Loblaws, Sobey’s, Metro, Wal-Mart, Costco, Safeway, Overwaitea, and Federated Cooperatives are all targeted by Greenpeace in this 56-page report—launched simultaneously with a new logo. The Greenpeace report updates the state of fish and seafood stocks and shows an alarming decline, gives the results on an investigation into the seafood purchasing practices of Canada’s leading retail chains and presents the Redlist of seafood that should not be bought or sold.

Download the report

The report notes that 90 per cent of large, commercially valuable species, such as cod, tuna and swordfish, have vanished from the oceans. In addition, 27 million tonnes of marine life are caught incidentally and thrown overboard dead or dying each year. Destructive fishing practices lead to 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises and 100 million sharks being killed annually. The report also calls attention to coastal communities with little to no access to clean, potable water because of contamination by harmful shrimp farms.

Oceans are in peril because global fishing operations take 2.5 times more fish and seafood than is sustainable. Canadian supermarkets sell 63 per cent of seafood available for consumption and are in a key position to work with industry and government to improve the sustainability of the industry, and help consumers make informed decisions.

Greenpeace calls on supermarkets to stop selling the Redlist vulnerable species, to adopt policies to help ensure sustainable seafood sales, and to provide consumers with adequate information about their seafood. 75 per cent of Canadians questioned recently in a Léger Marketing/Greenpeace survey said they would choose sustainable seafood if supermarkets provided them with the information they need to make better choices. For consumers, the better choice is anything but clear. Inadequate labelling of seafood products is a major barrier for even the most informed shoppers because seafood products rarely indicate where and how the species were caught or farmed.

Related Resources

• Take Action - Write or call your supermarket
• Fact sheet - Greenpeace Seafood Report: Out of Stock
• Backgrounder - Out of Stock: The future of seafood and the responsibility of supermarkets
• Seafood Redlist
• Greenpeace-Leger survey
• Sarah King introduces the report

The Greenpeace report shows the purchasing practices of Canada’s eight largest supermarket chains are discouraging. None has sustainable seafood purchasing policies in place. They all sell “Redlist” fish, with Loblaws (32 per cent market share) and Sobey’s (15 per cent market share) selling all the Redlist species. In contrast, many supermarkets in Europe and the US have policies in place to avoid Redlist species.

Greenpeace asks supermarkets to remove the “Redlist” species from their shelves and adopt sustainable seafood procurement policies. By doing so, supermarkets can send a message to producers further up the supply chain.

Greenpeace is also advocating for a global network of marine reserves to protect marine biodiversity and allow threatened stocks and habitats to recover. Protecting 40 per cent of the ocean in marine reserves and enforcing sustainable management in the other 60 per cent, will help ensure a future for seafood. Similar reports by Greenpeace are being launched today in the United States, Spain and by Greenpeace International.

You can read the Out of Stock report on our website and also look at videos of industrial fishing plus video of the news conference launching the supermarket campaign. Links take you to the most important facts of the report, as well as background information, the Greenpeace/Léger Marketing survey and the complete Greenpeace Redlist. You can also download photos of our new logo for the campaign.