American retail chain Publix is hitting back at a scathing report from Greenpeace released last week that argued people should not buy seafood at any of its stores.
The Lakeland, Fla., USA-based retailer told a local newspaper that the report, Carting Away the Oceans, unfairly characterized Publix as being insensitive to sustainable fishing.
"We find that it is impossible to clearly articulate all the work we are conducting and participating in when it comes to sustainable seafood," Brian West, a spokesman for the company, told the paper.
Greenpeace’s report listed 25 major retail chains from around the world, and ranked their seafood based on Greenpeace’s assessment of how sustainable it is. Among other criticisms, Greenpeace urged customers not to buy fresh or canned seafood at any Publix store. The chain, according the report, doesn’t have a sustainable canned tuna line to offer, and sells many fresh fish that Greenpeace considers too endangered to fish safely.
West acknowledged that the chain sells shark, but that most of it is blacktip reef shark, which is a sustainable species. West also said the chain is in contact with authorities in Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand to ensure that supplies of canned seafood are produced sustainably, and not at the expense of human rights.
