How sustainable are supermarkets when it comes to selling seafood? Not very, according to Greenpeace’s recent report “Carting Away the Oceans: How Grocery Stores are Emptying the Seas.“
Greenpeace evaluated the seafood buying practices and policies of 20 supermarkets and rated them on a scale of 1 to 10. Whole Foods ranked top in the nation and Washington state, but still only receive 4 points.
Supermarkets were judged on how they procure seafood, whether they support sustainability initiatives, labeling and transparency, and how many fish they sold from the so-called “Red List”, 22 fish Greenpeace says is the world’s most destructively fished and farmed species (i.e. Atlantic halibut, grouper, Atlantic salmon, orange roughy and red snapper).
In Washington, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart and Target tied for second place with 3 out of 10 points. Safeway, QFC, Costco and Fred Meyer came in at 2. Save A Lot, Supervalu and Trader Joe’s eked out 1 point.
The environmental group thinks supermarkets can support sustainable fisheries by not selling certain kinds of vulnerable or depleted fish, including yellowfin and Chilean sea bass, or farmed products that rely on wild-caught fish for feed.