Bumble Bee To Announce Partnership With Group Of Coastal Tuna Nationsff
17 October 2013
United States
President and CEO of Bumble Bee Foods has outlined that the company is soon to announce a new partnership with “a group of coastal countries.†Chris Lischewski said that the collaboration follows work with countries such as Fiji, Mauritius and Colombia on sustainable management of tuna resources.
A World-Bank backed report of a study carried out by 21 experts revealed that policies for protecting oceans from over-fishing, pollution and climate change were often ineffective and businesses should play a bigger role in helping to save depleted tuna stocks.
A World-Bank panel was set up and met last week in order to find ways to deal with the threats to the oceans. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, chair of the panel said: “It is vital to have the CEO’s of major seafood companies around the table.â€
Lischewski, CEO of Bumble Bee Foods, North America’s biggest branded seafood company, and one of the US’ top three tuna brands expressed the view that businesses are often wrongly seen as “the bad guys†in ocean management.
Also a member of the panel, Lischewski said: “Sustainable fisheries is key to our future.†He explained that Bumble Bee, with a turnover of around USD 1 billion had worked with conservationists to ensure that the tuna it sells is only caught from sustainable sources.
Last month a U.N. panel report on climate change revealed that land and ocean temperature had increased by around 0.9 degrees Celsius since the 19th century. This is nearly 50 percent of the 2 degree limit set by nearly 200 governments in order to stop a dangerous change from occurring.
An even more recent International report by a group of scientists similarly warned that the world’s oceans were suffering a “deadly trio†which referred to concerns from global warming, acidification and declining oxygen levels.
The World-Bank backed report recommended the formation of more public-private partnerships involving companies, governments and local communities to protect eco-systems. The report provides an action plan for a group of 140 nations that have signed up to seek solutions to the problems.
But the World-Bank panel did not discuss the likely costs of implementing the recommendations of several reports in its meeting last week. Instead Lischewski said: “Regardless of what we do, fish is going to cost more in the future.†He outlined that the world population was increasing and that many fish stocks were already at maximum yields.
