Is Greenpeace Fishing For Something?

Controversy Brewing Over Greenpeace Survey of Retail Seafood Practices
May 20, 2008
The National Fisheries Institute is reaching out to food retailers to warn them that it suspects something fishy may be going on with Greenpeace's recently launched efforts to categorize seafood retailers and push an agenda of discouraging the sale of certain species.

The NFI, based in McLean, Va., said it objected to some of Greenpeace's requests for information. In its survey, Greenpeace asks retailers about their seafood sourcing policies, including requesting a supplier list and questioning how stores support NGOs.

NFI said Greenpeace's red list is "without scientific merit," and includes some of the world's best-managed wild species and most responsibly produced farmed species.

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) had published a more favorable assessment of the Greenpeace survey in March. "The survey follows similar retailer rankings carried out around Europe," MSC said. "In those surveys, careful seafood sourcing, labeling policies, and public promotion of sustainable seafood all improved retailers' positions in the rankings, and often differentiated themselves from their competitors."

NFI noted, however, that three of the species in Greenpeace's red list (Alaska pollock, hoki , and South Georgia toothfish) are certified sustainable by the MSC.

See the article at Progressive Grocer.