Fish supplier removes tuna from listing
All species of tuna have been removed from The Fresh Olive company's listing
Joe Lutrario, Restaurant, 27/11/2009 09:48
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A major supplier of tuna products to the restaurant trade has removed all species of the fish from its listings.
The Fresh Olive company, which supplies £250,000 worth of tinned Mediterranean tuna, including blue and yellowfin, to the industry a year, said it was acting on the findings of a report that showed tuna stocks were almost at extinction level in the Med.
“We’re taking a moral stand on an important environmental issue,” said sales director Charlie Hodges.
The World Wildlife Fund said it was encouraging that restaurants were giving serious thought to sustainability.
“Some tuna stocks, such as bluefin, are threatened by overfishing and should not be on any restaurant menu. There are other more sustainable alternatives and we encourage restaurants to serve these instead,” said Clarus Chu, seafood policy officer at WWF UK.
The bluefin tuna will be wiped out unless catches are dramatically reduced, according to the WWF.
At present, only two tuna fisheries are accredited by the Marine Stewardship Council, an Albacore fishery in the US and a Skipjack fishery in Japan.