After protesting at supermarkets in 19 Spanish cities in April, Greenpeace on Monday re-released its report ranking Spanish retailers according to their sustainable seafood purchasing policies.
The environmental activist organization called on six major supermarket chains to act urgently to improve their policies. But it praised Lidl, which ranked first on the list, for removing from its stores several species on Greenpeace’s red list, adding that Lidl’s “orange” status means progress is still needed to reach its “green” status.
Alcampo ranked second on the list. Greenpeace protested at the retailer’s Madrid store in April.
“Greenpeace wants to congratulate Alcampo for changing its [seafood] purchasing policy and for gradually withdrawing threatened species [from its stores]. These measures have resulted in [Alcampo] rising in the ranking, although it continues to be in the red,” said Paloma Colmenarejo of Greenpeace-Spain’s oceans campaign.
El Corte Inglés, Eroski and Mercadona ranked third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Ranking the lowest in six of seven categories, Carrefour was singled out by Greenpeace for its poor performance; it was the only retailer to drop in the ranking compared to last year’s ranking. Greenpeace said it was unable to verify whether Carrefour has a written sustainable seafood purchasing policy.
“Large chains of distribution do not only have the economic power to change the logistics of industrial fishing grounds, but they also have the social responsibility to protect fishing resources and local fishermen,” said Colmenarejo.
