Whole Foods Market will no longer sell specific types of seafood at its organic and natural grocery stores.
According to the company, they will only sell seafoods labeled sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), or green (best choice) or yellow (good alternative) by the Blue Ocean Institute (BOI) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA). The announcement was made on April 22 (Earth Day).
According to a statement made on the Whole Foods Market blog, they are making the move “In support of healthier oceans and to help reverse overfishing trends.”
They also said in their blog that they stopped selling other depleted seafood stocks, such as orange roughy and bluefin tuna, several years ago.
A list of seafoods that will no longer be available was published by the company. It includes: Atlantic Halibut, Grey Sole (Atlantic), Octopus (all), Skate Wing, Sturgeon, Swordfish (from specific areas and catch methods rated “red” by our partners), Tautog, Trawl-caught Atlantic Cod, Tuna (from specific areas and catch methods rated “red” by our partners), Turbot, Imported wild shrimp, and Rockfish (only certain species).
A video released by Whole Foods Market concerning the cessation of the sale of these seafoods is below: