Supermarkets Asked To Take Seafood Off Shelves

According to a report done by Greenpeace, North American supermarkets are blamed for contributing to global fisheries collapse.

Canada’s big three grocery chains – Sobeys, Loblaws, and Metro –were all poorly ranked for purchasing fish species that help to sustain marine ecosystems. Alongside Canadian supermarkets, twenty leading supermarket chains in the U.S. were also among those ranked poorly, based on their practices and policies.

In Canada, Sobeys is considered the worst offender, selling 16 out of 17 fish that are on Greenpeace’s endangered “Redlist”. Loblaws sells 15 of the species, and Metro sells 14. Smaller grocers, such as Wal-Mart and Costco, sells six fish on the Redlist.

The following species were identified by Greenpeace on their “Redlist,” which were identified based on their stock status, management by fisheries, occurrence of illegal fishing activity, and environmental impacts:

The following shows U.S. supermarket chain rankings:

The top five

The bottom five (five being the worst)

Greenpeace predicts that if the trend continues, world fisheries could collapse within the next 40 years. In order to prevent this, supermarkets need to abide by a list of practices recommended by Greenpeace. Such practices include not purchasing: depleted fish stocks or deep-sea species, from fisheries that jeopardize protected species, and unsustainable farmed products.