Whole Foods decision to remove lobster divides environmentalists and politicians

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Environmental groups are once again at odds with New England politicians and fishermen after luxury retailer Whole Foods decided to stop selling Maine lobster .

Whole Foods recently announced it would stop selling Gulf of Maine lobster in hundreds of stores nationwide. Citing a decision by a pair of sustainability organizations, the company said: steal their support of the US lobster fishery

Both the Marine Stewardship Council and Seafood Watch have expressed concern about the risks fishing gear poses to the rare North Atlantic right whale. Gear tangles are he one of the biggest threats to whales.

Whole Foods’ decision is an important action to protect “highly endangered” whales, said Virginia Carter, associate of the Environment America Research & Policy Center’s Save America’s Wildlife Campaign. says.

“With fewer than 340 North Atlantic right whales extant, the species is swimming toward extinction unless conditions improve,” Carter said.

Whole Foods said in a statement last week that it was monitoring the situation and “committed to working with suppliers, fisheries and environmental advocacy groups as it develops.”

The company’s decision to stop selling lobster sparked immediate criticism in Maine, home to the nation’s largest lobster fishery. Democratic Governor Janet Mills and his four congressional delegations said in a statement that despite years of control and protection of whales by Maine’s fishermen, the certification of lobsters in the Gulf of Maine was not approved. He said a decision had been made by the Marine Stewardship Council to stop.

“Despite this, the Marine Stewardship Council has decided that retailers will follow suit and erroneously and blindly follow the recommendations of environmental groups that are misguided and not science,” Mills and the delegation said. Stated.

Whole Foods isn’t the first retailer to drop lobster from its menu over sustainability concerns. Meal kit company HelloFresh is one of many. Retailers vow to stop selling lobster In September, after California-based Seafood Watch put the US and Canadian lobster fisheries on its “red list” of seafood to avoid.