image source, Getty Images
- Author, Faarea Masud
- Role, BBC business reporter
Scampi is sourced in a way that causes “extensive environmental damage”, claims a charity which is complaining to the UK Competition Authority.
Charity Open Seas is questioning the sustainability of the popular seafood snack and has asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate supermarkets that claim it is “responsibly sourced”.
Open Seas says “extensive damage” is caused by dragging the seabed with trawl nets to catch langoustines for shrimp, and other marine life caught in the process are often needlessly discarded.
The British Retail Consortium said retailers are “working closely” with suppliers to “ensure products meet customers’ sustainability expectations”.
He added: “Retailers are committed to sourcing shrimp responsibly.”
However, Open Seas believes that describing the product as “responsibly sourced” breaches the CMA’s guidelines.
“We have raised these concerns with supermarkets, but they continue to sell the shrimp as ‘responsibly sourced,'” Open Seas head of campaigns Nick Underdown said.
CMA guidance requires marketing claims to be true and accurate and “clear and unambiguous”.
“Consumers should not be misled by products marketed in this way,” Mr Underdown added.
Scampi are sold in the frozen aisles of supermarkets, becoming a cheap source of protein for many. It is often made from a mixture of different shellfish including shrimp and lobster. The variety, which is coated in breadcrumbs, fried and served with a side of tartar sauce, has become a bar snack staple.
But Mr Underdown told the BBC there was “no effective monitoring of vessels” to reduce the harmful effects of fishing for lobsters, a group of marine animals that make up the main component of prawns.
“There is a vessel monitoring system but no means of monitoring the composition of these catches,” he said, adding that the level of “bycatch” – marine life unwittingly caught in nets – can often include small animals and fish, impacting populations. of this kind in the future.
“Capturing large volumes of juvenile fish against scientific advice is not responsible. Trawling over fragile marine habitats is not responsible,” Underdown said.
“Companies that do not address these issues are not responsible. The way shrimp is produced has all the hallmarks of irresponsible fishing.”
In its complaint to the CMA, Open Seas said the supermarkets’ claim that their fishing is “responsible” is ambiguous because the term is “defined by an interested industry group without reference to international standards for defining responsible seafood”.
The UK’s largest shrimp producer, Whitby Seafoods, says on its website that it is part of the industry-led Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP). Project UK, which oversees the implementation of FIP in the industry, is funded by industry players including Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Young’s, Lidl, Co-op, Tesco and Whitby Seafoods itself.
But Mr Underdown told the BBC he was “extremely concerned about the inaccurate self-reporting and lack of progress made” by the FIP for the shrimp industry.
The BBC contacted major supermarkets and suppliers of British prawns.
Morrisons says on its website that it uses third-party certification to ensure its fisheries are “trustworthy and sustainable”, with 99% of its farmed seafood being “certified to Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative standards”.
Sainsbury’s, meanwhile, says it was the first retailer ever to receive various awards, including one from the Marine Stewardships Council. M&S says on its website that it is a board member of Fisheries Innovation Scotland and that it is an active participant in a number of fisheries improvement projects.
Young’s says it is part of several sustainability organisations, while Tesco says it works with wildlife charity WWF on its seafood sustainability targets.
The Co-op says it works with three independent programs to verify the sustainability of its seafood.