U.S. retailer Target is facing a class-action lawsuit over sustainability claims regarding its private-label Good & Gather tuna products.
According to the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the front label of Target’s Good & Gather canned and pouched tuna states that it is “sustainably caught” and includes the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) checkmark logo. Additionally, back-of-label statements include “sustainable seafood” and “wild caught using sustainable practices to help protect ocean resources for future generations to enjoy,” according to the complaint.
Plaintiff Sarah Kim alleged that these statements represent false and fraudulent advertising and specifically called out the “unsustainable” fishing practices of Target’s tuna supplier The Tuna Store LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bellevue, Washington, U.S.A.-headquartered Tri Marine Group, which itself is owned by the Bolton Group in Milan, Italy.
“The Bolton Group is a massive, global fishing conglomerate. Greenpeace has issued reports on the failures of the Bolton Group to meet its marketed sustainability goals. Target’s tuna products are caught by fisheries that utilize … large-scale fishing methods that indisputably harm the oceans and marine life through bycatch, overfishing, and ghost gear,” the complaint said.
Those large-scale fishing methods, according to the complaint, include longline fishing, which is used to catch Target’s albacore tuna products, and purse-seine fishing, which is used to catch non-albacore tuna products.
Longline vessels, according to the complaint, utilize heavy-duty, miles-long fishing lines “with thousands” of harmful hooks, and though they catch target fish, they also catch non-targeted species such as endangered sea turtles that slowly drown. Purse-seine vessels, according to the complaint, utilize large nets that “encircle schools of fish and indiscriminately capture all marine life within the net, severely injuring and killing seals, sharks, and endangered sea turtles.”
Therefore, the complaint stated that Good & Gather packaging leads consumers to believe that the fishing methods behind the products are sustainable, when in reality, the large-scale fishing methods are “anything but sustainable and indisputably harm marine wildlife and ecosystems.”
Per the complaint, the retailer touts its “Target Forward” sustainability campaign, in which it highlights its partnership with MSC that aims to “encourage our guests to make the right decisions.”
“Target knows that conscientious consumers go shopping in search of sustainable products, which, in turn, drives market share,” the complaint said. “Reasonable consumers believe the fisheries used to catch the supposed ‘sustainably caught’ tuna products are maintaining healthy fish populations and protecting ocean ecosystems.”
Despite representing to consumers that it has “full traceability” of its tuna products, Target “turns a blind eye to the unsustainable fishing practices used in sourcing its tuna products and boldly uses [its] Sustainability Promise as proof of sustainable fishing methods,” the complaint said.
The complaint is one of numerous lawsuits related to sustainability claims and eco-labels made in recent years, such as lawsuits filed against Mowi, Gorton’s, ALDI, Conagra, Bumble Bee Foods, and Red Lobster.
The Target complaint was filed by Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.A.-based law firm Pearson Warshaw. Neither the law firm nor Target responded to SeafoodSource’s requests for comment.
