Pescatarians who shop at Trader Joe’s: I have bad news! My favorite supermarket chain got the worst score in Greenpeace’s latest seafood sustainability scorecard (PDF), scoring even lower than Target and Wal-Mart!

Greenpeace’s scorecard basically looks at supermarkets’ fish purchasing policies. Since many fisheries around the globe are in environmental crisis and some seafood species are gravely endangered, Greenpeace has a “red list” of seafood — like orange roughy, swordfish, and Chilean sea bass — that should be avoided.

The good news is that the higher scoring supermarkets are starting to put sustainable seafood policies and practices into place. Whole Foods, for example, has made some headway into making sure some imperiled species are banned from their stores. Ahold USA (Stop & Shop, Giant), Target, Harris Teeter, and WalMart are making similar strides.

The bad news — at least for me — is that Trader Joes isn’t one of those five.

Does that mean we should all stop shopping at Trader Joe’s? Not necessarily. After all, Trader Joe’s offers healthy, organic products at some of the most affordable prices — an important fact to keep in mind when the economic downturn’s making some forgo organics altogether.

But I’ll consult my Monterey Bay Aquarium Sustainable Seafood Guide whenever I go shopping at Trader Joe’s or anywhere else, to make sure I avoid buying any enviro-questionable seafood.

If you’re lucky enough to have co-ops or other health food markets near you, check to see if that store’s on Greenpeace’s list of Green Seafood Grocers. While none of the grocers listed are large national chains, supporting one of them can let you let go of your fishy worries while spending your money at a store whose practices align with your values.

Related links:
>> Lori Bongiorno recommends The Blue Ocean Institute’s FishPhone, a text messaging service that can serve as “a convenient alternative for those who don’t care to cart around wallet guides,” at Cooler Choice.

>> At Greenpeace’s own Making Waves blog, brianfit reveals that the National Fisheries Institute circulated a memo to undermine the nonprofit. Writes brianfit: “Clearly, the idea of ensuring the world has fish for tomorrow by protecting fish stocks today is dangerous anti-capitalist sedition.”

[crossposted on BlogHer]

Update, 6/7/09: NRDC’s put together its own Sustainable Seafood Guide.

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