Source: Greenpeace
After Greenpeace started on its website the action: “Write to Princes Tuna†- the owner of the Princes tuna brand reacted to the letter they received from Greenpeace supporters.
Greenpeace has made the statement on their website:â€The canned tuna you buy could be killing threatened marine lifeâ€.
According to the environmental action organization on its website; “Wasteful fishing methods used to catch tuna are not only wiping out juvenile tuna, but many other marine animals such as sharks, rays, and sea turtles, who die unnecessarily in huge fishing nets lured by highly technological devices. This has to stop!
We are demanding that Princes Tuna start to use fishing methods that will not harm other marine life and instead fish only healthy and vibrant tuna populationsâ€.
Greenpeace posted on their Tuna blog the letter which Princes wrote as an answer:
Thank you for contacting us and voicing your concern. Princes has a serious and genuine commitment to sustainability and we welcome dialogue with organizations that are engaged in sustainability development. Princes acknowledges that all fishing methods result in some level of by-catch and we therefore support the need to develop and implement ways of mitigating the impact of commercial fishing on non-target species.
Long-line and drift net fishing methods are not permitted in our specifications and we will not trade with companies or vessels that have not banned the practice known as shark finning. Princes recognizes concerns over fish aggregation devices (FADs) and supports the need to minimize the by-catch associated with their use. We also support measures which seek to reduce operational waste, discards, and abandoned or lost fishing gear.
Our catch methods are considered legitimate, sustainable and dolphin-friendly by the Earth Island Institute (EII), which monitors our tuna suppliers as part of its EII international monitoring program.
More information on the EII can be found at www.earthisland.org/immp/.
Our view, which is shared by a large section of the scientific community, other environmental non-governmental organizations and the majority of the international canned tuna industry, is that a joined-up approach is required to bring about long-term improved sustainability across all global tuna catch areas.
Consistent with this view, Princes is a co-founder of The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), and we fully support the conservation initiatives of this organization as part of our long-term commitment to improving industry best practice.
The ISSF is a global partnership among leaders in science, the tuna industry and WWF, the world's leading conservation organization.
The ISSF undertakes science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use tuna stocks, reducing by-catch and promoting ecosystem health. Details about the positive steps taken to date by ISSF are available on its website at www.iss-foundation.org.
Princes supports the principle of using scientifically-based protective closed ocean areas, including no-take marine reserves, to accomplish clear conservation objectives for fish populations and the ecosystems upon which they depend. We will not source fish from ocean areas that are designated as Marine Protection Areas (MPAs) by Regional Fishery Management Organizations (RFMOs) and we support efforts to conduct further scientific research into the impact that closed areas and marine reserves may have on fish stock and eco-system status.
Princes’ specifications stipulate no illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) catch of fish and we therefore do not trade with any companies or vessels on RFMO IUU lists.
Finally, our updated Wild Caught Seafood Sustainability Statement, which details these and other commitments, is available to download from our website at
http://www.princes.co.uk/downloads/Princes_Wild_Caught_Sustainable_Seafood_Statement_175220.pdf.
I hope that this is a useful update in response to your enquiry.
Yours sincerely,
