Australian supermarket chain Woolworths is facing a shareholder resolution calling for the company to stop sourcing any salmon farmed in Macquarie Harbor, Tasmania.
The move is being led by Sustainable Investment Exchange (SIX), an online investment platform speaking on behalf of 121 Woolworths shareholders. According to SIX, the resolution is being lodged with the support of other ethical investment groups Ethinvest, Ethical Investment Advisers, and Tasethical, along with NGOs like Environment Tasmania, Neighbours of Fish Farming (NOFF), Eko, and Living Oceans Society.
“Given the urgency of the situation with the Maugean skate, we thought this would be something Woolworths would agree to act on without the need for a shareholder resolution,” SIX CEO Adam Verwey said in a release.
The central issue is the plight of the Maugean skate, which only lives in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbor. The rare fish has existed virtually unchanged for millions of years, but a recent study by the University of Tasmania found that its population totals have dwindled over the past decade and could be one bad weather event away from extinction.
“It has been over a year since the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies' emergency interim report showed the Maugean skate population had dropped by 47 percent between 2014 and 2021,” Environment Tasmania Vice Chair Kelly Roebuck said. “We’ve since heard there is only an estimated 40 to 120 adult Maugean skate. Yet, Woolworths keeps dragging their heels on taking any action.”
Environmental groups have placed part of the blame on salmon farming in the harbor, with protestors demanding the government of Tasmania ban salmon farming in Macquarie Harbor and claiming the industry is pushing the skate to extinction. The groups claim that salmon farming causes reduced oxygen events which can kill skates.
While the Tasmanian government has created a conservation action plan to protect the skate, environmentalists claim the plan is oriented around protecting Atlantic salmon companies and not the Maugean skate.
“The misnamed ‘Conservation Action Plan’ is essentially a proposal to monitor the Maugean skate into extinction while protecting the profits of foreign-owned companies and propping up unsustainable jobs for a short while longer,” NOFF Campaigner Jess Coughlan said.
Protesters and groups have also targeted Australian supermarket chains Woolworths and Coles claiming the companies are greenwashing salmon. SIX launched a “Save the Skate!” campaign to push the two companies to take action, with the end result being the upcoming shareholder resolution.
The shareholder resolution will be heard at Woolworths' annual general meeting on 31 October, with SIX claiming it will make the company the first in the world to face a shareholder resolution aimed at preventing an extinction event.
“It’s astonishing a company that promotes itself as a leader in sustainability needs its shareholders to step in to stop a likely extinction event,” Verwey said.
The resolution would push Woolworths to ...
