Gorton's, Trusted Since 1849 : Careers : Social Responsibility

Commitment to the Environment

Gorton's Yellow Goes Green!

Environmental responsibility and preserving our natural resources goes beyond our long-time commitment to sustainable fishing practices. It also involves reducing the environmental impact of the work we do and the products we make. As the leader in frozen seafood, we believe that we must also be a leader in applying sound environmental management practices, and set a positive example in our industry and our communities. We not only want to feel good about the products we make, but about how we make them. We are committed to preserving the environment, and you can read more about the ways we are striving to do so throughout our organization below.

Seafood Sustainability

We stand behind the promise that our customers can "Trust the Gorton's Fisherman." We take this promise seriously, and it applies not only to the quality of products we make, but to how we make them. Gorton's will continue to actively support environmentally sound management of marine resources, as a way to insure that our consumers will always have access to healthy and quality seafood products well into the future. Keeping this idea alive and well is a job we must do every day.

Gorton's purchases a wide variety of seafood raw materials, and Alaska Pollock, a fish native to the Bering Sea, is our most important and primary source of supply. This resource is managed under provisions of United States federal law that require rigorous scientific assessment of the condition of the fishery and conservative catch allowances. The quota each season is only a small fraction of the total available resource, and all players - whether vessel operators or legislators - take an active role to see that the rules governing the harvest are being followed. These conservative management practices have resulted in this fishery being recognized as the world's best managed sustainable seafood resource.

Gorton's is committed to protecting and enhancing the sustainability of seafood resources and we send a clear message on this issue in a number of ways:

By advocating for responsible fishery management practices through our active participation in the National Fisheries Institute.
By working with our key suppliers to ensure their adherence to all fishery management regulations.
By supporting governmental actions directed at ensuring the sustainability of fishery resources.
By encouraging the development of alternative sources of seafood supply utilizing environmentally responsible aquiculture methods.
By supporting responsible environmental groups that encourage science-based fishery management.

Access to seafood resources will be safeguarded for the future if we all work together to protect and properly manage the world's marine resources, habitats, and ecosystems.

Other Ways We're Going Green

While seafood sustainability is a top priority at Gorton's, there are many other efforts we are making to go green:

Installed new energy efficient lighting resulting in a 40% reduction in electricity usage
Reduced water usage by 8 million gallons a year
Increased utilization of rail freight by 76% at our Specialty Products location, which reduces green house gas emissions by 2/3 vs using trucks, and saves 9,000 gallons of diesel fuel
Saved 11 million pounds of material by reducing carton board strength
Continuous "Lean and Green" program with suppliers encourages sustainable practices and green initiatives
Testing small scale alternative energy generation