John West Cans Destructive Fishing, Sealord Urged To Do The Same
Auckland, 4 December 2012 – Greenpeace says Sealord must follow its competitor, Australian brand John West, which has
just announced it will stop using destructive tuna fishing methods that needlessly kill sharks, rays, baby tuna and
turtles.
In a statement released earlier today (1), John West, Australia’s largest tuna brand, pledged to phase out the use of
highly destructive and wasteful fish aggregating devices (FADs) used with purse seine nets by 2015. This will include
John West tuna sold in New Zealand.
This makes John West the third of the five major tuna brands sold in New Zealand to respond to a Greenpeace campaign to
end destructive tuna fishing. Sealord, New Zealand’s largest canned tuna brand, is refusing to take the same steps.
Greenpeace New Zealand Oceans Campaigner Karli Thomas says the John West commitment is another important step towards
halting the decline in tuna stocks and protecting the marine environment.
“John West has joined the growing ranks of progressive tuna companies around the world who are providing consumers with
the sustainable tuna they demand. It’s very disappointing that Sealord, New Zealand’s largest canned tuna brand, thinks
it knows better and is ignoring this urgent ocean need and sustainability trend,” she says.
“It’s an increasingly lonely CEO who stubbornly refuses to stop sourcing from destructive fishing, risking lasting brand
damage as they are left behind by other companies that are determined to make their products sustainable.”
Similar commitments to phase out FADs with purse seine nets have already been made by all brands and major retailers in
the UK, and Safeway in the US. Many other retailers and brands around the world are currently making progress to remove
purse seine FAD-caught tuna from their supply chains.(2)
In New Zealand Foodstuffs has changed most of its Pams range of canned tuna to FAD-free and added a range of tuna caught
by pole and line – a lower impact type of fishing. Greenseas, owned by Heinz in Australia, and also sold in New Zealand,
has committed to phase out purse seine FAD-caught tuna by 2015.
The John West announcement comes just as the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meets in Manila in the
Philippines to discuss extending FAD bans in purse seine fisheries and other measures to rescue the world’s largest tuna
fisheries.
The Greenpeace ship Esperanza has just arrived to Manila after a one-month expedition in the waters of Palau and the
international waters known as the Pacific Commons. The expedition revealed illegal and unsustainable fishing activity
including 33 FADs – 12 of them deployed illegally in Palau's waters (3).
Pacific scientists this year advised that a total ban on FADs combined with greater regulation of longline fishing in
spawning areas would be the most effective way to save the overfished Pacific bigeye tuna.(4) The use of FADs with purse
seine nets results in a high catch of juvenile bigeye and yellowfin tunas as well as sharks, rays, and endangered sea
turtles.
Greenpeace’s campaign to halt the decline in Pacific tuna stocks is the subject of a one-hour documentary titled ‘Karli
Thomas and the Raiders of the Last Tuna’ which will premiere on TV1 tonight, December 4, at 7.30pm.
--
Notes:
3) Finds from Greenpeace's expedition are available online at: http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/ph/press/reports/Greenpeace-International-findings-at-sea-November-2012/
ENDS