Defending accusations of greenwashing, French retailer Leclerc on Wednesday underlined that it will not purchase any bluefin tuna caught by the country's industrial fishing fleet.
The supermarket chain's defense follows this week's criticism from Greenpeace, which claimed that Leclerc's recent sustainable seafood declaration is misleading.
Last week, E.Leclerc said it would ban siki (a type of shark), white halibut and blue ling from its fish counters. Further, the retailer, which operates about 600 small and large stores, announced it would sell only bluefin tuna caught by "artisan" boats.
But Greenpeace asserted that the company initially explained it would "engage to offer only bluefin tuna that comes exclusively from artisanal fisheries, with the exception of bluefin tuna coming from the 28 tuna boats."
Then on Tuesday, the retailer announced that it had not been clear enough, stating that "we exclude all purchases of bluefin tuna hailing from the 28 [French] tuna fishing boats."
In his blog, E.Leclerc Preisdent Michel Edouard Leclerc wrote, "When one says that one will stop the commercialization of bluefin tuna caught by the 28 French fishing boats — in other words the integrality of the industrial fishery — and when one says one will not boycott tuna from artisan fishermen, one can not be any clearer!"
Greenpeace also criticized the retailer for drawing up a plan on species that reflects current laws. Fishing for siki, for example, is already forbidden.
Bluefin tuna is grabbing headlines in Europe this week. Ahead of the CITES meeting in Doha, Qatar, next month, the European Commission threw its support behind an Appendix I listing for Atlantic bluefin tuna, which would suspend international trade of the species.
"Since there is a high risk that Atlantic bluefin tuna will soon be gone forever, we have no other choice than to act now and propose a ban on international trade," said Janez Potocnik of Slovenia, the EC's new environment commissioner.
But support for the ban was riddled with caveats, according to environmental groups such as Greenpeace. The EC wants to delay any ban until next year, giving the EU another bluefin tuna fishing season that kicks off in April. The EC claims a full trade ban would also require further scientific analysis.
February 24, 2010
