damn you, traitor joe. how did you manage to hack our tubez???

So, I feel there's a difference between stocking Chilean Sea Bass and other rare (but possibly yummy) fish, and stocking Swordfish and Shrimp. I think we'd do better to focus either on a merchant (like Traitor Joe) who is supporting the evils of fisheries, or running specials on fish that should be protected. If we're going after whole industries (Tuna, Shrimp, etc.) we should be pointing our weapons in a different direction. -- Tom

You are missing the point, Joe. Sure, we should protect all endangered/at-risk species, and we should be protesting something Joe is doing that is different from the others. But if we want to start affecting change in a bigger market, like the Shrimp/Tuna/Swordfish market, we should stop eating it, stop ordering it at restaurants, etc. It's one thing to ask a company to switch to a better substitute, but in order to totally change the supply chain, protesting one outlet along the chain will only go so far.

@Tom,

I see what you're saying, but what I think you fail to appreciate is the nature of markets-based campaigning. If we can get Trader Joe's -- a national chain with huge name recognition -- to start actually taking responsibility for the seafood they're stocking on their shelves, it will send a huge message to the rest of the industry.

If you read our blogs with any regularity, you might have noticed that we're also campaigning to get Nobu to stop selling bluefin tuna, and have had our ship, the Rainbow Warrior, patrolling the seas for pirate fisherman who are fishing the bluefin tuna out of existence.

Our sustainable seafood campaign is by no means limited to Trader Joe's. It is multi-pronged.

But even still, I think you underestimate the impact it would have to get a chain like TJ's on board with saving our seas.

The reason Trader Joe's makes a good target for Geenpeace's campaign is that the customer-base largely maps to the Greepeace audience base - i.e., educated, engaged, vocal and politically left-leaning - so Greenpeace can incite TJ's own customer base to ask for change (wouldn't work as effectively executed against a brand like HEB, for example, which is actually the worst of the offenders, but whose customer-base is far less engaged).

While the end goal of an activist campaign such as this is ultimately to drive change, if it merely educates and creates awareness along the way that is still progress.

What's more, if Greenpeace can harangue TJ's into changing it's policies, that becomes even more newsworthy - and thus creates more awareness/education as mainstream news outlets pick up the story, which gradually leads to changes in behavior (both consumer and corporate).

This is a really well-executed campaign (in my opinion, as a communications professional) - and an interesting one to watch unfold, being as I'm both a fan of TJ's and a supporter of Greenpeace.

@hesnow

I think I'm on your side, but (1) I can't find the list of U.S. markets friends keep referring to. I do get a list of Canadian markets, but that's all. (2) The Traitor Joe site is "interactive" only in that a visitor can navigate around on it, but not leave any feedback or ask questions. Where can I find this list of markets? Trader Joe's can't be the only one I want to contact....

Greenpeace's "Red List" isn't exactly the last word on the subject of sustainable fisheries. Like many other areas into which GP treads, some info is accurate and some is not. See this link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008005520_seafood19.html

As for the "Traitor Joe's" site, I believe that at least some of their info is inaccurate, e.g. the cod they sell is not from the Atlantic, but the Pacific. And some of the species GP complains are unsustainable are classified as sustainable fisheries by the Marine Stewardship Council, which is very strict. I'm familiar with Alaska's wildlife management, and it's the best in the world. GP should make more of an effort to be accurate so that the good advice they give isn't polluted with inaccurate information driven more by ideology than facts.

@Skip:

you can look up markets by US state here:

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/oceans/seafood

and i believe the "interactive" label comes from the fact that you can record your own singing telegram for TJ's, find widgets to embed on your blog/site, send a song to the company, etc.

@Veritas,


It's important to consider that there is more than number of species currently sold at stake here. Trader Joe's, unlike many of the other retailers examined under our report, has no sustainable seafood policy whatsoever. As such, there is no barrier preventing them from bringing in any number of endangered fish tomorrow, even if they don't sell them today.

Trader Joe's also does not participate in any sort of sustainability initiatives, industry-led or otherwise. Even many conventional operations, such as Safeway and Supervalu, are involved in sustainability think tanks and industry fora. Some even work directly with NGOs. Trader Joe's does nothing of the sort.

As for transparency, Trader Joe's actually disseminates misinformation, which is even worse than saying nothing at all. A sign above a seafood case at a Trader Joe's in Virginia reads:

“Our seafood comes from sustainable legal sources that have minimal impact on the environment.”

This seafood case contains orange roughy, Atlantic salmon, and many other environmentally unfriendly items. Oh, and by the way -- TJs does in fact sell Atlantic cod (in addition to Pacific cod.)

Moreover, we would encourage you not to take Trader Joe's at their word when they deny the sales of certain items. Greenpeace has nothing to gain by deceiving the public. If Trader Joe's were not engaged in dubious action, we would be supporting them rather than protesting their operation.

As for the Marine Stewardship Council, it's not all it's cracked up to be. If it were, we wouldn't be seeing Steller sea lion loss and a 5-year-running decline in AK pollock (MSC certified), bottom trawl casualties from NZ hoki (MSC certified), or hydraulic dredging and massive seafloor disruption from the Canadian Atlantic scallop fishery (MSC certified).

Trader Joe's tried to LIE TO MY FACE! I am a GP canvasser and I worked at the Trader Joe's in Rancho Santa Margarita today. I was confronted by one of the managers who began to tell me how GP should not be outside of their stores when they haven't sold Orange Roughy for a "long time". She seemed so upset and so sure of herself that I figured GP must have been wrong about this particular Trader Joe's. I apologized to her and told her that I would not tell anymore customers that they sold Orange Roughy. So, I went about the rest of my day of canvassing but, before leaving the other canvasser with me went in to check their seafood supplies. She came out to my car and told me that she saw Orange Roughy, Blue Fin Tuna, and other 'Red List' fish for sale. I had to see this if this was true for myself. I went into the store and right their in the cooler was a pile of frozen Orange Roughy. I picked up one of the packages and walked up to the manager, in front of her customers, and said,"You do sell Orange Roughy here!" She said she knew she was wrong and that she owed us an apology but she never actually apologized. This lie may have been a mistake but most likely was an attempt to bring down the spirits of those who work on the frontlines. This canvasser's spirit is certainly not down but more driven than ever to SAVE OUR OCEANS!!!