Feature story - 20 September, 2006
IGLO/Birds Eye Frozen Foods is the Number one frozen food player in Europe, operating mainly in the UK under the Birds Eye brand, and in Germany and Austria under the IGLO brand. Birds Eye proudly proclaims it makes, "enough fish sticks every year to stretch around the equator!" What they don't tell you is that over a third of their cod fish sticks could be stolen, the fish plundered illegally from the Baltic and Barents Seas.
Cod found in a pirate fishermen's net.
Would you buy a used car if a third of the parts were stolen?
Recently Unilever sold Birds Eye and IGLO in Europe to Permira,
an investment company. The sale isn't final until the end of the
year. Unilever continually promises to ensure that all their fish
came from sustainable sources.
Unfortunately, they have a serious problem with a lot of illegal
fish in their supply chain, including cod. Danish company Espersen
is one of their main suppliers of cod. Espersen sources directly
and indirectly from the Baltic, and indirectly from the Barents.
This hides Unilever behind a wall of others, but this does not
remove their responsibility.
It also means Captain Birdseye cannot guarantee that the fish in
your supermarket is not from illegal pirate fishing.
Before the sale to Permira is finalized, Unilever should live up
to its promises and announce publicly its intention to ensure that
Permira isn't buying an illegal cod-laundering operation.
What's so bad about cod?
Scientists are calling for a drastic reduction of quotas, and
even a complete stop to cod fishing in the eastern Baltic Sea from
2007.
It's bad enough that the official Baltic cod quota is 49,000
tonnes - more than three times the quota recommended by scientists
for 2006. To make matters worse, a huge amount of additional cod
which is illegally caught is landed in harbours around the Baltic
Sea bound for EU dinner plates - including your Birdseye or IGLO
fishsticks. At that rate, cod may soon be off the menu for
good.
Why target fish companies? What about governments?
Birds Eye and IGLO are of the world's biggest users of cod and
have the power to influence the supply chain. Unlike many of their
competitors, Unilever has made no public commitment on countering
illegal cod in their products.
Stop the stolen fish
Tell Captain Birds Eye to stop selling stolen fish.
Arctic Sunrise weblog
Read updates from the Arcric Sunrise in the Baltic Sea.