Canned tuna and sustainability
Posted by kathryn in Ethics & Sustainablity
A couple of weeks ago Greenpeace and Safcol announced the release of a sustainable tuna range. Safcol are the first major canned tuna brand, available from supermarkets in Australia, to take this step.
Despite all the “green” and “dolphin friendly” labelling on tins of tuna, many are anything but. Most canned tuna sold in Australia is caught using large nets, or purse seines which are hauled up from the ocean, also scooping up other marine life, including endangered sharks, turtles and baby tunas.
Instead Safcol are changing to using Pole and Line fishing, where the fish are individually caught. Pole and line reduces the by-catch problem seen with purse seines.
Safcol have also changed the species of tuna in their cans. They’ll no longer be catching Yellowfin, which has been significantly over-fished, and will instead be using skipjack tuna.
At present most of the Safcol products in the supermarkets will not be the range, as some shops seem to be dragging their heels on changing over stock. The new range will definitely be in stores from October / November. However, if you want to buy Safcol’s Pole and Line product before then, I’d start hassling your supermarket.
Oh yes and the graphic to the left shows how the different brands in Australia add up on sustainability. Fish4Ever is the world leader, however I believe it’s expensive and not widely available in Australia.
If you want to know more about the tuna you buy, then take a look at Greenpeace’s Canned Tuna Guide.
Update: In the comments Amy asked about Aldi’s “sustainably pole-caught” tuna. I’ve checked this product with Greenpeace and the response from Oceans Campaigner Nathaniel Pelle is below:
Aldi is just releasing a new pole and line range of skipjack tuna, which is a good step. Their outgoing range of pole caught Albacore was not a bad choice, but skipjack as a species is in a better state. But Aldi continue to source most of their tuna using giant nets with fish aggregating devices (FADs) which kills large amounts of other marine life. They also continue to sell overfished yellowfin tuna. Until they reform across their range, their products will continue to rate low in Greenpeace’s tuna guide.
30 August, 2011
Comments
Fantastic news! I have mostly stopped eating tuna because of its unsustainable fishing. Aldi also sell “sustainably pole-caught” tuna – only a plain version is available. Not sure why it’s not on the Greenpeace list.
Thanks for all this info Kathryn. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for this new range when it comes out (hopefully sooner rather than later).
That’s really good news. It’s nice to see even canned fish moving to sustainable options.
This is good news. I haven’t eaten canned tuna for some years so I look forward to enjoying it again.
Amy, I’ve checked your query about Aldi’s range with Greenpeace and their response is below:
“Aldi is just releasing a new pole and line range of skipjack tuna, which is a good step. Their outgoing range of pole caught Albacore was not a bad choice, but skipjack as a species is in a better state. But Aldi continue to source most of their tuna using giant nets with fish aggregating devices (FADs) which kills large amounts of other marine life. They also continue to sell overfished yellowfin tuna. Until they reform across their range, their products will continue to rate low in Greenpeace’s tuna guide.”
Hi Kathryn,
Thanks so much for this info. As a lacto-ovo vegetarian who has just started eating tinned tuna, I will definitely be seeking out the Safcol.
Love your blog, by the way. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks Brooke.
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