ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Nearly 40 Alaska fishermen protested Wednesday outside an Anchorage Wal-Mart store, upset with a decision by the company about how it buys seafood.
The protest came a day before Alaska state and seafood industry officials were to meet with executives of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., at the company's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.
In 2011, the world's largest retailer decided to only buy seafood that was certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, a London-based organization; fish in a fishery improvement program; or any equivalent certification program, of which there currently are none, said Chris Schraeder, a Wal-Mart spokesman.
A number of large Alaska processors have dropped the MSC program because of costs and burdensome paperwork, said Greg Gabriel, executive director of the Northwest and Alaska Seiners Association of Kenai, Alaska.
"We would like Wal-Mart to recognize that there are other certifications out there, and the state of Alaska is a leader in sustainability, always has been, always will be," Gabriel said.
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8 comments:
Hopefully they do. It would be nice to actually have them support a US industry!
It would be a nice change of pace, NFO.
If I remember right, once upon a time Wal-Mart championed U.S. products. Now, China is cheaper and no matter what they say, cheaper is at the core.
At our April retreat, we had a Wal-Mart manager and an anti-Wal-Mart priest on team. Both with good senses of humor. It was hysterical. Zing poke zing poke ZING!
And I wouldn't buy meat at Wal-Mart for all the tea in China. Pardon the pun.
PH, you're right: they used to trumpet loudly about how many American industries they supported. But the bottom line controls everything.
We won't buy Walmart meat either. Too many recalls from their sources. This kind of a thing is a problem in almost all US industries. If we want local butter...as in produced in the same state in which we live, there is only one place we can get it. Local supermarket sells California butter....how fresh and yummy. Hope these guys can successfully make their point!
threecollie, we get our salmon from Costco: the Alaska salmon there is reasonably priced, and we've not had any go bad.
Meat? Not just meat, I don't shop at Walmart period. But it's because I don't like their stores at all. Unless you're in a small town and Walmart is the only place to shop, the stores are total garbage. (and that's not just the people who shop there, but the stores themselves). In small towns they tend to be better run. But I don't live near any of those so I don't shop there.
I hear you, T. The only things we get at the "super center" are herbal supplements & vitamins ... that sort of thing.
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