Colleges start to embrace sustainable seafood label as science institute shops stamp

A Maine science center is targeting colleges and universities to carry its label that promises seafood dishes are harvested locally and sustainably.

The Portland-based Gulf of Maine Research Institute offers a "responsibly harvested" label to food vendors that can source products back to the Gulf of Maine. Supermarkets are the primary vendors so far. Institute seafood brand manager Kyle Foley says Wellesley College in Massachusetts and the University of New Hampshire are the first colleges to sign on to use the label.

The institute says it works with seafood processors to determine if species like cod and lobster are harvested in a way that contributes to the long-term health of the fish stock. The processors then sublicense the right to use the label to vendors, like stores and schools.