Greenpeace has released a report this week that ranks US supermarket chains on their performance in providing consumers with reliable sustainable seafood.
The stores have been ranked according to their sustainable seafood purchasing policies, if they have any, on how easy it is for consumers to understand where the seafood has been caught/raised, and on how much of the seafood sold is on the environmental group’s “red list” of 22 species that are either overfished or unsustainably farmed through aquaculture.
Of the twenty supermarket chains which were assessed, none recieved a “Good” score, but seven stores — with Wegman’s, Ahold USA and Whole Foods topping the list — earned a “Pass”. The remaining 13 chains — including Trader Joe’s — were labeled “Fail”.
Greenpeace found that 11 of the supermarket chains have made efforts to improve the sustainability of their seafood since December last year, when they carried out this investigation for the first time. Nine, have not made any apparent efforts and despite the progress there is still a long way to go for all the stores.
The top-scoring store Wegmans will not guarantee that it doesn’t sell any seafood from fisheries that are harming sea turtles, dolphins or other marine mammals. Whole Foods, which generally has a very “green” image, sells 18 of the 22 “red list” species.
“These companies have demonstrated a wilful regard for our oceans and for the growing demand among US consumers for sustainable fish and honest fish merchants,” said the report. “In spite of the good-faith attempts of Greenpeace and other environmental and consumer groups, these retailers have failed to address the serious environmental issues that have been brought to their attention, and have failed to respond to the urgency of the situation at hand.”
To read the full report, click here.
Source:
Business Green
Mother Nature Network
Bess Mucke
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