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Supermarkets lead 'green' seafood revolution
Greenpeace commends multiples' progress in pursuing 'fish friendly' seafood sourcing
One year after Greenpeace challenged the sea food industry to clean up its act by dropping destructively fished species from its shelves, the environmental organisation has issued a report revealing major retailers in the UK are leading a revolution which is transforming the entire fishing industry.
Unveiling its league table today, Greenpeace said Marks and Spencer leads the way in sourcing sustainable seafood for the
second year running, closely followed by Waitrose. Sainsbury's lies in third position and has adopted vigorous new measures to stop the sale of some of some of the most destructively fished species like skate.
Enormous progress has also been made by Asda, which last year came bottom in the league table but has now taken joint
5th position because of the introduction of a new policy and a commitment to sell only sustainable, managed seafood within
thee to five years. Somerfield and Iceland come at the bottom of this year's league table.
Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner, Oliver Knowles, said: "The seafood industry in the UK is undergoing nothing short of a revolution, and it is being driven by the new standards in 'green' seafood demanded by supermarkets like Marks and
Spencer, Waitrose and Sainsbury's. Supermarkets are in a prime position to drive forward the protection of the oceans. They should be praised for the considerable progress that they have made in the last year but even the best can do better."
The total UK retail market for seafood is worth £1.8 billion a year, with nearly 90% of sales made through supermarkets.
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