Prominent tuna company Chicken of the Sea needs to focus more on cleaning up its supply chain according to Greenpeace Oceans campaign director John Hocevar, who penned a blog post criticizing the company’s latest initiative that challenges Americans to “‘Sea the Possibilities’ of a Healthier, Happier Year in 2016.”
Hocevar argues that while seafood is an important protein for much of the world, seafood acquired by way of overfishing and forced labor is ultimately unhealthy.
“One of the problems for Chicken of the Sea is that seafood has been getting a lot of bad press lately. Its parent company, Thai Union, has been tied to a number of scandals involving human trafficking, violence, and even slavery,” Hocevar wrote.
The Greenpeacer advised Chicken of the Sea, Thai Union Group and other retailers that sell products produced by the two companies to allocate funding toward supply chain maintenance and rectification, rather than marketing campaigns: “Rather than spending your money trying to tell Americans what to eat, maybe you should focus your resources on cleaning up your supply chains. No one wants to buy seafood tainted with human rights abuses. Instead of trying to convince us your seafood is going to make us healthier, start by convincing us you haven’t used slave labor to catch or process it,” Hocevar concluded.
