Seafood & Aquaculture

In Alaska, sustainable management of salmon is protected by the Alaska State Constitution and serves as a model for sustainability. Costco supplier Trident Seafoods maintains full ownership and control of the Alaskan salmon it provides to Costco.

Together Costco and Trident Seafoods have developed numerous products to maximize the utilization of every fish harvested, including items such as fresh salmon fillets flown directly to warehouses, Kirkland Signature^™ Boneless & Skinless Canned Pink and Sockeye Salmon, Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Salmon Burgers, Kirkland Signature Wild Caught Alaska Smoked Sockeye Salmon, and Pure Alaska Omega^™ Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil.

KIRKLAND SIGNATURE FARMED TILAPIA

A five-year effort led to the development of the ASC tilapia standard completed in 2009. Currently, Tilapia Loins sold at Costco are from farms and suppliers that are ASC certified. Costco encourages suppliers to work toward ASC certification. More information about Costco’s Farmed Tilapia practices can be found in our August 2016 Costco Connection article, Tilapia royalty and on our Sustainable Fisheries & Aquaculture page.

To ensure that the product has a more uniform thickness, Costco uses only the top loin for its frozen Kirkland Signature^™ Tilapia Loins. This allows Costco members a more consistent cooking experience. However, this left the thinner bottom loin of the tilapia as potential waste. Costco decided to partner with several of their nationally branded frozen fish suppliers such as Trident and High Liner Foods to find a solution. The result was the creation of value-added frozen tilapia items found in Costco’s freezer section such as High Liner Tortilla Crusted Tilapia and Trident Seafoods Panko Breaded Tilapia. This is also a way for Costco to keep costs low and provide more value to our members.

KIRKLAND SIGNATURE CANNED TUNA

Canned Kirkland Signature Solid White Albacore Tuna in Water suppliers are participants in the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, which is undertaking science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting ecosystem health. Each participating company is audited by a third party for compliance against ISSF conservation measures.

All of our canned tuna suppliers are members of the Seafood Taskforce (STF), an industry-led nonprofit organization, where members work together on forced labor/human rights issues and marine conservation problems.

We review the product traceability and mapping to vessels of our Kirkland Signature canned tuna supply chains. Costco also actively supports capacity building, training, audits and other engagement activities together with the STF and with our suppliers.