SEAFOOD.COM NEWS (Seafoodnews.com) — July 22, 2013 — In a letter sent to Walmart CEO Michael Duke last week, Alaska Governor Sean Parnell added his voice to the criticism the company is taking over its refusal to purchase American salmon unless it is either MSC certified, or part of a fisheries improvement project certified by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP). SFP is also a paid advisor to Walmart on seafood sustainability, and has told its frozen seafood buyer not to purchase American salmon unless it is MSC certified (most of the industry has withdrawn from the MSC), or is in a fishery improvment program approved by SFP. Since Alaska has elected not to set up such a program, Walmart has been put in the embarassing position of not offering its customers wild Alaskan salmon.
Parnell makes the case that in actuality, Walmart is dismissing real sustainable American seafood in favor of less well managed and objectively less sustainable foreign salmon fisheries.
"I understand that Walmart is operating in a global economy and is striving to develop a sustainability platform that is simple and understandable. However, I encourage you to recognize that sustainable labeling has grown beyond the days when domination by a single eco-label was a viable option. In today's seafood sourcing, Alaska and several major seafood producing nations have moved to an alternative certification based on FAO standards. Although your commitment to source only MSC seafood may have been sensible when first declared back in 2006, that policy is now sorely dated and is serving only to deprive your customers of high quality products produced in America, and forcing your company to source salmon from less sustainable fisheries in foreign nations. I encourage you to reconsider ways you can help Alaskan processors continue to bring the best frozen wild salmon in the world to consumers by adjusting your evaluations and Sustainability Index to reflect the realworld quality of our salmon products and responsible, sustainable salmon management program," said Parnell in his letter.
Parnell invited Walmart to visit Alaska and see for themselves the state's committment to sustainable salmon management.
According to Tyson Flick, of ASMI, the outcry has not generated much of a response from Walmart.
“We’ve had some emails and phone conversations with individuals there,” he said, but the company has not yet reversed its stance.
He said it’s puzzling that America’s largest retailer would rely on the advice of a foreign organization when picking whether or not to buy Alaska salmon.
“The same ones that are saying, ‘You need our certification to sell your fish’ are the ones that were praising our sustainability in the first place,” Fick said.
“I don’t know what has changed.”
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission