Activists mark Baltic cod products at an ICA store with "STOLEN FISH" stickers.
Only some fresh cod remains, and at least one of the major
supermarkets are in discussions to get rid of that too. Our Oceans
campaigner Frode Pleym says, "Even though this is only applicable
in Sweden, it's a great step forward for sustainable fishing
policies across Nordic countries."
ICA: Not worth selling cod
ICA was the last major supermarket in Sweden to keep selling
potentially "stolen" Baltic cod, even after we
confronted them last year, and released
a report from our ship the Arctic Sunrise, outlining the
illegal and unsustainable practices of the Baltic Sea cod
fisheries. But this week they finally relented, according to
Sweden's major newspaper Dagens Nyheter
.
Frode spoke to the Purchasing Department of ICA Sweden
yesterday, and reports that their decision is largely due to the
work we did last year - and of course, Ocean Defenders everywhere.
"ICA said that they made a cost-benefit analysis of continuing to
sell Baltic cod," says Frode. "They decided that it was just not
worth continuing when the public clearly had such a great concern."
Making piracy history
Over the last year, the Defending Our Oceans expedition has
battled pirate fishing in
West Africa, the
Pacific,
the Netherlands,
Russia and the
Baltic and
Barents Seas. Meanwhile, Greenpeace UK has made significant
steps towards sustainable procurement policies in
UK supermarkets, and we are in discussions with major food
brands such as Birds Eye and Iglo to stick with guidelines to make
sure their cod is also legal.
oceans.greenpeace.org/blacklist
Today we launched the first public global database of
blacklisted, illegal fishingvessels, in a bid to tackle the huge
problem of illegal, unregulatedand unreported (IUU) pirate fishing,
a $9 billion rogue industry which ishaving a devastating effect on
fish stocks and biodiversity in some ofthe most ecologically
important areas of the world's oceans.
But is this enough? Last year the news that commercial
fishing as we know it might be over by 2048 unless things
change sent shockwaves through the industry. In the end, the only
thing that will save the cod -- from both illegal fishing and legal
overfishing -- and various other species that end up regularly on
our dinner plates, is a network of properly enforced
marine reserves.
But this victory in Sweden might be one step towards that goal,
because if your dinner menu starts changing, the industry will have
to follow.
The Blacklist
Check out our new database of pirate fishing vessels!
Ship's weblog
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