Wild Planet to Mark World Tuna and World Oceans Days

Wild Planet Foods is unleashing a wave of in-store sampling, a food bank drive and other events during this month and June for World Tuna Day on May 2 and World Oceans Day on June 8. Backed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s (MBA) “Seafood Watch” program, among other resources, the company’s fishing practices set the standard for seafood sustainability through a three-pronged approach: promotion of species population, preservation of marine habitat, and avoidance of unnecessary bycatch when fishing.

As well as Facebook contests and giveaways to draw attention to the two observances, Wild Planet will host a number of in-store samplings at participating retailers across the country. The company’s demo coordinators will help educate consumers about the importance of choosing sustainably sourced seafood. Wild Planet will additionally provide retailers with literature and signage about sustainable seafood, encouraging them to hold sampling events with their own staff as well.

Further, Rodale, publisher of such well-known health-and-wellness lifestyle magazines as Organic Gardening, Men’s Health, Prevention and Women’s Health, worked with Wild Planet to help supply a local food bank with tuna. In honor of World Tuna Day all Rodale employees at the corporate campus in Emmaus, Pa., who donate a can of conventional branded tuna during a specially planned visit from a local food bank will receive a can of 100 percent sustainably sourced Wild Planet tuna. Wild Planet employees, as well as food bank representatives, will be on hand to receive the donations, and Wild Planet will match the number of cans donated with the same quantity of Wild Planet product.

“World Tuna Day and World Oceans Day are great reasons for us to share our appreciation of tuna and assist in educating consumers about tuna harvest practices,” said Bill Carvalho, founder of McKinleyville, Calif.-based Wild Planet, which operates its own docks where the selection and delivery of fish are taken directly from the fishermen, many of whom are also shareholders with the 100 percent U.S.-owned company. “It is critical to shine a light upon the difference between responsible harvest practices and those like FAD (Fish Aggregating Devices) and long-lining, which are destructive to healthy tuna populations and disrupt ecosystem stability. We appreciate the sustainability efforts of the PNA Ministers, creators of World Tuna Day, as well as those of The Ocean Project and The World Ocean Network who are behind World Oceans Day. The hope of Wild Planet is that consumers will shift patronage to brands promoting products harvested by troll and pole-catch methods and also those that renounce the use of FAD fishing. A global shift away from FAD and long-line tuna harvest techniques would result in an abundant resurgence of all tuna stocks and greatly benefit the people of the PNA.”