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SEALORD, the big New Zealand fishing company, which also has major interests in the UK, and the Greenpeace appear to be on collision course over a new campaign by the global enrvironmental organisation.
Sealord has threatened legal action against Greenpeace after it put up dozens of banners and posters around the city of Auckland featuring the Sealord logo coupled with Greenpeace's own phrase "nice logo, bad tuna".
It has accused the company of unsustainable tuna catching methods through the use of purse seiners and "fish aggregation devices" which it claims kills other forms of sea life - something strong denied by Sealord.
However, Sealord, which is part Maori owned, it hitting back at Greenpeace whose tactics have also come in for criticism from some American seafood companies, as reported in Fishupdate yesterday. It has described the campaign as "another example of misleading, extreme activism".
Sealord marketing general manager David Welsh said in a statement."Sealord tuna is sustainable. Bycatch is very low: 0.16 per cent of catch is sharks, and non-tuna species make up 1 to 2 per cent,"We are investigating our legal options on how best to respond to this misleading attack, he said, adding "The global Dolphin Safe environmental group had condemned the campaign as "misleading in the extreme',
He has also warned the public not to be deceived by Greenpeace's claims. Despite its New Zeeland heritage, Sealord has a strong global operation including an important modern white fish processing centre near Grimsby, where it is a major supplier to the Waitrose Group. It says it is proud of its environmental record which includes supplying Marine Stewardship Council certified fish hundreds of McDonalds Restaurants in the UK and Europe.
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