Did I miss it? Has hell frozen over?
In an LA Times article today about the decline of ocean fisheries, I was amazed to read that Wal-Mart, of all corporations, was planning to take some positive action:
Only about 6% of the global fish catch is certified as “sustainable,” meaning that fish are not pulled from the ocean faster than they can reproduce and are not caught in ways that destroy other sea life or undersea habitat. Much of it comes from Alaska.
Though other U.S. regions and nations have been reluctant to rein in their fishing fleets, help has emerged from an unexpected quarter.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has pledged within three to five years to sell nothing but wild-caught seafood that meets standards for sustainability set out by the nonprofit Marine Stewardship Council. Founded in 1997, the council grants a blue and white label to fish that stand up to independent certification.
Wal-Mart’s shift in policy has rippled through the global seafood trade. The National Fisheries Institute, the seafood industry’s principal lobby, has become a booster of the sustainable seafood movement after years of resistance.
Now, three to five years is a long way out, and we should make sure to hold them to this promise. But this is the way it should be done. Businesses should take responsibility on their own without waiting for government regulations when fisherman worldwide are sounding the alarm, as they have been for years now.
And Wal-Mart is not the only big corporation doing this. Look who else is making a step in the right direction:
McDonald’s is now nudging its suppliers to come up with sustainably caught fish for its Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, which consume 110 million pounds of Alaskan pollack, New Zealand hoki and other whitefish from around the globe.
Meanwhile, Darden Restaurants, the parent of Red Lobster, is taking similar steps, as is the Compass Group, America’s largest food-service provider to corporate and university cafeterias.
Hey, I’m no fan of Wal-Mart, and they’ve got a looooong way to go in terms of paying their employees a living wage with healthcare and other reasonable benefits before I’ll step foot into their stores. But if this is any kind of a sign of an awakening to less selfish interests, hear hear.
