Activists standing outside Princes’ head office in Liverpool. (Photo: Greenpeace)

Greenpeace protests Princes' tuna fishing methods

UNITED KINGDOM
Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

Greenpeace is demanding that  Princes stop using fish aggregation devices (FADs) to fish for tuna, as the fishing method also kills other marine species, such as sharks, rays and sea turtles.

Activists stood outside Princes’ head office in Liverpool this week to call attention to the issue. They unveiled a banner with pictures of dead sharks and hung it from the iconic Liver Building while playing the theme from the movie Jaws.

Greenpeace recently released a UK survey ranking Princes last for sustainability in a list of eight branded and supermarket own-brand tunas. Yet  the company is the UK’s chief supplier of tinned tuna, responsible for one in every three cans of tuna sold. 

The NGO claims that the UK tuna company is being dishonest in its advertising by ignoring the fact that it relies on the destructive harvesting method called FADs to supply its canned tuna. 

“The fact remains, Princes still relies on FADs used with purse seine nets and they know that's a sure-fire way to haul up plenty of bycatch along with the tuna. Hence the sharks outside Princes's head office - some of them may look cuddly and cute, but they mean business,” a Greenpeace activist wrote on her blog.

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Princes has received more than 75,000 emails from Greenpeace supporters around the world regarding the matter and seen the fishing industry get heat from celebrity chef Hugh's Fish Fight programme on TV. Nevertheless, the company has only made some labelling changes, Greenpeace said.

Activists are asking concerned individuals to come up with a new advertising slogan for Princes.

“I don't think the current one – ‘Yours to enjoy’ - gets across what the company is really doing. It's fairly bland and meaningless however you look at it, but given what's going on behind the scenes  it doesn't really do justice to the mass destruction of ocean life, which is what the Princes brand really stands for,” the Greenpeace activist’s blog reads.

Princes and tuna. (Photo: Greenpeace)

“Does it explain how Princes is refusing to move to more sustainable fishing methods in contrast to other suppliers likeSainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose who have done so, for instance? Or that Princes is the only tinned tuna company in the UK still selling bigeye tuna. Why does no one else want to sell bigeye tuna? Because scientists have classified it as ‘facing a high risk of extinction,’” she insisted.

The proposed slogans will be emailed to Princes and Greenpeace will feature some of the best ones on its website and its Twitter feed.

Canned tuna. (Photo: Greenpeace)

In the green group’s canned tuna guide, Princes was ranked last because most of its tuna is caught with large quantities of bycatch. Further, Princes sells the vulnerable bigeye tuna as well as yellowfin tuna and does not describe on the label how the tuna was caught or its species, Greenpeace told. 

Due to efforts from the group, the company last month informed that it would immediately drop the claim on its label that its fishing techniques are environmentally friendly and protect marine life. 

Princes is owned by the Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) – Japan's largest general trading company with over 200 bases of operation in approximately 80 countries worldwide.

Related articles:

- Princes removes controversial environmental claim from tuna tins 
- Greenpeace ranks tinned tuna brands with Princes coming last 

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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