fads

Tuna are fish, and they are wild animals. But to many people, they are simply understood as food. It can be a bit confusing when the short hand of ‘tuna’ is used, as it covers a whole family of species, from the relatively-tiddly and widespread skipjack, right up to the majestic but beleaguered bluefins.

I’m so happy to announce that after we released our 2014 tuna league table, and after all your emails, tweets and calls to Tesco over the last few weeks – we have a fantastic victory. The manufacturer of Oriental & Pacific tuna has agreed to our demands. This means that fewer sharks, turtles and rays will be killed as a result of the method used to fish this tuna.

Here’s a question which has cropped up from some supporters about our work on tinned tuna.

‘Why are sharks, turtles and rays more important than tuna?’

The sands in the tuna campaign have shifted again, and the oceans and tuna will ultimately be better off for it. Our Italian colleagues have just announced that the local tinned tuna brand Mareblu has committed to stop using Fads (fish aggregation devices) - the destructive marine minefields that have been blighting the oceans for decades.

After the huge success of our UK tinned tuna campaign, described by the Independent as "one of the most successful environmental campaigns in years", it was great to hear a big European tuna brand - Bolton commit to completely clean up its act.