Washington, DC—Today, Greenpeace released its 2015 Carting Away the Oceans (CATO) report, which evaluates and ranks supermarkets on their efforts to protect both the oceans and seafood industry workers. As concerns continue to mount over slavery and human rights abuses in the seafood industry, the ninth edition of CATO found that the 25 retailers profiled need to address the industry’s failure to confront abuses and illegal operations in global supply chains.
“Investigations continue to reveal that slavery and human rights abuses are widespread problems in the global seafood industry. Retailers must do their part to protect both the oceans and the workers that provide seafood,” said Greenpeace Senior Oceans Campaigner David Pinsky. “Ultimately, the buck stops with the supermarkets that sell seafood associated with forced labor or human rights abuses, and it’s simply unacceptable that none have made it a priority.”
Whole Foods, Wegmans, Hy-Vee and Safeway ranked as the top four retailers overall this year, finishing in the “good” category. Among other positive steps, each of the retailers has begun to address Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and human rights abuses through policies, political advocacy and participation in industry- and NGO-led conversations to identify solutions. However, all retailers must strengthen their efforts and urgently address this global problem. Southeastern Grocers, Roundy’s, Publix, A&P and Save Mart all finished in the red “fail” category in the ranking.
“Retailers must consult respected labor and human rights groups to urgently develop industry-wide solutions. This issue must be brought to the forefront and addressed, ensuring safe, fair, and equitable treatment of all workers in the seafood industry,” added Pinsky.
The report also examined the canned tuna sourcing of the 25 retailers. Since Greenpeace’s last report, Costco and Target introduced their own brands of ocean safe canned tuna, and Giant Eagle has developed a more sustainable canned tuna sourcing policy. Larger retailers like Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons (now Albertsons-Safeway), Publix, Delhaize and Meijer do not offer their customers ocean safe tuna through their house brands.
In March, Greenpeace released its first-ever canned tuna guide in the U.S., which found that 80 percent of canned tuna comes from destructive, irresponsible, and wasteful fishing practices. The three biggest brands—StarKist, Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea—source the majority of the irresponsibly caught tuna tainting the retail sector.
“The tuna industry is particularly destructive—both for industry workers and the oceans we depend on,” said Pinsky. “Retailers that sell or are supplied by Bumble Bee, Chicken of the Sea or Starkist are complicit. Many of those same retailers sell unsustainable tuna under their own brand names, and have either no policy or an inadequate policy to solve this problem. For the health of the oceans and the people that bring food to our tables, this must change.”
CATO also looked at retailers’ support for protecting the Bering Sea canyons in Alaska. This year, Whole Foods, Wegmans, Giant Eagle, Costco, Roundy’s and Southeastern Grocers urged the government to protect the canyons—to date, 11 retailers have done so. The Bering Sea is one of the most ecologically rich and commercially productive areas in the world, providing over half of the seafood caught in the U.S.
In this year’s report, 80 percent of retailers received passing scores overall. To view the entire ranking and read the report, click here: http://cato.greenpeaceusa.org/
On Saturday, July 25, Greenpeace activists will hold a day of action at Walmart stores across the country. The activists will engage customers and demand that the world’s largest retailer clean up its act on sustainable, socially responsible seafood.
###
Contact: Perry Wheeler, Greenpeace Media Officer, P: 301-675-8766
