Swiss fishermen and women launch ‘wild fish’ label

The label guarantees that the fish “comes from a Swiss lake and was caught by a professional fisher holding a licence”. Keystone-SDA

Swiss commercial fishers have launched a new label to identify wild fish from the country’s lakes. The “Swiss Wild Fish” label is intended to guarantee the product’s origin, traceability and quality.

Swiss professional fishers’ associations are thus creating, for the first time, a standardised identification label for local fish. It is intended to help distinguish local wild fish from imported or farmed products.

The label was developed by the Lake Fishing Platform, established in 2020 in collaboration with the Swiss professional fishers’ federation (SBFV) and the association of professional fishers of French-speaking Switzerland (ASRPP).

The label guarantees that the fish “comes from a Swiss lake and was caught by a professional fisher holding a licence”. Compliance with legal provisions is also ensured.

The initiative highlights the local character, freshness and tradition of this trade. It also aims to better promote the diversity of fish species in Swiss lakes.

Not in supermarkets

The label will not be seen in supermarkets for the time being, Jean-Philippe Arm, president of the ASRPP, told news agency Keystone-SDA. The administrative burden, particularly in terms of inspections, would be too great for the fishers.

The main aim of the new label is to make consumers understand that wild fish is a high-quality, locally sourced Swiss product. The hope is that they will be willing to pay the price for it and not turn to imported fish.

According to Arm, local wild-caught fish account for only 1-3% of the market; the rest is imported. Around ten species are sold: in addition to perch and fera, other fish caught include pike, trout, common whitefish (bondelle), roach (vengeron), carp, tench (doctor fish) and catfish.

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Translated from French, reviewed by an English Department journalist.