Gone West

First Tesco, now Waitrose threatens John West with ban over broken sustainability promise

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Published: May 13, 2016
This Article was written by: Katie Hill - My Green Pod
oceans, shopping, supermarket

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Waitrose has become the latest UK retailer to slam John West over its sustainability record, telling the seafood giant that if it does not clean up its act, its tuna tins will be taken off the shelves.

Harmful fishing practices

The decision will pile pressure on the embattled tuna company, which accounts for a third of the UK market, following last week’s announcement by Tesco that John West would be banned if it continued using harmful fishing practices.

Following a public campaign which has seen more than 40,000 people email Waitrose’s managing director in a matter of days, the retailer has now told John West it has until the end of 2017 to meet sustainability criteria or face the consequences.

Greenpeace is now calling on Sainsbury’s and other UK retailers to call time on John West’s disregard for sustainability.

The move comes as a Greenpeace expedition in the Indian Ocean is tracking down and removing harmful fishing gear linked to John West and its owner Thai Union.

’Indiscriminate harm’

John West came last in Greenpeace’s 2015 tuna league table. Despite having committed five years ago to source 100% sustainable tuna by the end of this year, the last published figures showed that more than 98% of its tuna is caught using destructive methods. This includes the use of so-called ‘fish aggregating devices’ (FADs) which result in indiscriminate harm to marine life, especially sharks.

‘Enough is enough. It’s time for John West to clean up or ship out. For too long they’ve only paid lip-service to sustainability – and now the game’s up.

‘With Waitrose and Tesco saying they’ll be off the shelves if they don’t sort out their destructive fishing practices, John West is facing losing millions because they thought they could blag their commitment to sustainability while doing little to improve.’

HÉLÈNE BOURGES
Oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK

Click here to find out more about how John West is ‘trashing oceans for cheap tuna’.