Greenpeace Celebrates Fewer Choices for American Consumers

The radical activist group Greenpeace is celebrating the fact that Americans will now have fewer choices when shopping for seafood at Costco. The group says the store will stop selling some of the fish on Greenpeaces red list like Bluefin Tuna. Bluefin is the high end sushi tuna that can sell for $500 a pound. Not your typical Costco item. Whats more, annually Americans eat about the weight of a few papers clips worth of this fish per capita.

But Swordfish is on the Greenpeace red list as well, despite the fact that it has an impressive sustainability story. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists will tell you, the North Atlantic swordfish population is now fully rebuilt; biomass estimates are currently 5% above the target level. Not to mention it is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring.

Monkfish wont be available to Costco customers either, regardless of the fact that those same NOAA scientists say the resource is healthy and is harvested at sustainable levels. And they note stock assessments, are well above target levels.

Atlantic Cod wont be accessible to shoppers because Greenpeace completely ignores the fact that it is certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.

Unfortunately Greenpeace has blackmailed Costco into removing healthy, well managed fish as a part of its latest fundraising campaign. Greenpeace is an organization that needs to raise about $700,000 per day just to keep the lights on. In this case that means less choice for American consumers and more money in the Greenpeace coffers.