Whole Foods, Seafood Watch Team Up for the Oceans

It just got easier to choose ocean-friendly seafood at the supermarket.

Whole Foods Market announced today that it is partnering with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program and Blue Ocean Institute to label all the wild-caught seafood in its North American stores according to the sustainability criteria of our science-based organizations.

That means you'll see green Best Choice, yellow Good Alternative and red Avoid labels next to EVERY item in the seafood case, and similar information (using Whole Foods' own criteria) for farmed seafood.

Whole Foods has also pledged to eliminate all red-list seafood by Earth Day 2013.

"At the end of the day, it’s a team effort. Our customers, buyers, fishermen and fishery managers can all make smart decisions that move us in the direction of greater seafood sustainability," said Carrie Brownstein, Whole Foods Market seafood quality standards coordinator.

"Blue Ocean Institute and Monterey Bay Aquarium are both highly respected for the strength of their science-based seafood programs which evaluate fisheries on life history, abundance, habitat impacts, management practices and bycatch. The new color-coded rating system is a transparent way to display sustainable choices, and it deepens our commitment to having fully sustainable seafood departments."

Whole Foods Market joins two other significant Aquarium partners: Compass Group and ARAMARK, the two largest food-service companies in North America. Like Whole Foods, they have pledged to phase out red-ranked seafood in the next several years, and are shifting their purchases toward more sustainable items.

Other retailers and food service operators are announcing similar commitments -- and creating market incentives for fishing fleets and aquaculture producers to supply seafood that doesn't harm the health of the wild oceans.

In fact, regional retailers like New Leaf Community Markets -- working with another Seafood Watch partner, Santa Cruz-based FishWise -- have been labeling seafood in the case for years. FishWise is also helping major retailers (including Safeway) shift their purchases to more sustainable choices.

"We’re delighted to help Whole Foods Market expand its commitment to offering seafood from sustainable sources," said Michael Sutton, who oversees the Aquarium's Seafood Watch program. "Whole Foods Market is a leader in the field, and its decision will have a real impact on seafood suppliers and other retailers.

Commitments by major buyers like these is one of the hopeful trends we identified last year in our comprehensive report, Turning the Tide: The State of Seafood. With the Whole Foods' announcement, the tide continues to turn -- in a positive direction.

 

Comments

[WD]

Thanks Whole Foods! Personally I appreciate what you're doing. This is why I shop there.

[BV]

Whole Foods Market is fielding a lot of questions about how they've chosen the seafood

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[Ken Peterson]

To Everyone: Whole Foods Market is fielding a lot of questions about how they've chosen the seafood in their case on their blog, at http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2010/09/new-wild-caught-seafood-sustainability-ratings/#more-10037.

Check it out.

[Ken Peterson]

@Sarah -- The Aquarium and Seafood Watch base our seafood recommendations on scientific research (from fisheries management agencies and other sources) that goes through an outside review process before we release the reports on which our recommendations are based.

The factors we take into account in rating seafood are all available on our website, http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_aboutsfw.aspx. They're all based on elements we believe are essential so that fisheries will remain healthy and productive for the long term -- healthy both for the oceans, and for the people who make a living catching the fish that people eat.

[Sarah B]

I think many people are missing the point, that Seafood watch and Monterey Bay Aquarium have been very irresponsible in releasing this so-called 'red list'. Understandably, some seafood's are unsafe and should not be purchased by consumers, but clearly SW and MBA have not done their research...Many items, or at least some, have no business being red listed, and doing so can be very harmful to a lot of honest people just trying to make a living. Furthermore, Marine Stewart Certification has come under a great deal of scrutiny in recent years, as a consumer I would and will not be trusting in their "sustainable labeling". This whole thing seems like marketing toward US product / gererous backers of these organizations. Sickening doesn't begin to describe it.

[Brian Russo]

This is publicity nonsense, it doesn't take 3 years to implement this sort of thing.

How about just stop selling red-listed fish immediately? The average consumer is too lazy to say "Oh no, I can't buy bluefin here.. I'll go somewhere else". Nah, they'll just buy something else.

Besides, MSC certifications are a joke. They're like the "dolphin safe" logos on canned tuna. It's true dolphin safe nets reduced small whale/dolphin deaths dramatically - but they also increased bycatch of sharks and other unwanted bony fish substantially. Most of this bycatch is tossed back into the ocean - dead.

Makes the uninformed consumer feel better and protects the store's bottom line, so who cares right?

[anonymous]

This is insidious and a bad deal for Seafood Watch who are giving into MSC and corporate blue washing.

Seafood Watch and Oceana lost the battle last year over the MSC Pacific Hake fishery and now they have completely given into letting MSC supersede their own RED rankings inside Whole Foods seafood case?!?!?! And this comes at the same time a growing worry in the scientific community that MSC is not doing its job:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/why-your-sustainable-fish-may-not-be-as-guiltfree-as-you-think-2070109.html

[Ken Bone. Publisher of the Oceanview Newsletter]

The entire Monterey Bay Aquarium staff is to be commended for their decade plus commitment to educate the nationwide public to move to sustainable seafood in the markets and restaurants. Thanks on behalf of all seafood consumers. Keep up the great educational effort.

[Mary]

Good for Whole Foods. One suggestion to help people improve their diets, to make available subtainable fish that are not so costly.

[Toothfish]

Hopfeully phasing out Red items does not mean waiting for MSC certification or other pay-to-certify schemes to make them Yellow. Down with MSC certified Chilean Sea Bass!!!!

[Pablo]

Probably decided to wait till 2013 because of longer term contracts for seafood, and to negotiate and secure new contracts. This is a major chain don't forget, it may take many months to year to make changes. They could probably do it faster but at greater cost. Oh well no need to look a gift horse in the the mouth.

Although my family decided to give up even "sustainable" sourced seafood to give the oceans a break, if and when we do buy seafood this will be the way to go. Besides, there's a whole foods on my bike ride home from work.

[Dennis Baniaga]

Fantastic, Whole Foods! Thanks for taking responsibility in this issue. This act of corporate integrity will return to you a hundred fold. I'll be buying my fish from you guys from now on.

[Lorri Nelson]

Why the need to wait until 2013 to stop selling red-list items? Once the red tag is displayed the sales of those items will most likely go down anyway.

[Margie Rick]

Whole Foods is taking their sweet time eliminating the fish listed on the "red" list. Why will it take until 2013 to make the shift? I applaud their effort, but I think they could have shown more commitment by moving away from the "red" list fish more quickly. I strikes me as just a publicity ploy and not a real commitment.