To: Chris Lischewski, CEO of Bumble Bee Foods

Protect Sharks and Ensure Your Tuna Is Legal and Sustainable

Millions of sharks are killed by tuna vessels every year—as bycatch or from illegal shark finning practices.

Major companies like Bumble Bee have a responsibility to ensure that their products do not come with the hidden cost of millions of dead sharks.

We both know that policies banning shark finning, including the guidelines of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), are not enough. Unless your company can publicly prove that all aspects of your supply chain, including the independent vessels that you buy fish from are not finning sharks, those guidelines become meaningless.

I am requesting that Bumble Bee take the following steps to ensure its tuna is legal and sustainable:

(1) Stop relying on wire leaders—which are unnecessary for catching tuna but ensure high rates of shark bycatch—and stop using transshipment at sea, which allows tuna boats to hide illegal practices. Bumble Bee must take steps to ensure that its tuna is not caught at the expense of dwindling shark populations.
(2) Provide living wages for fishermen.

Thank you.

Why is this important?

Every year, millions of sharks are killed every year only for their fins.
US tuna brands that hire these vessels, like Bumble Bee, aren't taking any steps to stop it.