’Extinction greenwashing’: supermarkets target of ACCC complaint over misleading salmon claims

"There is nothing "responsible" about intensively farming fin fish in Macquarie Harbour," said Jess Coughlan, campaigner at NOFF, "given the history of environmental damage, due largely to a massive expansion of industry, which will take years to repair. The most responsible action that can be taken right now is to remove salmon and trout farms from the harbour, and supermarkets should not otherwise be allowing this product onto the shelves under their sustainable seafood policies.

"Shoppers deserve to know the real impacts of the food they are buying, or they too become complicit in the extinction of a species that has survived longer than many animals on this earth today. Supermarkets are actively deceiving shoppers via their sustainable seafood policies by selling this product."

Coles, Woolworths and ALDI are under fire for "Responsibly Sourced" claims made on Tasmanian salmon products.

Australia's major supermarket chains have been accused of potentially false, misleading or deceptive conduct over sustainability claims on Tasmanian salmon products, according to a complaint lodged with the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC).

Acting on behalf of Living Oceans Society, Neighbours of Fish Farming, the Bob Brown Foundation and Ekō, lawyers at the Environmental Defenders Office have argued that broad, unqualified claims like "Responsibly Sourced" may constitute greenwashing and have the potential to mislead consumers about the environmental harms of Tasmanian salmon.

The complaint also alleges the supermarkets are omitting significant information regarding the extinction risk Tasmanian salmon industry poses to the endangered Maugean skate