Iconic San Diego canned tuna producer Bumble Bee Seafoods is defending its record on sustainable fishing and challenging Greenpeace to work with the industry to scientifically protect an important and healthy source of food.
The Amsterdam-based environmental organization has picketed Bumblee Bee’s downtown headquarters, criticized tuna fishing methods, and in October warned investors to steer clear of the San Diego company.
In an interview with Times of San Diego, Bumble Bee President and CEO Chris Lischewski discussed the company’s role in founding the five-year-old International Seafood Sustainability Foundation and challenged Greenpeace to work with the industry.
“We really pride ourselves on the work we’ve done on sustainability,” he said. “We were probably one of the first companies to adopt a sustainability policy.”
Lischewski said that while Greenpeace makes an emotional appeal, Bumblee and other producers have to focus on the science.
“The stocks that we’re dealing with in tuna are pretty healthy,” Lischewski said. “We’re not saying there are not some issues. But we’re focusing on them head on.”
Global tuna production has stabilized at 4.2 million tons annually for the last decade because, he said, producers have sought to protect threatened species of tuna and other marine life.
Greenpeace has recently focused on the use of sonar-equipped fish aggregating devices, or FADs, to attract fish. The technique makes tuna fishing more efficient, but other sea life is sometimes caught in the process. Lischewski said Bumble Bee supports all fishing methods, but realizes there are pros and cons to each and supports research to protect endangered species.
“We’ve been around for 117 years,” he said. “What incentive do we have to fish out the oceans?”
The $1 billion seafood company’s owner, Lion Capital, has recently explored a possible re-financing or sale, though Lischewski said he expected Bumble Bee to remain in San Diego.
