New Report Shows Supervalu Still Killing Threatened Fish Species

This blog previously referred to the supermarket chain Supervalu as a "villain of the high seas." According to a new Greenpeace report, the store's reputation isn't getting any better.

Today, Greenpeace released the fifth edition of its "Carting Away the Oceans" (CATO) report (pdf). The annual report analyzes the progress — or lack thereof — that major retailers have made when it comes to implementing sustainable seafood programs. The survey studies 20 national chain supermarkets and ranks them on their environmental stewardship. For the fifth time in a row, Supervalu — which owns about 2,500 grocery stores nationwide like Acme, Albertson's, Save-a-Lot, and Shaw's — got failing marks.

Supervalu ranked at lowly number 18 on Greenpeace's list of 20 supermarkets, earning a failing score along with Giant Eagle, Publix, Winn-Dixie, and Meijer. Take a look at Supervalu's seafood offerings and it's easy to understand why the store scored so poorly.

Large, predatory fish like cod, sharks, and tuna are in some seriously hot water, with many of these species' populations declining by as much as 90 percent in recent years. Despite their imperiled existence, Supervalu stores continue to sell these threatened species. Of 22 red list seafoods — those species whose existence is most seriously threatened — Supervalu sells a whopping 18, including endangered fish like orange roughy, Chilean sea bass, swordfish, and even shark.

In addition to hawking seafood that teeters on the brink of extinction, Supervalu fails to provide any kind of transparency about the ways its fish are caught. That lack of labeling makes it impossible for consumers to avoid purchasing fish that were caught through environmentally destructive methods like bottom trawling. Supervalu's high numbers of red list species combined with its complete lack of any kind of clear, sustainable seafood program are the main reasons the supermarket behemoth scored so abysmally on Greenpeace's CATO report.

While Supervalu's reputation ranks in the toilet, the CATO report did show some encouraging results for grocers nationwide. Many of the supermarkets graded improved their sustainable seafood programs when compared to previous years, with 15 of 20 companies earning passing marks on this most recent CATO report. Those improvements were largely due to pressure from Greenpeace and from concerned consumers.

"It's an amazing testament to ongoing pressure from consumers, supporters and activists that in just three years, we've gone from a situation where all 20 major U.S. retailers assessed in the report received failing scores to today, when 15 retailers have now achieved a passing score," said Casson Trenor, Greenpeace's seafood campaigner, in a press release.

That pressure has successfully pushed stores like Costco, Trader Joe's, and Safeway to beef up their sustainable seafood initiatives. Now it's time to set our sights on the industry laggards — namely, Supervalu.

Greenpeace has a petition asking Supervalu to stop selling unsustainable species of fish and start actually caring about the fate of the world's oceans. If you'd like to help push Supervalu in a greener direction, sign Greenpeace's petition today.

Photo credit: www.bluewaikiki.com via Flickr