North American supermarkets can be blamed for contributing to the looming global fisheries collapse, according to a report authored by Greenpeace.
Canada's big three grocery chains -- Loblaws, Metro and Sobeys -- all fare poorly in the report for purchasing fish species that help sustain a fragile marine ecosystem.
"As key players in the seafood supply chain, retailers have an important role to play in ensuring their customers only have one seafood choice: fair and sustainable products," says the report.
In a Canadian version of the report released Tuesday, titled "Out of Stock: Supermarkets and the Future of Seafood," Greenpeace says Sobeys is the worst offender, selling 16 out of 17 fish that are on the group's endangered "Redlist".
Loblaw sells 15 of the species while Metro sells 14 of them. Smaller grocers such as Wal-Mart and Costco sell six of the red-listed fish.
However, that doesn't mean these grocers are more responsible, said Beth Hunter, Greenpeace's Ocean Campaign coordinator.
"We have to take into consideration that some of these stores don't sell a lot of fresh food, some of them offer very little variety of types of fish they do sell," she told CTV.ca in a telephone interview from Montreal. "For that reason, smaller grocers can't be compared to the bigger chains."
Fish on the Redlist were identified based on their stock status, how fisheries manage them, the prevalence of illegal fishing activity and the environmental impacts.
These species were identified by Greenpeace on their "Redlist:"
- Atlantic cod, haddock (scrod), salmon (farmed) and sea scallops
- Chilean seabass
- Greenland halibut (turbot)
- Hard shell clams (Arctic surf clams)
- New Zealand hoki (blue grenadier)
- Orange roughy
- Sharks
- Skates and rays
- Swordfish
- Tropical shrimps and prawns
- Tuna -- bluefin, bigeye and yellowfin
According to the report, Canada has one of the world's most valuable commercial fishing industries, worth more than $5 billion annually.
U.S. supermarkets ranked
A more comprehensive report was released on U.S. supermarkets.
That report, also released Tuesday, says that most U.S. grocery stores are turning a blind eye to scientific warnings about a shifting marine environment by stocking their shelves with seafood.
Twenty leading supermarket chains in the U.S. were ranked, based on their practices and policies when it comes to purchasing seafood.
"Overall, supermarkets performed poorly, with even the highest scoring companies receiving just four out of ten possible points," says a Greenpeace news release on the report. "However, the report shows cause for some optimism.
"Several large supermarkets are developing comprehensive sustainable seafood policies and are beginning to remove some of the most imperiled species from their shelves," the release says.
If the current trend continues, global fisheries could collapse within the next 40 years, release says.
Here is how U.S. supermarkets fared:
The top five
- Whole Foods Market
- Ahold USA
- Harris Teeter
- Wegmans
- Wal-Mart
The bottom five (five being the worst)
- Trader Joe's
- Meijer
- H.E Butt
- Price Chopper
- Publix
"At the bottom of the list are companies that show no evidence of awareness of sustainability issues and the growing consumer preference for sustainable goods," the release says.
Don't be fooled by the top five, the report warns. They only received a four out of 10 possible points.
It was impossible to rank Canadian supermarkets, Hunter said, because most of them do not have sustainable seafood policies.
"We are planning on ranking them, we're just holding off at this time," she said. "We'll be able to evaluate the actions they take, how they deal with vulnerable species and what policies they have in place."
Greenpeace also released a list of fish species supermarkets and consumers should avoid to help ensure long-term sustainability of underwater eco-systems.
Here is a list of practices that Greenpeace recommends supermarkets abide by:
- Don't buy depleted fish stocks, such as bigeye, bluefin, yellowfin, and South Atlantic albacore tunas.
- Don't buy from fisheries that jeopardize protected species by taking them as bycatch, such as hoki, or by destroying seafloor habitats, as with bottom trawling.
- Don't buy vulnerable deep-sea species such as orange roughy and Chilean sea bass.
- Don't buy farmed products that rely on wild-caught fish for feed, those that involve deforestation of coastal mangroves, use antibiotics or pesticides, jeopardize wild populations through escapes or disease, or have negative impacts on coastal communities.
