Following the release of its third sustainable seafood scorecard profiling major supermarket retailers, Greenpeace launched a website spoofing Trader Joe's. Greenpeace activists also visited Trader Joe’s locations in San Francisco to protest the company’s lack of sustainable seafood policies and purchasing practices.
Trader Joes came in 17th out of the 20 stores evaluated by Greenpeace in their latest analysis of seafood sustainability policies at major supermarket chains. This marked the worst ranking from any of the national chains.
"The good news is that seafood sustainability is now on the radar of many major retailers so we are seeing a shift in practices, but much more progress is needed," said Greenpeace’s Senior Markets Campaigner, Casson Trenor. "Unfortunately, our oceans are in crisis and Trader Joe's not only lacks a sustainable seafood policy, it has taken no initiative in this area and continues to sell 15 of the 22 “red list” species in our report. If Trader Joe’s doesn’t change their behavior, it’s doubtful they will have any fish left to sell in the near future.”
Greenpeace is encouraging supermarkets to remove the most at-risk species of seafood from their shelves. Supermarkets can meet consumer demand for sustainable products by refusing to sell seafood from fisheries that:
- Exploit endangered, vulnerable and/or protected species, or species with poor stock status.
- Cause habitat destruction and/or lead to ecosystem alterations.
- Cause negative impacts on other, non-target species.
- Are unregulated, unreported, illegal or managed poorly.
- Cause negative impacts on local, fishing dependent communities.
