Sainsbury, which says it is the largest retailer of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified sustainable fish in the UK, said at the weekend it plans to introduce the regulation by the end of this month. It maintains that pole and line capture successfully minimises the by-catch of other species.

A statement from the retailer said all of Sainsbury's ready meals, sandwiches, pate, dips, salads, sandwich and potato fillers and sushi containing tuna will now be sourced using the more selective fishing method which practically eliminates bycatch of other species.

Sainsbury's moved all its own label canned tuna to pole and line caught in 2009, and as a result, was rated No.1 by Greenpeace for responsible sourcing. Tuna is the third biggest-selling fish in Sainsbury's and the move will now see 1,500 tonnes of fish move to the more sustainable catch method every year.

Meanwhile, Tesco has committed itself to sourcing 100 per cent pole-and- line caught tuna by the end of 2012 ahead of a new TV showdown with its old adversary Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall whose Fish Fight programme goes out on Channel 4 tonight.

In the three-part series he criticises Tesco over its claim to use responsible fishing methods to catch the tuna in its own-label cans. In the programme, he reads a label on a can, which states: "Tesco is fully committed to fishing methods which protect the marine environment and its species." He questions its "consistency or indeed validity".

Fearnley-Whittingstall then writes to Tesco, asking them to meet him. "Just imagine this [letter] arriving at Tesco towers -  they're not going to be pleased, are they?" he says. Tesco confirmed it did meet with the chef but a spokesman claimed it had been "moving in this direction for some time".

Fearnley-Whittingstall said last night that he was delighted at the development.

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