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Wal-Mart's Push for Sustainable Seafood

Posted by Alaina Browne, May 23, 2007 at 3:31 PM

Wal-Mart sells more than 50 million pounds of shrimp a year, most of it from Thailand, where the company has put into place new rules requiring the shrimp to be farmed in environmentally sound ways as certified by Global Aquaculture Alliance or Aquaculture Certification Council.

9 Comments | Tags: seafood, shrimp, sustainability, Wal-Mart

9 Comments:

YES, let me be the FIRST to say that I believe everything that WAL-MART says.

And if Wal-Mart SAYS that they are concerned about the environment . . . or about anything else, other than Wal-Mart's "bottom line" . . . I BELIEVE it.

Yeah, right!

DocChuck at 4:07PM on 05/23/07

It most likely is the bottom line for Wal-Mart. If shrimp die out due to bad fishing practices, that's a lotta aquadollars down the drain. It seems win-win here. Who knows.

Adam Kuban at 4:40PM on 05/23/07

Indeed, though initially it may have a higher price tag, if they are losing less shrimp then it is win win.

And aquadollars is a cool word you'll probably never again use.

Prairie at 5:04PM on 05/23/07

Heh. I thought it was high time there was a word to describe maritime financial dealings. Heck, oil has "petrodollars." I'm going to try to work "aquadollars" into everyday speech. And who knows, with all the newspaper articles along these lines, someone's gotta start using it eventually.

Adam Kuban at 5:58PM on 05/23/07

So, let me get this straight. It doesn't matter what WalMart does, it's still bad? Sure, WalMart promotes sustainable fishing practices because it makes good business sense. But, because it's for only for good business, it's still the bad guy? Is there anything WalMart could do to make these people happy? I doubt it. Even though WalMart is doing EXACTLY what these people want, because it's not at the detriment of the stockholders, it's not good enough. I hope none of the complainers have a 401(k) or stock retirement fund, because they would demand the same thing from their investments that WalMart wants, to make a profit.

mikenmolly at 10:50PM on 05/23/07

Just wait until Wal-Mart stockholders find out they're getting paid in aquadollars!

I also don't get the "Wal-Mart" is evil thing. Wal-Mart will provide products thier customers want. If customers demand sustainable food, that's what Wal-Mart will provide. If it helps the environment at the same time, all the better.

Lou at 6:55AM on 05/24/07

For anyone wanting to learn more about Wal-Mart's business practices, please take the time to watch the documentary "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices."

Eye-opening.

And frightening.

cupcake girl at 7:45AM on 05/24/07

If you get Showtime, watch the Penn and Teller "Bullshit" episode about Wal-Mart. They dispell a lot of myths about the anti-Wal-Mart point of view.

Lou at 8:49AM on 05/24/07

Well, actually, Wal-mart management may not be overly friendly to the wishes of their stockholders:

http://www.kfsm.com/Global/story.asp?S=6334171

DocChuck at 4:14PM on 05/24/07

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