Greenpeace-UK updates canned-tuna rankings

Greenpeace-UK on Sunday updated its list ranking canned-tuna brands in the United Kingdom according to whether the fish is harvested in a sustainable, environmentally friendly manner, and again Sainsbury’s came out on top.

Sainsbury’s, which just last week pledged sell only pole-and-line caught tuna at its nearly 550 supermarkets across the United Kingdom, ranked No. 1. Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, which, according to Greenpeace, also sell only pole-and-line caught tuna, followed at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.

Co-operative came in at No 4 and Tesco at No. 5. In fact, Greenpeace took credit for influencing Tesco’s decision to carry only pole-and-line caught tuna by the end of 2012.

Rounding out the list were ASDA at No. 6, Morrisons at No. 7, John West at No. 8 and Princes at No. 9.

“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 on the environmental activist organization’s website.

The list was last compiled in 2008, when Co-operative followed Sainsbury’s a No. 2, trailed by Marks & Spencer at No. 3, ASDA at No. 4, Morrisons at No. 5, Tesco at No. 6, Princes at No. 7 and John West at No. 8. Waitrose didn’t appear on the list because, at the time, it didn’t sell private-label canned tuna.

Greenpeace surveyed each retailer or canned-tuna producer and gleaned information of their websites to compile the list. Information was also gathered by Greenpeace volunteers visiting their local supermarkets.

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