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Welcome to the 3rd edition of Safe Harbor News! We continue to make our Safe Harbor® Certified seafood more widely available and continue to test thousands of fish per day in the U.S. and abroad. With an ever-growing database of over 200,000 tests, we continue to expand our knowledge of this important issue. |
The Pacific Northwest
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GOOD NEWS! In the Pacific Northwest, Halibut season has officially begun! From the last week of March up to the present MASI/Safe Harbor has tested roughly 3,000 lbs a week of fresh Alaskan Halibut for Tops Foods/Haggen's Markets—nearly 15,000 lbs total in the first four weeks alone, and the numbers are growing every week. Fresh Safe Harbor Certified Alaskan Halibut is only available for a few months so enjoy it while it lasts. Also in the Pacific Northwest, the annual Copper River Salmon run has begun! The high fat, high oil content and firm, bright red flesh of Copper River salmon make it one of the world's best eating salmon. Look for Safe Harbor Certified Copper River Salmon now at a Top's Foods/Haggen's Market near you. |
In addition to Top's Foods/Haggen's Markets, we have multiple major domestic rollouts scheduled for 2009 that will allow for a wider dissemination of our mercury tested seafood. Safe Harbor Certified Seafood is coming soon to a grocery store near you.
Safe Harbor® Certified Tuna from General Santos City, Philippines
In addition to our continued testing in the U.S. and our anticipated domestic rollouts in 2009, our operations abroad have been flourishing. As of the 2nd week of February, Safe Harbor has been testing tuna exclusively at the Citra Mina facility located in General Santos City in the Philippines.
Some info on Citra Mina from sme.com:
"Their business began in 1983 in Tuna Capital of the Philippines General Santos City. Back then, their fresh caught tuna were distributed primarily to the local market and canning buyers. By 1991 the company expanded and began exporting whole chilled tuna to Japan. And shortly thereafter, their products were introduced to the US market. Their products are prepared under the International Food Standards of the United States Department of Commerce and in compliance with Hazard Analysis Critical Point Program (HACCP), they guarantee that their products come only from the freshest raw materials, packed and stored at minus 18 degree Celsius (-18C)"...Source |
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…In addition, Citra Mina is a completely sustainable tuna source! All their tuna is pole and line caught—no nets or long lines ensure its turtle and dolphin safe, and younger pups are thrown back to ensure the long-term viability of the species. And now their tuna products are available tested and certified to be by us to be 60% below the standards set by the FDA. Since our installation, our technicians have tested well over 1,000,000 lbs of hand-caught tuna and the numbers are increasing weekly. We are working with the well-known U.S.-based seafood distributor H&N out of Los Angeles, California for domestic dissemination of our sustainable, mercury screened tuna products. Look for it in a store near you later this year.
Italian/European Rollout
In other news, Safe Harbor/MASI has made considerable strides with European distribution over the last few months. As mentioned in the 2nd Edition of the Safe Harbor News, our partnership with the Italian company Pesca Pronta, a prominent Italian seafood distributor, is rapidly progressing. Data from the blind testing conducted with the Italian Sanitary Authority lab (ISA) is finally back, and we will be comparing our respective results with the outcome being an ISA certification as to the accuracy of our mercury analyzers (ISA being an organization similar to the FDA). Our European rollout of the Safe Harbor program will be through the French company Carrefour, the 2nd largest retailer in the world! MASI should be fully engaged in testing for Pesca Pronta within the next fiscal quarter and is slated for a European rollout later this year via Carrefour. More details to come on Pesca Pronta, Carrefour and our impending Italian and European rollouts…
Safe Harbor Chilean Swordfish
 Source: Freecat |
As of the last week of April, Safe Harbor has been in Coquimbo, Chile at Pasquera Omega/Omega Seafoods preparing for the annual swordfish run in the waters off South America. Our activities in Coquimbo are only in the preliminary stages, but we anticipate another successful year of swordfish testing out of the area. By May 25th we anticipate having a steady stream of Safe Harbor Certified swordfish available through the summer and early fall coming from South America. While an official announcement cannot yet be made, we have nearly finalized contracts with a major U.S. retailer/distributor for full domestic rollout of Safe Harbor Certified swordfish. More to come on all our activities in the next edition of the Safe Harbor News! |
