Caught With Care

Caught with Care

Whether it’s for Tuna, Salmon, Mackerel or Sardines – we know and trust our fishing partners. In fact, we can trace every can back to its original boat.

hand holding tuna mobile
Quality Long term Sustainability

Princes started out trading in canned fish way back in 1880 and few businesses have such a proud history in sourcing seafood responsibly.

We don’t own or operate any fishing boats ourselves, but insist that our high standards are upheld by our suppliers. We also work tirelessly and proactively with a range of organisations within the global seafood industry, to improve sustainability and to help protect our oceans. 

Our high standards are consistent across our worldwide business – from our tuna processing sites in Mauritius to our food manufacturing sites in Europe and the products we import from suppliers around the world.

Tuna Sustainability

When you choose Princes, you can be sure that all our tuna is dolphin safe and can be traced right back to the individual boats it was caught on. We insist the fishermen who catch our tuna only do so using purse seine and pole and line fishing methods. Plus, we encourage and support fisheries that are Marine Stewardship council (MSC) certified and all our tuna will be MSC certified by 2025.

For more information about our commitment to seafood sustainability view our Wild Caught Seafood Statement.

Fish in Shoal

Any questions?

We are acting by removing plastic from our packaging, replacing plastic sleeves on our multipacks with cardboard. We voluntarily ensure our packaging waste obligations are paid to UK recyclers to encourage domestic recycling.

We don’t own or operate any vessels, but we do as much as we can in this area, including making it mandatory that the vessels in our supply chain use non-entangling Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) and trialling biodegradable FADs, to minimise the risks of entanglement for dolphins, sharks and other sea creatures.

Most of Princes’ tuna is caught by purse seine fishing vessels where the bycatch is typically around 3%. This compares favourably to other catch methods such as longline that have a bycatch rate of around 20%. Crews on these vessels are trained in best practice to reduce bycatch and maximise live release of non-target species.

Where seafood is labelled as MSC certified, consumers can be reassured that the fish has been independently certified as sustainable considering fish stocks, the environmental impact of the whole fishery and whether there is effective management of the fishery.

The MSC sets clear and transparent standards for sustainable fishing. Inspections and assessments are carried out by independent bodies, and NGOs have multiple opportunities to provide input. Certification is not an easy process – most pre-assessments fail and require significant improvement to attain certification. To find out more about the MSC standard please visit their website.

We don’t source tuna from any company or vessel that intentionally sets nets on dolphins to catch tuna. The claims in the film about the Dolphin Safe tuna programme have been widely disputed. If you’re interested in further info, you could take a look at the website for the Dolphin Safe programme.

Princes does not source from longline vessels that were the subject of the human rights abuse allegations in the film Seaspiracy. The purse seine vessels in our supply chain globally have been assessed as being a much lower risk in terms of human rights violations.

For Princes key Indian Ocean supply chain into its factory in Mauritius the vessels are registered to an EU flag state or EU owned vessels that operate under EU law, or equivalent for workers’ rights. We assess these as being very low risk in terms of human rights violations.

There are a number of ways you can help as a consumer. We recommend choosing MSC certified seafood, and products that are labelled ‘Responsibly Sourced’ – which means that the source is either a well-managed fishery with low impact fishing gear or a fishery that is working towards MSC certification. You can also write to retailers, brands and your local MP to ask them to take action or share what they’re already doing in this area. 

Fish and seafood is a great source of protein, many vitamins and minerals. Oily fish – such as salmon and sardines – is also particularly high in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, which can help to keep your heart healthy. Fish makes up a delicious part of a balanced diet if you choose to eat it – but we totally respect that everyone will want to make the right dietary choices for them.

Based on the scientific evidence that this would be an effective way to protect fish stocks over the long term. Princes supports the call for 30% of the worlds’ oceans to be protected.

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Opening instructions

How to Open Corned Beef

For best results chill before opening. Take the key from the side of the can and place the slot over the metal tab, as pictured above.

How to Open Corned Beef

Turn the key clockwise, keeping a slight upward pressure, until you have worked your way around the whole can.

How to Open Corned Beef

Hold the can over a plate or chopping board and carefully bend back the bottom of the can. Gently squeeze the can to release the Corned Beef.