The ocean defense NGO Bloom gave Carrefour three months to review its supply, under penalty of prosecution. She deplores on France Inter a lack of requirements regarding the origin of products, often resulting from “destructive” fishing.
The tuna supply policies of major retail brands in France do not sufficiently respect the environment, alerted Wednesday November 8 on France Inter Bloom. The ocean defense NGO awarded scores to 36 European supermarket chains based on their measures to limit the environmental impacts of the sale of canned tuna, in order to establish a ranking. This ranking is based on two major criteria: the brands’ cooperation with civil society (in particular with the associations for the development of this survey) and their supply policies.
Tuna is the “Europeans’ favorite seafood product”, Bloom reminds. According to FranceAgriMer, its annual consumption per capita is 3.9 kg in France. In its report published Wednesday, Bloom highlights that the average rating of purchasing policies stands at 3.7/10. The average score obtained in terms of cooperation is 2.2/10. For these two criteria, the education which is doing the best is the British Marks & Spencer. The podium, which is based on cooperation, is then completed by the French Les Mousquetaires (5.5/10) and Système U (5.3/10). “System U has best practices in private labeling, with 92% of skipjack, a more resilient tuna species that is not overfished, caught using low-impact fishing gear.”greets Bloom.
Leclerc and Carrefour pinned
Conversely, E. Leclerc is accused of being one of the bad students by being penultimate in the ranking with a score of 0.6/10. Carrefour is in 7th place in the ranking. Bloom denounces “very low demands on its branded products, allowing destructively fished and overfished tuna to reach its shelves”. The NGO therefore announces to France Inter a formal notice from the Carrefour group so that it sets an example. It urges the distributor to update its vigilance plan to respect its environmental commitments within three months, subject to legal action. “We are asking the group to immediately stop sourcing tuna caught using destructive methods, and to review its supply”explains Pauline Bricault, Markets campaign manager at the NGO.
Pauline Bricault, Markets campaign manager at Bloom, points out the lack of standards from supermarkets. “Distributors will request a certain number of things from their suppliers and these requests are not necessarily verified”, she regrets. She therefore judges “problematic” there “traceability” demands. The big brands “also use labels to guarantee that their products are sustainable, even though they have already been called into question”, protests Pauline Bricault.
Only distributor brands are subject to environmental specifications
The NGO committed to the protection of marine ecosystems estimates that the majority of tuna sold in supermarkets is not private label. However, it is the only brand concerned by the environmental specifications in almost three out of four brands. Bloom therefore denounces the omnipresence of overfished tuna or fished with destructive methods on the shelves, particularly in France. “The worst student will be Leclerc, who gave us no data, so we know absolutely nothing about how they choose the tuna they put on the shelves,” Pauline Bricault gets annoyed.
Faced with this observation, the NGO calls on European distributors to revise their supply policy so that the same environmental criteria are applied to their own products and to the products they purchase. She also pleads for them to publish their sustainable tuna sourcing policy every year. Questioned on the subject, the Leclerc and Carrefour groups did not respond to requests from France Inter.