Greenpeace challenges supermarkets on sustainable seafood species
fishupdate.com
14 October, 2005 - THE environmental group Greenpeace has launched an attack on retailers who it claims “do next to nothing to ensure that their fish is sourced from sustainable sources.” The group says it wants supermarkets, as the leading retailers of seafood in the UK, to face up to their responsibilities.
Greenpeace claims that retailers and the fishing industry are destroying the health of the oceans, by taking more and more fish to fill the shelves of supermarkets.
On its website, the group claims: ‘Globally, three quarters of commercial fish stocks have been fully exploited and nearly 90% of stocks of large predatory fish are already gone. In the UK, £1.8billion worth of seafood is sold every year - nearly 90% of it through supermarkets."
It goes on to claim that a number of supermarket giants "sell massive qualities of fish, yet do next to nothing to ensure that their fish is sourced from sustainable sources’.
Now, Greenpeace is challenging supermarket bosses. The website asks: "Will you take responsibility for your role in harming our oceans by refusing to sell the least sustainable seafood species?’
Greenpeace's claims have been refuted by seafood industry figures who say the claims are inaccurate. Phil MacMullan, Seafish’s head of environmental policy said: “Seafish is committed to supporting a responsible and efficient fishing industry that balances consumer demand with the conservation of stocks for the future and we welcome efforts made by any other organisation to ensure this happens.
"However we have concerns over some of the claims being made in the report by Greenpeace including the list of fish not to buy. In fact a number of these species are being sourced from sustainable resources and are doing very well. North Sea haddock stocks for instance are currently the highest they have been for 35 years and according to International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) they are being harvested sustainably.
“Supermarkets along with the rest of the seafood industry are committed to supporting a sustainable seafood industry and Seafish works with multiples to ensure best practice including a sustainable future for fisheries. This means encouraging good conservation practice and good buying practice. There are over 100 varieties of seafood available in the UK and many supermarkets are making efforts to promote species that are in plentiful supply around the UK such as mackerel and pollack to lessen the pressure on more traditional species.”
www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish European Fish Trader, Fishing Monthly, Fish Farming Today, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners. |
