Cod liver oil by Axellus and Denomega gains Friend of the Sea ecocertification

Axellus-group is the Health-Supplement company of the Orkla group, a Scandinavian Conglomerate with a solid global presence. Established in 1654, today it is the leading supplier of branded consumer goods to the Nordic grocery market.

The Norwegian company was found to meet all Friend of the Sea sustainable seafood certification requirements. The fishery is formed of 1000 boats operating around the Lofoten Islands and the cod liver oil is produced at AXELLUS processing plants in Norway, where it undergoes strict quality controls.

The cod stock is not overexploited in the target fishing areas and overfishing is not occurring. The Northeast Arctic cod stock is the largest in the world and fishing activity is managed by a severe system of fishing quotas.

Fishing vessels use long line, purse seine, fixed net and jigging and all used gears have no impact on seabed. Furthermore all gears are identified by a tag in order to avoid ghost fishing. No fishing is allowed in protected areas.

No discard occurs in the cod fishing and there are no species included in the IUCN red list. In case by-catch occurs with the longlines, animals can be released at sea alive.

The Fiskeridirectorate operates as surveillance service and control. It performs a constant monitoring on the stocks through inspection activity on the boats and through the use of logbook data. Each single measure is defined for specific specie, area limits, period and it’s communicated directly to the vessels’ captains by e-mail.

A waste and energy efficiency system is in place; no ozone depleting refrigerants are used and records of fuel consumption are registered.

“We’re very glad to have obtained Friend of the Sea certification to prove the sustainable origin of our products” Shaher Y. Khan, COO of Axellus-group.