Thursday 13 January 2011

Tuna, Tesco looks dodgy.

Hugh F-W continued his programme on Channel 4 about the unsustainable fishing of tuna, and the practice of 'Discard'.
He showed  the difference between line-fishing and fishing for tuna from an enormous ship with gigantic catch-all nets in Ghana.
In the first case line-fishing catches tuna and tuna alone, in a sustainable manner.  Sainsburys sell tinned tuna of this type in their stores.
Tesco and 'Princes' sell a tinned variety of tuna that is not fished sustainably. Their tins state on the label 'dolphin friendly', but in the programme Greenpeace interviewed a member of the crew who stated categorically that their MASSIVE nets caught turtles, sharks,  dolphins, and  other rare fish, and these are thrown back  into the sea dead (sharks are often cruelly de-finned before being  thrown back alive into the sea)!
Hugh is very sincere and enthusiastic in his crusade to inform the general public about this scandal.  He takes part in most of the activities on board ship and has a charm that overcomes opposition, but he found  Tesco  reluctant to have a meeting with him, although they eventually put forward a surly representative who disputed his and Greenpeace's findings.
UPDATE on http://www.fishfight.net/!  Tesco has now stated they will stop buying tuna from their  Ghana fishery, and will only buy them from sustainable sources. The 'Princes' business has withdrawn  labels from their tins of tuna that state their tuna fishing is 'dolphin friendly'. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is to be thanked for this small victory. The fight now moves to the European Union where protesters will attempt to stop  the ridiculous practice of 'Discard'.

3 comments:

  1. Gigantic the company that loves everyone and everything especially. PROFIT PROFIT PROFIT !!!

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  2. well done Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall for helping publicise another outrage!

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  3. You can send a letter to Princes about their fishing practices on the greenpeace website....

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