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Greenpeace ranks major grocers on sustainable seafood practices

It turns out the best places in North Carolina to shop for sustainably-sourced seafood are Whole Foods and Target, according to a scorecard released today by Greenpeace that compares the seafood sourcing practices of 20 major grocers.

Several of the companies evaluated have stores in North Carolina, but only Whole Foods (No. 3) and Target (No. 4) ranked in the Top 5. Charlotte-based Harris Teeter followed at No. 6. (Keep in mind that many companies with N.C. stores were not included in this report, such as Earth Fare or Lowes Foods.)

The organization defines sustainable seafood practices as those that don't exploit endangered, vulnerable and/or protected species, or species with poor stock status; don't cause habitat destruction and/or lead to ecosystem alterations; don't cause negative impacts on other, non-target species; aren't unregulated, unreported, illegal or managed poorly, and don't cause negative impacts on local, fishing dependent communities.

From the press release: 

"Of the 20 largest retailers in North America, nine remain that have made no visible effort to increase the sustainability of their seafood operations and continue to ignore scientific warnings about the crisis facing global fisheries and the marine environment.... Despite the progress of many companies, all continue to stock “red list” seafood like orange roughy, swordfish, or Chilean sea bass – some of the world’s most critically imperiled species. None of the companies featured in the report guarantee that they won’t sell seafood from fisheries that are harming sea turtles, dolphins, seals, sea lions, or other marine mammals."

Here is the entire ranking:

1. Wegmans

2. Ahold USA (Stop & Shop, Giant)

3. Whole Foods

4. Target

5. Safeway (Dominicks, Genuardi's, Pavilions, Randall's, Von's)

6. Harris Teeter

7. Walmart

8. Delhaize (Bloom, Food Lion, Hannaford Bros., Sweetbay)

9. Kroger (Baker's, City Market, Dillon's, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, King Soopers, Ralph's, Smith's, Quality Food Center - QFC)

10. Costco

11. Aldi

12. A&P (Food Emporium, Pathmark, Super Fresh, Waldbaum's)

13. Supervalu (Acme, Albertson's, Bristol Farms, Jewel-Osco, Save-A-Lot, Shaw's)

14. Giant Eagle

15. Publix

16. Winn-Dixie

17. Trader Joe’s

18. Meijer

19. Price Chopper

20. H.E. Butt (H.E.B., Central Market)

Following is what Greenpeace had to say about Harris Teeter, which is based in North Carolina: 

"Harris Teeter’s stated goal is “to offer top quality seafood while being cognizant of the sustainability of supply, environmental impact on marine life and other species as well as social and economic impacts.” Yet, Harris Teeter continues to sell a large number of red list species such as Chilean sea bass and orange roughy. Due to a lack of improvement in its seafood sustainability performance, Harris Teeter has slipped toward the middle of the pack in the Carting Away the Oceans rankings as other companies outpace Harris Teeter in their sustainability efforts.

"Greenpeace encourages Harris Teeter to rejoin industry leaders by taking some significant steps toward a more sustainable seafood operation, especially by strengthening its overall sustainable seafood policy and removing key items from its inventory."

By the way, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Blue Ocean Institute provide shopping guides on healthy and sustainably-raised seafood.