Activists canvassed the area outside the store with a large
banner reading "Don't Buy, Don't Sell Redlist Fish" and handed out
information leaflets to customers. Another banner targeted the
store directly, reading "Slowbeys - it's time to act!"
"Greenpeace is at Sobeys today to let consumers know that
Canada's supermarkets are major accomplices in ocean destruction,"
said Liam O'Doherty, a Greenpeace oceans activist. "We are asking
their customers to help us convince Sobeys to stop the sale of
Redlist fish and begin selling sustainable seafood."
Through the Greenpeace confrontation campaign against major
supermarket chains, activists will challenge store management at
grocery outlets in 19 cities in five provinces over the coming
weeks. So far, Greenpeace has had activities at stores in Victoria,
North Bay and Trois-Rivières.
The action follows the release of a new Greenpeace report
entitled Out of Stock, Out of Excuses: Ranking retailers on seafood
sustainability. The report ranks Canada's major grocery chains on
their sustainability efforts under seven criteria, including the
quality of their seafood policies and the number of Redlist species
sold.
The Sobeys chain received a failing grade in part because it
refuses to release a sustainable seafood policy. Greenpeace
delivered a copy of the ranking report to the store's manager.
"Sobeys has a poor ranking in the Greenpeace report because it
refuses to take action to protect our fish stocks from commercial
extinction," said O'Doherty. "We want their customers to know that
Sobeys is helping to fish our oceans to death."
Editor's Note:
A backgrounder and the full Out of Stock, Out of Excuses report
are available at
the end of the news release "Ranking fails all Canadian
supermarkets on supporting sustainable seafood" on the Greenpeace
press centre: www.greenpeace.ca/press.
The Redlist species are: Arctic surf clams, Atlantic cod,
Atlantic haddock, Atlantic halibut, Atlantic salmon, Atlantic sea
scallops, Chilean seabass, Greenland halibut, New Zealand hoki,
orange roughy, sharks, skates and rays, swordfish, tropical shrimp
and prawns, and tuna. More information on the Redlist species is in
the report.
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For more information, please contact:
Lishai Peel, Media Officer, (416) 420-6419 (on location in
Peterborough)
Liam O'Doherty, Oceans Activist, (416) 897-4965 (on location in
Peterborough)