Sustainable Seafood Markets
A pile of freshly caught fish on-board the 'Reiderland'. This German pair trawler is bottom trawling for North Sea Cod. © Greenpeace / Christian Aslund
Greenpeace targets supermarkets across the country in an effort to convince them to stop selling Redlist seafood—the most destructively fished or farmed species—and develop policies for greener seafood. As the middlemen between the oceans and the consumer, supermarkets play a pivotal role in the destruction of our oceans and have an opportunity to protect them.
Each of the 21 species on Greenpeace’s Redlist is there because it meets a strict set of criteria that evaluate stock status, species vulnerability and the environmental impacts of fishing methods. There are different sets of criteria for farmed and wild species.
Marine ecosystems have suffered a terrible toll from decades of industrial fishing. About three-quarters of global fish stocks are fished at capacity or overfished. Ninety per cent of large, predatory species have disappeared. In Canada, cod has all but vanished. To ensure oceans recover and fish are sustained, overfishing and other destructive practices must end.
How Greenpeace works to ensure fish for the future
Challenging the marketplace: Our supermarket campaign takes direct action at Canadian grocery chains to convince them to stop selling Redlist fish and improve seafood labelling. To track progress, Greenpeace produces an annual ranking of Canada’s supermarkets.
- Working with retailers: Greenpeace works with supermarkets to help them create more sustainable seafood procurement policies and push for more sustainable fisheries and better certification.
- Informing consumers: We reach out to consumers through our actions, and invite them to educate themselves by reading our ranking and other materials.
- Pressuring the government: We lobby federal politicians to demand responsible fisheries management and to create no-take areas in marine reserves. Greenpeace is part of a coalition that has sued the Canadian government for stronger regulations to protect our marine species at risk.