both of these sources combine pole and line fishing methods. Pole or line fishing reduces “by-catch” (other fish species) and ensures only Yellowfin tuna are caught. Line fishing takes place away from areas known to contain cetaceans (Whales, Dolphins & Porpoises) and “anti-turtle” hooks are used, with YO! Sushi fisheries operating to the Earth Island Institute (EII) standards.

The tuna is only fished in areas of the lowest level of pollution and all the vessels are approved by the Organisation For The Promotion of Responsible Tuna Fishes.

All tuna supplied to YO! Sushi is considered ‘well managed and healthy’ by The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership’s Fishsource database.

We work closely with leading bodies who champion sustainable seafood, for example we follow recommendations by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to offer sustainable, approved and certified wild fisheries products. YO! Sushi will not supply any species on the IUCN Red List.

We also constantly monitor our sustainability and the table below shows how we rate against Marine Conservation Society (MCS) standards. There will be areas where our rating is amber which is acceptable, however we are continually working hard with our suppliers to provide the best solution at the best value for our customers.