Tuna Company Pledges More Sustainable Products
Thai Union Group PCL, the Bangkok-based owner of the well-known Chicken of the Sea brand among other global product lines, has committed to measures that will address illegal fishing and overfishing, as well as improve the condition of workers throughout the company’s supply chains. The new commitments, building on the company’s SeaChange sustainability strategy and including support for best-practice fisheries, improvement of other fisheries, reduction of illegal and unethical practices in its global supply chains, and the delivery of more responsibly caught tuna to key markets, come in the wake of a worldwide Greenpeace campaign.
“This marks huge progress for our oceans and marine life, and for the rights of people working in the seafood industry,” said Bunny McDiarmid, international executive director of Greenpeace. “If Thai Union implements these reforms, it will pressure other industry players to show the same level of ambition and drive much needed change. Now is the time for other companies to step up, and show similar leadership.”
Additional information on the Thai Union-Greenpeace agreement is available online.
“Thai Union has fully embraced its role as a leader for positive change as one of the largest seafood companies in the world,” said Thiraphong Chansiri, the company’s CEO. “Thai Union looks forward to continuing to execute our SeaChange sustainability strategy, strengthened and enhanced by the joint agreement with Greenpeace and our shared vision for healthy seas now and for future generations.”
Greenpeace and Thai Union have agreed to meet every six months to assess the company’s progress and implementation. At the end of 2018, an independent third-party will review the company’s progress on the commitments.
Thai Union’s Tri-Union Seafoods LLC is one of the so-called “Big Three” tuna companies involved in a class action and concurrent criminal antitrust investigation alleging that the providers conspired to fix the prices of shelf-stable tuna in the United States for a number of years.