Target goes wild for salmon
Attention, shoppers! Target has announced it's stopped selling farmed salmon in its stores nationwide, and will carry only wild-caught Alaskan salmon from now on.
In making the move, the Minneapolis-based retailer said it's doing so for environmental reasons. Many salmon farms produce pollution, the store's statement pointed out. They often release chemicals, parasites and non-native farmed fish into the open water, where they can affect natural habitat and the native salmon in surrounding areas.
The chain's move was hailed by the Monterey Aquarium, which has long campaigned to promote consumption of only seafood that is sustainably managed. The aquarium predicted that Target, with more than 1,700 stores in 49 states, would have a "real impact in the marketplace."
Greenpeace likewise applauded Target, noting that even before this announcement the chain had moved up into 4th place nationally in the environmental group's ranking of the sustainability of major food retailers' seafood products and practices.
Target already uses wild salmon in several of its store-brand products. The only exception to the immediate ban on farmed salmon is in its sushi offerings, which Target said it would take until year's end to phase out. For more, go here and here.
(2004 Baltimore Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor)
Comments
bravo!! what a wonderful move.
Posted by: siraj | January 27, 2010 10:36 AM
Who knew Target sold fish? Sushi? Huh? We're talking about the Targeyt with the red shopping carts right?
TW: Yup, the stores with the red bulls' eye logo. Never seen sushi at the ones near my neighborhood, but then I don't shop for groceries there.
Posted by: Jim Traber | January 27, 2010 11:14 AM
Bravo indeed! Now what is their stance on the factory farms that provide the other meats sold in their stores? It seems that they should be aware of the pollution and lack of sustainability in this area as well.
Posted by: Greg | January 27, 2010 1:14 PM
That's excellent news! Not to mention that wild salmon tastes a lot better than the farmed stuff. I don't usually shop at Target (I'm a DubLi girl), but having heard this I think I might have to go and check them out again. It's good to see companies taking care of the environment - it's a shame that not more of them do so.
Posted by: Emma | January 28, 2010 6:17 AM
When Greenpeace applauded Target for taking farmed salmon off store shelves, what Greenpeace didnt say is that it was paid $300,000 by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
U.S. tax returns and the foundation's on-line database show that since 2000 the David and Lucile Packard foundation has granted more than $60 million to support the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and promote MSC-certified fish - most of which is Alaskan. This included $12.7 Million to get Wal-mart and other large U.S. retailers to preferentially sell MSC-certified fish and at least $12.4 Million to "reform" fish farming (read: thwart the competition).
Facing stiff competition from farmed salmon, the value of Alaskan wild fish lost 75 percent of its value over the 1990s. Alaskan fishermen not only lost their prime markets, they nearly lost their cherished way of life. Since 2002 and the bad press over farmed salmon, consumers and restaurants have been swayed back to "wild" salmon. The ex-vessel value of Alaskan salmon has tripled from $125 million to $409 million in 2008.
Taking farmed salmon off of store shelves is wrong for three reasons:
1) Salmon farming avoids some of the worst risks to wild salmon: over-fishing, ghost nets, by-catch, and the strain of Alaska's ocean-ranching of billions of hatchery-born salmon on the food chain and the carrying capacity of the Pacific ecosystem. Unfortunately, its too cold for salmon farming in most of Alaska.
2) Farmed salmon is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. In fact, according to a report from the U.S. Institute of Medicine, farmed salmon is higher in omega-3 fatty acids than any other commonly-eaten fish and lower in mercury than almost all other fish. Harvard scientists estimate that eating fish weekly reduces the risk of a fatal heart attack by one third. The American Heart Association estimates that cardiovascular disease kills 2,400 Americans every day and cost $409 BILLION in 2009.
3) Fish farming provides sorely needed jobs in rural communities. In contrast, commercial fishing is seasonal. Canadian tax-payers spend about $30 Million per year on employment insurance for commercial fishermen in British Columbia alone.
So, who benefits from the campaign against farmed salmon?
When it comes to salmon, Alaska believes its got the real thing. The fuss over farmed vs. "wild" salmon is as much about marketing as Pepsi vs. Coke.
Protecting a livelihood and a cultural heritage is a noble pursuit, but thwarting the competition in the name of sustainability is not the way to go about it. In today's tough times, there are far better ways for American foundations to use wealth and tax-free privileges.
More info: http://fairquestions.typepad.com/fishfarmfuss/2010/01/greenpeace-marketing.html
Posted by: Vivian Krause | February 3, 2010 1:39 AM
Wild salmon stocks are managed by numbers commercially and sport - it is not a free-for-all; there are limits placed to manage wild stock numbers.
By-catch also occurs inside salmon farms in the form of wild salmon fry (see http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/2010/01/court-proceedings-illegal-possession-of-bycatch.html, where the farm admits to the bycatch) as well as marine mammal deaths due to the entanglement in the nets.
Jobs are currently being stolen from commercial fishermen and the tourism industry as fish farms cause the decline of wild salmon and, thus, tightening limitations on the number of wild stock allowed to be harvested. Find other job-myths at: http://www.farmedanddangerous.org/page/jobsmyth
Posted by: Apryle Craig | February 12, 2010 5:51 PM