Wednesday 28th October, 2015, Liverpool - At 6.30am this morning Greenpeace activists installed an enormous, provocative, sculpture outside tuna company John West’s Liverpool HQ, to protest against the company’s destructive fishing practices and to highlight John West’s owner Thai Union’s links to human rights abuses.
The towering tuna tin is flanked by huge effigies of threatened marine life, including sharks and sea turtles – reflecting John West’s broken sustainability promise to consumers – while at the heart of the installation, the tuna tin is ripped open to reveal a screen showing short campaign films including chef and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and vox pops from the people of Liverpool.
The sculpture was created by pioneering art collective the Mutoid Waste Company, which has previously produced artworks for the 2012 Paralympics Closing Ceremony and Glastonbury Festival.
John West has been under fire since Greenpeace revealed three weeks ago that it had broken its promise to consumers to ensure that at least 50% of its tuna was caught sustainably by the end of 2014. And despite a further commitment to be 100% sustainable by the end of 2016, the company has so far achieved a dismal 2%.
Since the revelations, over 70,000 people have signed a Greenpeace petition calling for an end to unjust and unsustainable tuna, which volunteers will hand over to the company management later today.
Louise Edge, Oceans Campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said:
‘Looking out of their office window here in Liverpool today, John West’s management will be unable to ignore the harm they’re causing to our oceans and their owner’s links to human rights abuses. And many of their staff, just like the British public, will be rightly concerned that John West is a company which doesn’t keep its promises – and that it doesn’t think twice about catching and killing sharks and turtles if it means they save a few quid.
‘John West claims to tell its customers “the story behind every can”. Well sitting on their doorstep is a macabre monster of a tuna can which has many stories to tell: stories like John West’s continuing environmental destruction which is killing threatened marine life – and tales of Thai Union’s links to human trafficking and the exploitation of workers.’
Celebrity chef and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, whose Fish Fight TV series was instrumental in achieving John West’s original sustainability commitment back in 2011, features in one of the films. In it he says:
‘John West has treated us all with total contempt… it’s not just insulting, it’s extremely cynical.
‘If John West want to restore even a shred of credibility to their tattered reputation, I think they’ve got to do a couple of things pretty much straight away. They need to stop using the kind of Fish Aggregation Devices that are ensnaring so much endangered marine life and they need to call on their parent company, Thai Union, to drive out human rights abuses from the Thai fishing industry.’
The films also lift the lid on issues in the Thai fishing industry, including John West’s owner Thai Union’s links to human rights abuses, such as bonded labour and human trafficking.
The Thai fishing industry is currently under scrutiny for its fishing practices, labour rights abuses and human trafficking – including from the US government and the EU. While the CEO of Thai Union has previously condemned human rights abuses in the industry, he recently stated: “we all have to admit that it is difficult to ensure the Thai seafood industry's supply chain is 100% clean”.
Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), said:
‘Slavery is rife in the Thai fishing industry. Yet again we see the connection between environmental degradation and workers’ rights abuses in a global supply chain. John West and Thai Union need to take responsibility, and play their part in ending slavery and ecological destruction in the Thai seafood industry.’
Greenpeace’s Louise Edge continued:
‘Today’s action in the UK is just one of several taking place in countries around the world, including the US and Thailand, targeting Thai Union’s tuna brands. Thai Union can’t afford to wash its hands of the huge problems of environmental destruction and exploitation of workers in the Thai fishing industry.
‘John West must meet its sustainability commitment now and call on Thai Union to clean up its act – proving its supply chain is free from human rights abuses and using its weight in the Thai fishing industry to put an end to the disgraceful exploitation of workers and the oceans.’
The installation will be in place until 7.00pm on Wednesday evening and the public are invited to come along to view this spectacular creation.
Notes to editor
- The installation is located directly outside John West’s HQ at 1 Mann Island, Liverpool, L3 1BP
- For video of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, see here: http://we.tl/FuKOCIg2Sd
- Further newsreel featuring destructive fishing practices including tuna bycatch and Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) can be downloaded here: http://we.tl/4vcfOX2EtV
- Please note: video of the sculpture itself will be distributed from approximately 10.30am.
- Photos from the day will be uploaded to this Dropbox folder as soon as available and are free to use with associated credit: http://bit.ly/1MlKMjN
- The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) represents the rights and interests of 180 million workers in 162 countries.
- The centre of the giant tuna tin sculpture will screen projected films and animations, with one featuring Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall slamming John West and Thai Union.
Excerpts below:
‘John West has treated us all with total contempt… it’s not just insulting, it’s extremely cynical.
‘John West is still using fishing methods which kill all kinds of marine life indiscriminately: turtles, sharks, all kinds of the wrong fish are being caught up in John West’s nets. So if you want to make the right choice when you’re out shopping for tuna – well, it’s not that hard is it?
‘If you think that John West’s lamentable record on fishing sustainability fundamentally calls into question the ethics of the company, then here’s something else you might like to know. John West is owned by a company called Thai Union, one of the biggest seafood companies in the whole world. Thai Union has been linked to human rights abuses, including bonded labour and even human trafficking. Now, I don’t think that’s something I want on my conscience when I’m out shopping for tuna.
‘If John West want to restore even a shred of credibility to their tattered reputation, I think they’ve got to do a couple of things pretty much straight away. They need to stop using the kind of Fish Aggregation Devices that are ensnaring so much endangered marine life and they need to call on their parent company, Thai Union, to drive out human rights abuses from the Thai fishing industry.’
For interviews and further information, contact: Luke Massey – 07478 294 770 – luke.massey@greenpeace.org.
Alternatively, contact the Greenpeace press desk on press.uk@greenpeace.org or 020 7865 8255
