The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) on Thursday released the results of its 2009 Sustainable Seafood Supermarket Survey, scoring eight major UK retailers according to their sustainable seafood sourcing policies.
Overall, the retailers have improved their sustainable seafood sourcing policies since the last survey in 2007.
"The supermarkets included in this survey are trying harder than ever before to put sustainability at the heart of their sourcing," said Sam Wilding, MCS fisheries officer.
Cooperative had the highest overall score at 80 percent; the retailer has eliminated all seafood from MCS' "fish to avoid" list, which includes bluefin and bigeye tuna, skate and eel, and has the largest percentage of sales from the MCS' "fish to eat" list, which includes pollock, tilapia and gurnard.
Cooperative was followed by Sainsbury's at 77 percent, Waitrose at 71 percent, Marks & Spencer at 70 percent, Morrisons at 68 percent, Tesco at 62 percent, Iceland at 57 percent and Asda at 55 percent.
"Morrisons, for example, now offers the greatest variety of fish from our ‘fish to eat' list, Sainsbury's has the best farmed seafood policy, Tesco's seafood labeling gives the best information for ethical consumers and Marks & Spencer leads the way with fisheries improvement projects," said Wilding. "Asda and Iceland have also developed strong sourcing policies."
Failing to participate in the survey were Aldi, Booths, Budgens, Farmfoods, Lidl, Netto and Spar.
"MCS was very disappointed that seven retailers did not respond and finds their reluctance to take part difficult to understand given that the survey celebrates the progress made by supermarkets in supplying sustainable seafood," said Wilding. "MCS believes all supermarkets have a key role to play in ending unsustainable fishing, and MCS looks forward to working with those retailers who ignored our survey on this occasion."
Among the questions the MCS asked retailers in the survey were:
• Does the supermarket have an environmental policy?
• What species does the supermarket sell? Are these on the MCS "fish to eat" or "fish to avoid" lists?
• Does the supermarket label seafood in a way that enables consumers to make a sustainable choice?
• Are staff trained in sustainability issues?
• Is the supermarket investing in fisheries or aquaculture improvement projects?
"In European waters, nearly nine-tenths of fish stocks are overfished. Supermarkets supply 80 percent of the seafood sold in the UK," added Wilding. "Both consumers and retailers can help stop the overfishing crisis if supermarkets supply their customers with sustainably sourced seafood."
November 26, 2009
