Feature story - November 19, 2008
Greenpeace activists took Loblaw by surprise today across the country by removing Redlist seafood species from the shelves and placing them in shopping carts draped with posters reading “Caught red-handed selling redlist fish.”
Greenpeace activists took Loblaw by surprise today across the country, removing Redlist seafood species from the shelves.
At the same time outside the stores, more activists handed out information to customers and held banners reading:
- 76 per cent of global fish stocks are fish at capacity or overfished
- millions of tonnes of marine life is caught accidentally each year and thrown back into the sea dead or dying.
- Over 200,000 endangered sea turtles are caught each year on longlines set out for tuna, swordfish and other fish.
- Some shrimp trawl fisheries discard over 90 per cent of the catch, which often includes sea turtles and marine mammals like these sea lions.
- 90 per cent of large, predatory species such as tuna, cod and swordfish have vanished from our oceans.
TAKEACTION
Call Galen Weston1-888-495-5111
Pick up the phone and leave a message for Galen Weston. Tell him you want Loblaw to stop selling Redlist fish and develop a sustainable seafood policy.
Unlike other supermarket chains that are working to create a sustainable seafood policy and remove Redlist species, Loblaw is hiding behind its recent commitment to source Marine Stewardship Council certified seafood, ignoring the fact that sourcing MSC does not address issues of other overfished species, destructively farmed species, and inadequate seafood labeling. This is why we are urging Canada's retail giant to move beyond MSC and take stronger steps towards ensuring fish for the future.
Our oceans are in peril largely because global fisheries are fishing at a rate of two and a half times higher than that which is sustainable. Greenpeace believes supermarkets have a role to play in shouldering their portion of the responsibility to ensure seafood for future generations through avoiding seafood coming from harmful fishing and fish farming practices. Greenpeace's campaign is also calling on supermarkets to improve their labelling of seafood products to include where and how the species was caught or farmed, allowing consumers to be able to make more informed decisions.
Yesterday's day of action was intended to influence the supermarket managers and educate the public about Loblaw's lack of commitment to seafood sustainability.
For a year now, Greenpeace has been trying to begin a dialogue with Loblaw operating under various banners including Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, SuperValu and many more, about their seafood procurement, to no avail.
Greenpeace wishes to open lines of communication with Loblaw and is offering its support for this change of direction; specifically for the creation of a sustainability strategy and concrete measures for change.