Save marine life - get Princes to change their ways
Watch the new Greenpeace animation about destructive tuna fishing
by Joss Garman, oceans campaigner
We've just published our new tinned tuna league table, showing which supermarkets and leading brands are using the most sustainable fishing methods and which ones are responsible for killing turtles, sharks and possibly even dolphins in their tuna nets.
At the bottom is Princes. Princes tinned tuna is caught using a very destructive fishing method, using FADs and purse seine nets. A FAD is a structure which floats at the surface of the sea and attracts fish. Underneath the FAD is a purse seine net which then scoops up everything, most of which is just thrown back into the ocean as unwanted by-catch, including animals such as turtles and dolphins. FADs are death traps for marine life.
You can help now by emailing Mike Easterbrook, director of Princes, demanding that his company use more sustainable fishing methods like pole and line.
Pinces sells more tinned tuna than any other company in the UK, which is the second largest consumer of tinned tuna in the world. If we can get them to improve their policy it could have a significant impact on the worldwide tuna fishing industry.
Some major supermarkets, including Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer, have phased out the use of this destructive fishing method altogether getting all their own brand tinned tuna from more sustainable sources. Sainsbury's get 100% of their tinned tuna from 'pole and line' fishing methods, which do not catch significant levels of by-catch. Tesco has also just committed to going 100% pole and line by the end of 2012 in response to Greenpeace pressure.
As the UK's market leader of tinned tuna sales, Princes ought also to be advocating the establishment of large-scale no-take marine reserves. We want them to back the creation of a marine reserve in the Pacific Commons, home to critically endangered marine life such as the Big Eye Tuna.
Get Active: All over the UK Greenpeace volunteers are organising various interesting activities to put pressure on Princes. Please help - get in touch with your local coordinator.
Email Princes to tell them to use fishing methods that will not harm marine life.
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