As canned tuna makes a comeback due to quarantine and social distancing measures, nearly 10,000 people have signed a Greenpeace petition demanding that Bumble Bee take steps to eliminate human rights and environmental abuses in the fishing industry.
“As an iconic American brand, it’s time for Bumble Bee to draw the line in the sand and make firm commitments to stop the abhorrent treatment of the people working to feed American families and to end the destruction of our ocean. In the seafood supply chain modern slavery is business as usual[1], fisheries observers die with no consequences[2], and sharks are mutilated and starved to death[3],” said Andy Shen, Senior Oceans Adviser at Greenpeace USA. “The flood of signatures we’ve gotten on this petition in just one day shows that consumers want transformative changes in the way Bumble Bee sources its tuna, especially how its owner and partners treat our oceans and the people who work in them.”
The petition includes four steps the San Diego based company needs to take immediately:
- Only source from vessels where 100% independent human or effective electronic catch monitoring is taking place and there are strong fishery observer protections.
- Announce a public, measurable, time-bound plan to phase out transshipment at sea.
- Upgrade its human rights policy for tuna vessels to reflect international standards and best practices, including establishing a policy of three months maximum continuous-time at sea and preferential sourcing from vessels subject to port State labor inspections.
- Commit to full transparency of all its suppliers, including their labor practices and remediation of violations.
The petition can be found here: Tell Bumble Bee to Protect Human Rights and Our Oceans
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Notes
[1] Seabound: The Journey to Modern Slavery on the High Seas
[2] Observer Casualties, Injuries, and Near Misses
Media Contact:
Tyler Kruse
Greenpeace USA, Senior Communications Specialist
(808) 741-2791
[email protected]
