Friend of the Sea (FOS) is an ecolabel for sustainably caught and farmed fish. FOS was founded by the American Earth Island Institute and is now an independent non-profit organisation.
The standard of FOS relating to wild caught fish focuses on fish stocks, the effects on the ecosystem and management. Assessments are carried out by an independent third party.
However, the procedure for achieving certification is not transparent and is based on limited information. Nor have proper procedures been developed to where one can raise objections. In addition, the quality mark does not attach any value to traceability. FOS is therefore not supported by the World Wildlife Fund and Good Fish as a reliable quality mark.
There are still many quality marks on the market that falsely guarantee sustainability. The MSC (for wild caught fish) and ASC (for farmed fish) labels can be found on most fish products in the supermarket. If these labels are missing from the packaging, look up the species concerned in the VISwijzer. You will find information about the fish species, the fishing method, and the origin, on the back of the packaging in the yellow-marked box.