Costco Pulls Threatened Fish from Stores

March 3, 2011, 3:03 pm

Costco Pulls Threatened Fish from Stores - NYTimes.com
Costco Pulls Threatened Fish from Stores

By JOHN COLLINS RUDOLF

Under pressure from environmentalists, the retail giant Costco has said it would immediately halt the sale of a dozen fish species widely considered to be threatened by overharvesting.
Among the fish being pulled from display cases are Atlantic cod, Atlantic halibut, Chilean sea bass, grouper, monkfish, redfish, swordfish and bluefin tuna. Sales of these and other at-risk species will not resume until a sustainable source can be identified, the company said in a statement.
Last year, the environmental group Greenpeace began aiming at Costco for a lack of transparency in its seafood sourcing and for offering what it described as unsustainable seafood products. The campaign included flying a bright-green blimp with a banner reading “Costco: Wholesale Ocean Destruction” over the company’s Issaquah, Wash., headquarters.

The campaign appeared to grab the attention of Costco, the largest wholesale club in the country, which also provided information to Greenpeace on its seafood sourcing for the first time this year.
“It is important that the items we offer our customers are those that we can continue to provide well into the future and to provide responsibly,” Jeff Lyons, a Costco senior vice president, told The Issaquah Press.
According to Greenpeace, more than 100,000 people took part in the group’s campaign by sending e-mail messages to Costco’s chief executive demanding a change in its seafood policies.
“I’ve been working very closely with Costco on the specifics of their new seafood policy and am very pleased with the direction that they’re taking,” Casson Trenor, a Greenpeace organizer, said in a message at the group’s Web site.
Last year several other major retailers also changed their seafood offerings in response to environmental campaigns. In January Target announced that it had eliminated all farmed salmon products from its stores and switched to wild-caught Alaskan salmon, which is considered less environmentally harmful than farmed salmon.
In March 2010, Trader Joe’s acceded to pressure from Greenpeace and announced that it would offer only sustainable seafood in all its stores by the end of 2012.

every little bit helps. This one isn't a little thing. This is huge!!! Great going for once greenpeace.

Wow...

how bout that, +1 for the good guys!

That's awesome, I can't even convince my family members to do that!