Costco Strengthens Seafood Sustainability Policy

March 3, 2011

In its new seafood and sustainability report, Costco Wholesale Corp. has agreed to no longer sell 12 varieties of fish designated as at-risk by environmental groups.

Costco store front The following species -- including Atlantic cod, Atlantic halibut, Chilean sea bass, Greenland halibut, grouper, monkfish, orange roughy, redfish, shark, skates, rays, swordfish and bluefin tuna – will no longer be sold.

Costco said it will not resume selling the seafood unless sources are certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. The company also said it is associated with the World Wildlife Fund to identify sustainable fisheries for certain at-risk species.

Costco released its first seafood sustainability report in 2009, but the most recent initiatives are much more specific.

Costco’s announcement comes on the heels of an eight-month Greenpeace campaign to encourage the retailer to “stop destroying the oceans through its seafood purchasing practices.”

Costco said it will continue to sell farm-raised fish and seafood, with Salmon and Tilapia beings some of its best sellers.

“We continue to believe that farmed seafood should be an integral part of our business and that farming can proceed in sustainable fashion,” the company said in the three-page report. “Farmed Atlantic salmon is a signature item for us, and we believe that aquaculture generally is a critical source of affordable protein. A large supplier, Marine Harvest, is devoted to improving practices concerning salmon farming around the world and it has reported extensively on those efforts.”

Regal Springs Tilapia -- one of Costco’s primary tilapia suppliers and the largest independent aquafarmer of tilapia in the world -- and played a crucial role in the five-year effort to establish new global standards via the Tilapia Aquaculture Dialogue (TAD), a gold standard for tilapia certification, Costco noted.

GRD Views: The interesting back story here is the role that Greenpeace played in making this happen. This provides further evidence that proactive adoption of sustainable business practices makes sense for retailers. -- John Failla for Green Retail Decisions

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