Greenpeace released its 2012 Carting Away the Oceans report this week, ranking U.S. supermarket chains based on their seafood policies. 
Receiving a score between zero and 10, retailers are evaluated on “the sale of ‘red list’ seafood, engagement with conservation initiatives, transparency of supply, and the establishment of cohesive internal policies,” among other factors, according to a press release. Safeway and Whole Foods finished at the top of the list, as the first two retailers to receive “Good” rankings since Greenpeace’s first report in 2008. Last month, Whole Foods announced that it would discontinue the sale of red-listed seafood that is “caught from depleted waters or through ecologically damaging methods,” reported the Associated Press. Despite efforts like these, overfishing remains a serious global issue. A 2011 report from the International Programme on the State of the Ocean found that a mass extinction “unlike anything human history has ever seen” is imminent if “current actions contributing to a multifaceted degradation of the world’s oceans aren’t curbed.” In July 2011, the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration released its annual overfishing report. 16 percent of U.S. fish populations are overfished, and the number has been growing in recent years. The other top ten super market chains that received only fair ratings were: Wegmans, Harris Teeter, Target, Aldi, Ahold, Delhaize, A&P, and H-E-B.
Photo Credit: John Vlahakis
John – I have heard that the highest grade tuna will be extinct in about ten years. People are overeating it because they think it won’t be around.
With the oceans being 2/3 of the world, it’s hard to imagine what damage we’ve done to them.
This is very important information. I wish it was more publicized so we all could shop at stores that care.