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Fish brands under fire

‘Sustainable’ fish from major consumer brands linked to Arctic destruction
Fish brands under fire. Picture from MyGreenPod Sustainable News

A new Greenpeace investigation reveals that fishing fleets that supply major UK and European consumer brands are using giant bottom trawlers in the northern Barents Sea around Svalbard, an area known as the ‘Arctic Galapagos’.

Birdseye, Findus and Young’s

The research implicates the suppliers of well-known brands Birdseye, Findus and Young’s and fish and chips shops across the UK, where around 95% of the cod sold is caught in the Barents Sea or off Iceland. Many of these brands proudly display their commitment to sustainability on their packaging.

Researchers used satellite data and field work to track an increasing number of bottom trawlers operating in the northern Barents Sea, which scientists call an ‘ecologically significant’ area. The region, which includes the Svalbard archipelago, is home to vulnerable species including the polar bear, bowhead whale and Greenland shark.

‘Climate change is opening up whole areas of the Arctic for the very first time. Some companies see this as a business opportunity, but we think it’s a chance to protect a fragile ecosystem before it’s too late. We cannot destroy a marine environment that we don’t even understand.’

Trillia Fidei, Greenpeace campaigner

Destructive trawling

Bottom trawling is a highly destructive fishing method, which is already responsible for damaging up to half of Norway’s cold water corals reefs. At least 70% of all the Atlantic cod that ends up in supermarkets around the world is from the Barents Sea.

Greenpeace says that any company buying cod from the Barents Sea risks having their supply chain tainted with Arctic destruction.

‘Bottom trawling is one of the most destructive methods of fishing. Over the last 200 years it has converted once rich and complex seabed habitats to endless expanses of shifting sands and mud. Areas of the Arctic protected by sea ice represent one of the last pristine refuges from trawling and need urgent protection to prevent them from suffering the same fate.’

Professor Callum Roberts, Marine conservation biologist

Stopping an ecological crime

Greenpeace is calling on fishing companies to stop fishing in the northern Barents Sea and the waters around Svalbard, and for retailers, food brands and processors to no longer use suppliers that engage in destructive fishing in these waters.

Greenpeace is also calling on the Norwegian government to create a ‘Marine Protected Area’ in the northern Barents Sea and the waters around Svalbard off limits to all extractive uses.

‘Norway takes great pride in its environmental credentials, but is doing nothing to stop an ecological crime unfolding on its own doorstep. The Norwegian government should put as much effort into protecting this part of the Barents Sea as it invests in protecting rainforests in other countries.’

Trillia Fidei, Greenpeace campaigner

Click here to read the full Greenpeace report, This far, no further.

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