Greenpeace gives just one B.C. grocer a passing grade
Randy Shore
June 3rd, 2010
The Vancouver Sun
Overwaitea has received a top rating in the second annual Greenpeace report on sustainable seafood.
Called Taking Stock: Ranking Supermarkets on Seafood Sustainability, the report awarded the B.C.-based grocery chain that includes Save-On-Foods a score of 51 per cent, the only passing grade of the eight chains ranked.
All eight grocers continue to sell some of the fish on the Greenpeace Redlist, which identifies food fish that are destructively fished or farmed. But Overwaitea's decision to adopt specific criteria to determine which fish they will sell put them ahead of their closest competitor in the rankings, the Loblaw Group, which includes Real Canadian Superstore and T&T Supermarket, said Greenpeace oceans campaigner Sarah King.
Both Overwaitea and Loblaw have stopped selling four of the 15 species on the Redlist in Superstore and Save-On stores in B.C. T&T is in the early stages of implementing the Loblaw policy, which extends to canned and packaged products including pet foods.
Overwaitea has partnered with Sea-Choice.orgto define its sustainable seafood policy. Loblaw is relying on murky guidelines and Marine Stewardship Council certification, which Greenpeace does not recognize, King said.
The council is considering certifying Fraser River sockeye as sustainable "and that fishery is in collapse," she noted.
Overwaitea's decision to seek salmon from land-based farms helped to put them over the top, she said.
"Greenpeace advocates moving salmon farms out of the water into on-land enclosed systems and Overwaitea is supporting that," King said.
"Supermarkets have stopped selling imperilled species such as shark, skates and bluefin tuna, which are not big sellers," said Beth Hunter, Greenpeace oceans campaign coordinator. "Now retailers need to focus on no longer selling fish that may be consumer favourites, but are still destructively fished or farmed."
Source: The Vancouver Sun
Posted June 3rd, 2010
