Greenpeace-UK on Monday staged a protest at Princes’ Liverpool office, demanding that the canned-tuna brand’s parent company — Mitsubishi Corp. — stop its “unsustainable” tuna fishing practices, which it claims kill sharks and other marine animals.
Some Greenpeace activits scaled the front of the Princes building to hang a banner displaying dead sharks, while others dressed in shark costumes picketed with signs, one of which read, “If you found Nemo would you kill him too?” The theme from the 1975 film Jaws played in the background.
Princes finished last on Greenpeace’s list ranking the United Kingdom’s canned-tuna brands according to whether the fish is harvested in a sustainable, environmentally friendly manner, which it updated last month. “Most of [Prince’s] tuna is caught alongside large quantities of bycatch and it also sells bigeye tuna, which is described as vulnerable on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) red list, as well as yellowfin tuna. It also doesn't mention on the label how the tuna was caught or even which species it is,” said a Greenpeace campaigner at the time.
Princes on Monday replied that it was disspointed in Greenpeace’s actions. “We have been in ongoing discussions with Greenpeace and recently requested a further meeting to discuss a number of additional sustainability commitments we have recently made. It’s disappointing that they have chosen to take this action ahead of listening to what we have to say,” a Princes spokesperson told the Liverpool Echo.
Princes is the UK’s largest canned-tuna brand.
