Image supply, Getty Images
- Author, Faarea Masud
- Role, BBC Business reporter
Scampi is sourced in a approach that causes “extensive environmental damage”, a charity complaining to the UK competitions authority has claimed.
Charity Open Seas is disputing the sustainability of the favored seafood snack and has requested the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to research supermarkets which declare it’s “responsibly sourced”.
Open Seas says “extensive damage” is triggered from trawling the seabed with heavy nets when catching langoustines for scampi, and different marine life caught within the course of is usually wastefully discarded.
The British Retail Consortium mentioned retailers have been “working closely” with suppliers to “ensure products meet customer expectations on sustainability”.
It added: “Retailers are committed to sourcing scampi responsibly.”
However, Open Seas believes describing the product as “responsibly sourced” breaches CMA steerage.
“We’ve raised these concerns with supermarkets, but they continue to sell scampi as ‘responsibly sourced'”, head of campaigns at Open Seas Nick Underdown mentioned.
CMA tips require advertising and marketing claims to be each truthful and correct, and “clear and unambiguous”.
“Consumers should not be misled by products being marketed in this way”, Mr Underdown added.
Scampi is bought within the frozen aisles of supermarkets, changing into an affordable supply of protein for a lot of. It is usually fabricated from a combination of various crustaceans together with prawns and lobsters. The selection that’s lined in breadcrumbs, fried and served with a facet of tartar sauce has develop into a bar snack staple.
But Mr Underdown instructed the BBC that there was “no effective vessel tracking” to cut back the dangerous results of catching nephrops, the group of marine life that predominantly makes up scampi components.
“There is a vessel monitoring system but no means to monitor the composition of those catches”, he mentioned, including the extent of “bycatch” – marine life caught unwittingly within the nets – can typically embody small animals and fish, which impacts the populations of that species sooner or later.
“Catching large volumes of young fish against scientific advice is not responsible. Trawling over fragile marine habitats is not responsible,” Mr Underdown mentioned.
“Businesses failing to address these problems is not responsible. The way scampi is produced has all the hallmarks of an irresponsible fishery.”
In its criticism to the CMA, Open Seas mentioned supermarkets’ claims that their fisheries have been “responsible” was ambiguous, because of the time period being “defined by a self-interested industry group without reference to international norms for defining responsible seafood”.
The UK’s largest producer of scampi, Whitby Seafoods, states on its web site that it’s a part of an industry-led Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP). Project UK, which oversees the implementation of the FIPs for the {industry}, is funded by {industry} gamers together with Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Young’s, Lidl, Co-op, Tesco and Whitby Seafoods itself.
But Mr Underdown instructed the BBC he was “extremely concerned about inaccurate self-reporting and the lack of progress being made by” the FIP for the scampi {industry}.
The BBC has contacted the foremost supermarkets and suppliers of UK scampi.
Morrisons says on its site that it makes use of third-party certification to make sure its fisheries are “credible and sustainable”, with 99% of its farmed seafood “certified to global sustainable seafood initiative standards”.
Sainsbury’s in the meantime says it was the first-ever retailer to be awarded numerous accolades together with one from the Marine Stewardships Council. M&S writes on its website that it sits on the Board of Trustees for Fisheries Innovation Scotland and that it’s an lively participant in numerous Fisheries Improvement Projects.
Young’s says it’s a part of a number of sustainability organisations, whereas Tesco says it’s working with wildlife charity WWF relating to its seafood sustainability goals.
The Co-op says it really works with three unbiased schemes to confirm its seafood sustainability.
