Activists canvassed the area outside the store which is part of
the Metro chain with a large banner reading "Don't Buy, Don't Sell
Redlist Fish" and handed out information leaflets to customers.
Another banner was raised that targeted the store directly, reading
"Metro: Selling Fish to Death."
"Greenpeace is at A&P today to let consumers know that
Canada's supermarkets are major accomplices in ocean destruction,"
said Liam O'Doherty, a Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner. "We are asking
their customers to help us convince Metro to stop the sale of
Redlist fish and begin selling sustainable seafood."
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 Metro chain received the lowest ranking, in part because it
has no plan to develop a sustainable seafood policy. Greenpeace
delivered a copy of the ranking report to the store's manager.
"Metro is last in the Greenpeace ranking because it refuses to
take action to protect our fish stocks from commercial extinction,"
said O'Doherty. "We want their customers to know that Metro 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:
http://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, tropical shrimp and prawns,
and tuna. More information on the Redlist species is in the
report.
For more information, please
contact:
Lishai Peel, Media Officer, (416) 721-4889 (on location in North
Bay)
Liam O'Doherty, Oceans Campaigner, (416) 699-9591 (on location
in North Bay)
Alex Paterson
Media & Public Relations Officer
Greenpeace Canada
Office: 416 597 8408 ext 3052
Mobile: 416 524 8496
