The Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators (COLTO) has made a response to an online petition that has called on Amazon in the US to stop selling toothfish, otherwise referred to as Chilean seabass.
COLTO states that the petition is inaccurate, misleading and untruthful.
‘We are doing what we can to work with Amazon to ensure it is removed as fast as possible from all websites and public distribution,’ COLTO chairman Richard Ball said.
‘We would like to reassure our customers and all interested parties that the toothfish you are buying, not only from Amazon, but anywhere in today’s market, is coming from legal fisheries that are world leading at protecting Antarctic wildlife such as seabirds,’ he said, pointing out that these fisheries are overseen within an ecosystem-based management regime by scientists and governments from 25 Member nations within the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).
COLTO further points out that accurate information on toothfish fisheries is available from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program, CCAMLR, the National Ocean and Atmosphere Agency and National Marine Fisheries Service, and from the https://www.msc.org/search?SearchableText=toothfis.
‘Our own website contains much of the history surrounding our toothfish fisheries, and the progress that has been made over the past two decades, and why toothfish is one of the leading examples of collaborative, positive, efforts to ensure sustainable, healthy, fisheries for the future,’ he said, adding that legitimate agencies with experts in the field of Antarctic science and conservation are positive on the state of the toothfish fishery as it is today.
‘We have written to Care2 Petitions to voice our concerns and requested the petition be taken down,’ Richard Ball said.
