icle ["Wild Oats Stops Selling Species Found to Be Overfished," Aug. 23, 1999] covered the decision by Wild Oats Markets Inc. to discontinue carrying swordfish, marlin, orange roughy and Chilean sea bass until a full recovery plan is adopted. In fact, recovery plans for these species are in effect, and have been in effect for years.
To help the species recover to their fullest potential, a few things can be done by the supermarket industry:
2. Educate consumers. Make the customers aware of your environmental stand by including a statement on your counter: We only buy our fish/shellfish from countries that comply with international regulations and quotas.
Sacrifice has become a way of life, with fishermen giving up short-term gains to aid the recovery of fisheries. They don't deserve the suggestion that they are to blame for the condition of some fisheries. The people who make their livelihood in fisheries have the greatest stake in conserving resources and are fully supporting [this] work. Boycotts, lawsuits and doom-saying may make great fundraising tools, but as fishery management, they just don't jive.