The giant supermarket group, which sells over £400million worth of fish and seafood each year, said that move was in response to the sustainability challenges facing the industry.

Just over a year ago, the company introduced a traffic light system for fish similar to the one giving nutritional guidance (fat, salt content etc). Green meant the fish has been scientifically verified as in plentiful supply and is fully sustainable, amber signifying some concerns about sustainability, but steps were being taken to resolve them and red meant there were serious problems and the fish would not be sold in Sainsbury stores.

A spokesperson said: "Our response to the sustainability challenges facing the fish sector is a commitment to improving the sustainability of the top five species that we sell. Looking at a whole host of factors, including individual fisheries, catch-area, by-catch, catch-method and environmental impact, our aspiration now is to move all our top five species to green rated status. The impact of this commitment will be felt on a huge scale. We are one of the UK's largest retailers of fish and sell over £400 million of fish every year."

He added: "We have put action plans in place and are well on the way to achieving this through a number of initiatives. Many of these are industry led and we are now sharing what we've learnt with others to spread best practice throughout the industry as a whole."

As a result of the new initiatives, Sainsbury's maintained it was no longer selling any red-rated fish and was working with suppliers on the Humber and in Scotland to move any amber-rated fish to green status.

"We have already removed skate and huss from our shelves, and now take squid from a more sustainable source as a result of this assessment process," he said.

Last year, the company announced that it believed line-caught is a less destructive, more sustainable alternative to trawling and therefore all its fresh cod and haddock were now line caught.

Saisnburys says it is offering more sustainable alternatives to cod such as pollack and hoki and claimed it was now buying more pollack than any other UK retailer.

Even farmed fish was coming under scrutiny. Sainsbury's said: "Where the food comes from to feed farmed fish is an important issue. We therefore apply our sustainability rating system to species used for fish feed, ensuring our processes are sustainable right the way through from egg to plate."

There were also moved to reduce pollutants from nets and the waters in which salmon and other fish were farmed.

Meanwhile, Melanie Sachdeva, Sainsbury's fish manager have presented a cheque for £27,000 to Lady Elaine Campbell, chief fund raiser for The Fishermen's Mission (RNMDSF). Ms Sachdeva said: "Fishing is one of the few industries that rely on hunting supplies and so we appreciate that fishermen may put themselves at risk to secure a substantial catch."

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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