Whole Foods to Stop Selling Unsustainable Seafood

Whole Foods fishmonger selling yellow-rated seafood to shopper. Courtesy of Whole Foods.

By Sonia Isotov

Beginning this Earth Day (April 22), Whole Foods Market has announced that it will no longer carry red-rated wild-caught fish in its seafood departments.

The move, which comes one year ahead of the company’s self-imposed deadline of Earth Day 2013, makes Whole Foods Market the first national grocer to stop selling red-rated seafood.

A red rating indicates that a species is suffering from overfishing or that current fishing methods harm other marine life or habitats. The ratings are determined by nonprofit research organizations Blue Ocean Institute and Monterey Bay Aquarium.

“We are now able to offer more sustainable seafood choices than ever before, and we are thrilled that our suppliers have worked with us so swiftly to find high-quality green- and yellow-rated seafood so we could not only meet, but beat our deadline,” said David Pilat, the global seafood buyer for Whole Foods Market, in a written statement.

“This shift allows us to promote and highlight fisheries that use responsible fishing methods and source from areas where fish are most abundant and fisheries are well-managed.”