Greenpeace today welcomes the commitment by Greenseas to end their use of destructive fishing practices in sourcing their tuna, following a public outcry.
The brand has announced it has ended its arrangement with suppliers that used Fish Aggregating Devices, or FADs, after Greenpeace’s 2017 Canned Tuna Guide found they were the worst performing of all the major brands on the Australian market.
“These devices are indiscriminate killers of sea life long abandoned by all the other major brands and we welcome Greenseas’ immediate commitment to stop using them,” Greenpeace campaigner Andrew Kelly said.
“This commitment means that seven years after Greenpeace and its supporters launched a campaign to clean up the Australian canned tuna market, every major brand has reformed and our tuna companies are now among the most responsible in the world.”
Following the release of the Greenpeace 2017 Canned Tuna Guide, a public backlash saw more than 18,000 people email Woolworths urging them to drop the Greenseas brand from their shelves.
The supermarket giant then scheduled an emergency meeting with Kraft Heinz, the owner of Greenseas, to request immediate action on these customer concerns.
“The speed of this announcement shows the power of Australian consumers – and Greenpeace supporters – to effect change,” Kelly said.
“Despite Greenseas being the first major tuna supplier to commit to going FAD-free in 2012, they did nothing to honour this commitment.
“In the last week the public have shown they care about these issues and will punish brands that fail to live up to their word.
“We applaud Woolworths for responding quickly to the public’s concerns and working with their suppliers, including Greenseas, to ensure they meet the ethical standards their customers expect.”
Commenting on how Greenpeace would ensure these commitments were kept, Mr Kelly said: “We are looking forward to working with Woolworths to monitor the situation to ensure that this time, promises made by Greenseas to the Australian consumer are kept.”
“Greenpeace will also monitor Greenseas’ policies to ensure that their supply chain is a responsible one which eliminates labour abuses and illegal fishing practices that are currently rife in the global tuna industry.”
FADs are a type of floating ocean lure which enables large fishing vessels to haul in large amounts of marine life with less effort than other fishing methods.
This marine life can often includes baby tuna, other fish, sharks, sea turtles and numerous other creatures which are tossed back into the ocean dead or dying.