April 8, 2013 — Greenpeace is facing more criticism from fishing organisations — this time from the United States. A new education initiative from the US National Fisheries Institute (NFI) claims it has documents about the tactics behind Greenpeace’s annual seafood sustainability survey and ranking of U.S. grocers.
Called “Your Pain, Their Gain,” the NFI says its campaign has exposed Greenpeace as a "science-averse, marginalised organisation that doesn’t care about helping retailers develop sustainable seafood policies — only fundraising to sustain its $700,000/day operating budget."
Privately, retailers acknowledge that Greenpeace does not endorse any seafood certification programmes and is not active in Fishery Improvement Projects. Retailers who know sustainability are looking for these benchmarks and Greenpeace simply does not meet them.
“This survey has nothing to do with sustaining the world’s oceans; it’s all about sustaining Greenpeace,” added NFI spokesperson Gavin Gibbons.
NFI’s campaign will include information graphics, videos, and analysis. The site will feature case studies of high-profile companies in different industries that have continued to suffer from unrelenting Greenpeace confrontation even after meeting its initial demands.
Mr Gibbons claimed: “It unilaterally decides to target businesses and make unrealistic, endless demands; appeal to donor generosity to thwart made-up crises; and claim victory when businesses capitulate.”
With every published edition of Greenpeace’s Carting Away the Oceans report, there is less and less media attention. In 2012, the report received almost no mainstream coverage.
“Grocers are far better off communicating their sustainability efforts directly to their customers,” Mr Gibbons said. “Besides, no matter what they tell Greenpeace, it’s never good enough. Greenpeace will always criticise them.”
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