Greenpeace challenges Thai Union with new campaign

Greenpeace has launched a global campaign aimed at one of the world’s largest canned tuna companies, Thai Union Group (TU), urging that the producer take the necessary steps in ridding its supply chains of labor abuse and wasteful fishing practices.

Spurred by investigations and media reports from the New York Times and the Associated Press that connected Thai Union to human rights abuses and destructive fishing methods, Greenpeace USA made attempts to contact the company on 2 October.

The NGO demanded that TU hand over any work plan and schedule in place that detailed the company’s intent to embrace “lower-impact fishing techniques and increased oversight, traceability and transparency at sea.”

According to Greenpeace, the fishing methods utilized by Thai Union and its subsidiary brands – including purse seining with fish aggregating devices (FADs), and longlining – have resulted in high levels of bycatch, especially in the case of sharks, turtles, juvenile tuna and seabirds. Moreover, these methods are often associated with illegal fishing and human rights violations, said the NGO.

“We can no longer allow Thai Union Group and its brands around the world to sacrifice the world’s oceans and jeopardize workers at sea,” said Greenpeace USA Seafood Markets Lead Graham Forbes in a statement. “For far too long, Thai Union Group has passed the blame onto others and hidden behind ineffective policies. Until this industry giant takes responsibility and demonstrates real leadership, we will work to ensure that every single customer knows it’s not just tuna that comes with purchasing one of its tainted brands.”

In addition to the call placed by Greenpeace USA on Friday, Greenpeace Southeast Asia also dispatched an investor brief to Thai Union Group shareholders detailing the risks that come with associating with a company like TU. Legal and reputational risks have emerged with implications of human rights abuses and forced labor, noted the NGO; Greenpeace cited the three class-action lawsuits be which name TU as “the supplier of fish caught via forced labor and used in Chicken of the Sea canned tuna and pet food brands in the US.” Sustaining future revenue will be difficult for the company with destructive fishing methods and overfishing in place, concluded the NGO in the brief.

Greenpeace noted that many Taiwanese fishing vessels supply Thai Union Group brands around the world – Taiwan received a yellow card from the European Union on 1 October for its failure to take action against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Thailand, another EU yellow card recipient, is home to Thai Union Group, which presents an opportunity: “As the largest seafood company in Thailand, TU’s actions could help determine whether the country is issued a red card, which would mean a complete ban of Thai fisheries products in the EU market,” said Greenpeace.

Access more information about the Greenpeace campaign here: http://tuna.greenpeace.org/

Read the brief sent to company investors here: http://us.greenpeace.org/site/DocServer/Thai_Union_Investor_Brief.pdf/1580047474?docID=861&verID=1

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