Greenpeace on Tuesday accused the global tuna industry of “hoodwinking” retailers and consumers by “indiscriminately” packing cans with fish and mislabeling product.
Greenpeace commissioned genetic testing on canned tuna from 12 countries and found “numerous inconsistencies,” including different species of tuna and juvenile tuna being packed in the same can. The environmental activist organization also accused tuna packers of failing to label the species found in the can.
The tests were conducted by Spanish laboratory AZTI Tecnalia, which analyzed product from Austria, Australia, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, Spain, Italy, United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany.
Greenpeace said fish aggregation devices (FADs) are the root of the problem and is calling on politicians to ban FADs at the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting in Hawaii on 6 December.
“Tuna companies are indiscriminately stuffing multiple species of tuna, including juveniles of species in decline, into tins that shoppers rightfully expect to contain a sustainable product,” said Nina Thuellen, Greenpeace oceans campaigner. “Retailers must act now to immediately shift their business away from cheap tuna caught using FADs with purse-seine nets and source from pole-and-line or FAD-free purse-seined tuna instead.”
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