Environmentalists urge McDonald's to stop using New Zealand's fish in its Filet'O'Fish. (Photo: McDonald’s)

Is New Zealand's hoki McDonald’s sources from really sustainably?

Environmentalists have urged McDonald's to stop sourcing its fish from New Zealand waters following the leak of a confidential report casting doubts on the sustainability of fish that are widely used by the fast food giant.

The leaked memo shows that the NZ Government was aware of illegal practices such as the dumping of vast quantities of unwanted fish in the ocean as well as unlawful fishing in NZ waters, which threatens the world's rarest dolphin, BBC reported.

In reference to this leaked document, the minister in charge of fishing, Nathan Guy, denied that the Government was helping to “cover up unsustainable practices.”

In addition, campaigners base their complaints on a study published earlier this week highlighting the long term problems of illegal fishing in New Zealand waters, concluding that the amount of fish taken from the seas between 1950 and 2010 would be 2.7 times greater than the official statistics reported.

The study made reference to data contained in internal memos, written by officials at the Ministry of Primary Industries.

The NGOs claim that one of these documents, called Operation Achilles, outline a fishing industry that routinely discards full nets of fish back into the sea, even when Government cameras are present.

In their defense, McDonald's representatives stated that they currently source only 8 per cent of their fish from New Zealand hoki, which has been certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) several times over the past 15 years.

"There is no guesswork in ensuring these standards are met and maintained, because the MSC has an independent team of scientists regularly examine data on these fisheries, including data on population changes," stated the firm's representatives.

"If evaluations indicated a potential impact or change to the population of other marine species, an audit would immediately be requested to ensure the fishery meet MSC standards," they added.

Since 2011, McDonald's has also carried the MSC sustainability label on its fish products in Europe.

However, the hoki fishery in the country has raised suspicion and British retailer Waitrose once refused to stock the fish because of the bottom-trawling method used to catch the species.

In addition, a team of researchers surveying New Zealand fishing practice concluded that hoki is one of the most dumped and under-reported species between

For her part, Nabu International spokesperson Barbara Maas pointed out: "We are not attacking McDonald's. They have a huge opportunity here to do the right thing and bring about some real change in the New Zealand fishing industry -- they could say they saved the Maui's dolphins, and how good would that be for their brand?"

The ecologists' request to the fast food giant forms part of a campaign intended to boycott New Zealand's fish because they argue that fishing operations endanger dolphin's populations.

Related articles:

- Fishing sector questions report over catch misinformation
- All foreign charter vessels must reflag to New Zealand
- Onboard cameras offer snapper fishing transparency

 
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