What should retailers do to ensure seafood sustainability?

With a rising global population, and oceans under a variety of threats, Greenpeace recently released its 10th annual Carting Away the Oceans report and ranked 22 major supermarkets on plastics and seafood.

The organization found strong overall improvement on sourcing sustainable seafood, but little action on reducing single-use plastics. (Kroger announced the phasing out of plastic shopping bags after the study was released.)

Greenpeace says the equivalent of a garbage truck of plastic enters the oceans every minute, and complains that the use of plastic, primarily for packaging, will double in the next 20 years.  Retailers were ranked on criteria including policy, initiatives, transparency and inventory (banning the sale of species based on Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch list). Ninety percent of grocery retailers received passing scores, whereas none passed ten years ago.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Whole Foods ranks at the top of the list with a score of 80.4.  Greenpeace commended the company for a sustainable tuna policy and prioritizing sustainable seafood in general.  Whole Foods was lauded for prominent signing and labeling that informs customers about sustainable options. The retailer was docked, however, for continuing to sell Chilean seabass and bigeye tuna, and also received negative marks because of continuing labor and human rights issues in the seafood industry, as well as use of single-use plastics.

Hy-Vee, ALDI, Target, and Giant Eagle round out the Top 5.

Wegmans, Albertsons, Sprouts, Ahold Delhaize, Meijer, Kroger, SUPERVALU, Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Costco, Southeastern Grocers, and Publix are mid-pack. Trader Joe’s, although near the middle, came in for special criticism. It dropped significantly since last year and was heavily criticized for committing to improve seafood sustainability eight years ago, but not yet having a “robust, public sustainable seafood procurement policy.”

At the bottom of the rankings is Wakefern, which received a score of 37.9.  The company was highlighted for a lack of transparency, and received the “Wrong Way” badge. 

Greenpeace noted that Wakefern started a sustainable seafood program in 2014, but has provided little public information about its policies recently.  WinCo, H-E-B, Price Chopper and Save Mart are near the bottom.  Save Mart is the only other retailer to receive a failing grade (below 40).

• Greenpeace report marks decade of retailer progress on sustainable seafood – Greenpeace
• Carting Away the Oceans 10 – Greenpeace
• Greenpeace Ranks Grocers On Seafood Sustainability, And Its Findings Are Surprising – Forbes
• Whole Foods Tops Greenpeace’s Annual Sustainable Seafood Scorecard – Environmental Leader
• Hy-Vee’s Responsible Choice Seafood Initiative Ranked No. 2 in the U.S. – Community Newspaper Group
• Will Kroger’s ban mean the end of plastic bags in grocery stores? – RetailWire