But oceans are in danger. The global seafood industry is
constantly stretching the limits to feed the growing global demand
for fish. Today, destructive fishing methods and overfishing are
the main threats to the survival of marine ecosystems. According to
the UN, almost three-quarters of global fish stocks are depleted or
overexploited. There has been a 90% decline in global stocks of
large predatory fish, particularly tuna, swordfish, shark, and cod.
The disappearance of these large predators has left more room for
small, fast-growing fish and invertebrates-a process which leads to
fishing down the food chain. If the situation does not change,
current practices could lead to oceans filled with jellyfish, as is
the case in the Black Sea, where this species now accounts for 90%
of aquatic wildlife.
The consequences of industrial fishing
Over the past fifty years, new technologies and the depletion of
coastal stocks have prompted industrial fishing boats to go into
deeper, unexplored and unregulated waters.
As well as depleting fish stocks, industrial fishing leads to
the destruction of marine habitats. Bottom trawling, the most
destructive method of fishing, is widespread in many regions of the
world. Huge nets, kept open by metallic doors, scrape the ocean
floor, removing everything in their way, including fragile
ecosystems of coral and sea sponges. In Canada, bottom trawling is
one of the most common methods of fishing (26%).
Another disturbing consequence of commercial fishing is bycatch,
the non-targeted species caught or killed during fishing
operations. Each year, 300 000 whales, dolphins, and porpoises, 100
million sharks and skates, thousands of tonnes of coral, and
millions of tonnes of other fish species are caught or killed for
no valid reason.
The industry's miracle solution to this situation is aquaculture
. Globally, this sector is growing at a very fast pace, supplying
almost half (43%) of all fish consumed by humans. This method,
however, can have disastrous consequences on ecosystems, such as a
decrease in biodiversity and contamination of wild fish.
Market campaign
The British example
Over the course of the past two years, Greenpeace UK has been
conducting a campaign aiming to convince major retailers in the
country to take their share of the responsibility to protect oceans
by changing their seafood procurement policies. Greenpeace decided
to focus on supermarkets; it considers that because of their
purchasing power, they are in the best position to convince
suppliers to ban certain destructive fishing practices and to help
clients make informed choices. Following the publication in October
2005 of a chart ranking supermarkets by their procurement policies
and as a result of ongoing consultations, most of the UK's
retailers have adopted sustainable seafood procurement policies.
Supermarkets such as Marks and Spencer as well as Waitrose have
published their new purchasing policies and hired fisheries
scientists to help manage procurement. The retailers also have
close ties with their suppliers and inform them of the growing
client demand for sustainable seafood products. Supermarkets have
eliminated certain products from their shelves, notably sole,
swordfish, and skate. Retailers now label the country of origin of
their products and are providing more information on fishing
methods used.
In Canada
Greenpeace is launching a campaign across Canada so that
supermarkets, which are at the heart of the problem, get involved
in the protection of oceans. Supermarkets must realize that their
responsibility is twofold: pressuring suppliers to change their
fishing practices and helping consumers make responsible choices by
supplying them with sufficient information. The Canadian food
market is one of the most concentrated in the world, with the three
biggest players accounting for more than 75% of the market.
Loblaw
- Loblaw is Canada's largest food distributor.
- It owns 672 corporate, 405 franchised, and 451 associated
stores, and its sales for 2007 were $29 407 billion CAN.
- To our knowledge, Loblaw has no sustainable seafood procurement
policy and provides no labelling to allow consumers to make
informed choices.
- In May 2008, Loblaw announced a commitment to offer Marine
Stewardship Council (MSC) certified seafood.
- RED LIST: Loblaw sells all species on the Greenpeace red
list.
Sobeys
- Sobeys (Empire Company Limited) is the second-largest food
retailer in Canada after Loblaw.
- It operates more than 1300 food and drug stores across Canada,
and its sales for 2007 were $13 408 billion CAN.
- To our knowledge, Sobeys has no wild seafood procurement policy
and provides no labelling to allow consumers to make informed
choices.
- However, Thrifty Foods (a division of Sobeys) states that it
provides clients with sufficient information about the origin and
nature of aquaculture products. They have also stopped selling most
types of farmed salmon.
- RED LIST: Sobeys sells all species on the Greenpeace red
list.
Metro
- Metro is Quebec's largest food retailer and Canada's
third.
- In 2007, it had 655 stores in Quebec and Ontario, and its sales
were $10 673 billion CAN.
- To our knowledge, Metro has no sustainable seafood procurement
policy and provides no labelling to allow consumers to make
informed choices.
- RED LIST: Metro sells all species on the Greenpeace red list,
with the exception of Hoki and hard shell clams (Arctic
Surfclams).
The red list
Sourcing sustainable seafood can prove to be a complicated
process requiring careful attention to all of the negative impacts
brought on by fishing and fish farming practices. For this reason,
Greenpeace has developed a red list of seafood from the fish stocks
or farming practices which are in need of immediate attention and
are frequently sold in the Canadian retail market. The red list
consists of "what not to eat" and "what not to sell"-species that
we are asking consumers to avoid and urging supermarkets to remove
from their shelves.
Information about seafood
According to a national survey conducted by Leger Marketing and
commissioned by Greenpeace last May, nearly 7 out of 10 Canadians
believe they are not sufficiently informed by their supermarkets
about capture methods for the fish and seafood they buy.
Three-quarters of those surveyed said that they would buy seafood
from sustainable fisheries if they were properly informed.
Currently, the process for consumers wishing to buy sustainable
seafood products is a complex one. While the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has set guidelines for the
eco-labelling of wild-caught seafood, by their own definition these
standards only set out minimum substantive requirements and
criteria for assessing whether an eco-label may be awarded to a
fishery. Current certification systems for fisheries and
aquaculture vary greatly from one organization to another, and
there is no set standard to identify the types of fisheries or
specific products that can "eco-certified." Furthermore, these
standards are voluntary, and there is no process for evaluating
compliance.
Given the absence of fully credible certification schemes and
the small percentage of seafood that is currently certified,
consumers must develop a relatively detailed understanding of
fishing and aquaculture issues in order to make sustainable seafood
choices. But even with this knowledge in hand, consumers are
hampered by the fact that the current labelling practices rarely
provide the species name, the exact catch area, or the fishing
method used. Unlike those of the European Union and the United
States, Canada's seafood labelling regulations require only the
common name of the fish and the country of production for processed
items.
Greenpeace's demands
Supermarkets have a twofold responsibility: they can both help
consumers make responsible choices and pressure suppliers to change
their fishing practices.
Supermarkets must:
- Stop selling red-listed species. Lack of commercial demand will
reduce pressure on these species and allow them to rebuild and
recover.
- Adopt and implement a sustainable seafood procurement
policy.
- Inform suppliers of sustainability requirements.
- Label products so that clients can make informed choices. This
involves providing the common and scientific names of the species,
the catch area, fish stock status, type of aquaculture used,
fishing method used, and date of catch.