Top chef accuses Tesco: 'If you care about our oceans, take this tuna off your shelves'

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall says supermarket is backtracking on its public pledge to sell sustainable fish

The Guardian, The Observer, Sarah Butler, Sunday 2 March 2014

A catch of tuna from an illegal purse seine fishing vessel is loaded onto a
 cold storage vessel off the Indonesian coast. Photograph: Alex Hofford/
AFP/Getty Images

Tesco is facing the wrath of TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and environmental pressure group Greenpeace after stocking a cut-price brand of tuna linked to a controversial fishing method that can kill sharks, rays and turtles.

The supermarket switched its own-label canned tuna to environmentally friendly pole-and-line caught sources in 2012 in a high-profile change after criticism from Fearnley-Whittingstall and his Fish Fight campaign. But later the same year Tesco began to stock the Oriental & Pacific brand of tuna, which is caught using the purse seine method – where large nets scoop up all kinds of ocean creatures attracted by floating rafts known as fish aggregation devices.

While brands stocked by other retailers, including John West and Princes, also use this fishing method to some extent, they have taken some action to reduce its use. Oriental & Pacific's owner, LDH, which is partly controlled by John West, has made no such pledge.

Fearnley-Whittingstall, who will again highlight the continued problem of overfishing in his Channel 4 programme Hugh's Fish Fight, said: "Tesco made one of the biggest commitments of all to sell the most sustainable tuna. If they really care about our oceans, then Tesco should take this [Ocean & Pacific] tuna off the shelves today and other supermarkets must follow suit."

The chef's attack is the latest blow to Tesco's efforts to reinvent itself as a caring retailer interested in the quality and ethics of the food it sells.

Last week farmers said the supermarket had cut back the amount of British beef it bought, despite taking out full-page adverts in the wake of the horsemeat scandal claiming: "We know that the more we work with British farmers the better."

Tesco was singled out for particular criticism by Greenpeace and Fearnley-Whittingstall because of the high-profile promise it made to change its ways two years ago. Campaigners were also angry that until 12 February, when it was approached by Greenpeace, the company had not made any commitment to change the tuna used in its own-label ready meals and in sandwiches and salads to ethically sourced fish. It has now made a pledge to change its ways, but no timetable has been set.

Ariana Densham, Greenpeace UK's oceans campaigner, said: "This is pure hypocrisy from Tesco – the supermarket that promised to be totally upfront about where the food that they sell us comes from is now rolling back their pledge to protect the oceans."

Tesco said many of its competitors continued to sell tuna caught without using the pole-and-line method. A spokesman said: "We moved much faster than many of our competitors to make sure our own-brand tuna is 100% pole and line. We have also promised to use sustainable tuna in other products like pastas, sandwiches and salads."

The supermarket said that it will insist Oriental & Pacific makes a similar commitment to other branded suppliers who are working towards a more sustainable fishing policy.

Asda is the only other major supermarket to stock the Oriental & Pacific brand and only 50% of its own-label tinned tuna is fished in a sustainable way, according to Greenpeace. However, it has committed to switch all the tuna in its own-label cans and ready meals to ethical sources by the end of the year. Asda said: "We take our responsibility towards our supply chain really seriously and are on track to hit our sustainability targets on tuna by the end of 2014."

Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Waitrose ensure all their own-label tinned tuna and any tuna in own-label products is fished using sustainable methods.

LDH said: "All of our tuna suppliers are members of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation and support its research-led initiatives for long-term conservation of tuna stocks, reducing by-catch and promoting ecosystem health. We are fully committed to supporting our supply base in these ongoing efforts and their work to support the scientific community in order to achieve best practice."

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