New report finds major seafood seller T&T Supermarket is not covered by Loblaw’s Sustainable Sourcing Guide for Seafood, despite mounting evidence of abuse in global seafood supply chains. 

SeaChoice has profiled Loblaw annually against its seafood policies and practices since 2018 on Seafood Progress alongside other major Canadian retailers. Disappointingly, Loblaw relayed again to SeaChoice in this year’s report that it has no plans to include T&T under its Sustainable Sourcing Guide for Seafood.

In past Seafood Progress assessments we have explored the nature and supporting elements of retailer policies (do they have timebound goals, full chain traceability, etc). However, we have found that even the most robust policies are limited in scope. This is often not well communicated as retailers market their policies in a way that suggests they apply to everything and downplay which stores and products are excluded. What’s more, retailers remain quiet as investigations tying unethical seafood to their shelves pile up. To shine a spotlight on this issue, SeaChoice’s latest report takes a closer look at which seafood products and stores retailers’ ethical sourcing policies actually apply to, and which they avoid responsibility for. 

Following a global theme, our report shows Canadian retailers’ exclude nearly half their seafood products and store chains from their ethical sourcing policies. 

T&T Supermarket (T&T) is a growing North American chain where seafood is a major offering. T&T was acquired by Loblaw Co in 2009 for $225 million, and in the same year, the chain’s annual revenue exceeded $500 million. There are currently 37 T&T stores across Canada, and the first store opened in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2024. Loblaw recently announced plans to open 80 new stores in Canada in 2025 under various store banners, including T&T.

To shed light on the significance of Loblaw excluding T&T from its Sustainable Seafood Guide, SeaChoice conducted an in-store audit. 

Photo of T&T Supermarket Langley’s seafood counter. Caption reads: ‘Langley’s Seafood Destination: Live, Fresh, Frozen’

Our analysis found: there’s plenty of fish in the T&T sea. 

The store more than lives up to its promise of being ‘Langley’s Seafood Destination.’ We photographed around 250 seafood products – the majority of which are imported – across various categories including shelf stable, fresh, frozen, beauty and health products. 

The store has significant infrastructure to house its seafood, including:

• 1 x dedicated seafood counter (approximately 500 square feet) containing fresh and live seafood. 
• 5 x approximately 300 square foot freezer cases full of frozen seafood. 
• 6 x stand-up cases (approximately) full of fresh and frozen seafood. 
• 1 x  dedicated sushi counter (approximately 20-feet long).
• 4 x approximately 40-foot aisles full of shelf stable seafood products (cans, bags, jars, bottles, pouches, jugs, etc). 
• 1 x dedicated display case for fish oil capsules in the health section.

In this year’s Seafood Progress report, Loblaw did not respond when asked if it plans to strengthen efforts to ensure that its seafood suppliers comply with its ethical sourcing policies, amid growing evidence of forced labour, illegal fishing, etc. in global seafood supply chains. For instance, Loblaw was directly implicated in The Outlaw Ocean Project’s China series where egregious human rights and environmental abuses were connected back to seafood products sold by North American retailers. As evidence of its global significance, China’s seafood industry accounts for a fifth of international seafood trade, is worth over thirty-five billion dollars and is responsible for catching approximately 5 billion pounds of seafood annually.  

Beyond Loblaw’s initial correspondence with Outlaw Ocean (published here), the retailer has not reported on its efforts to remediate based on the findings of that investigation. 

A supplier of Loblaw’s private label seafood, Premier Marine Canada, was also implicated in the China series (correspondence here), as were various third-party seafood brands that are commonly sold by Loblaw (e.g., Aqua Star, High Liner and Toppits). 

Since Canada requires little controls for sustainability or human rights on imports, the more imported seafood retailers sell the higher the risk of unethical products making their way to store shelves. Therefore, it is even more important for Loblaw to apply its ethical sourcing policies to T&T as a chain that offers significant volumes of imported seafood. With due diligence legislation gaining momentum, and voluntary certifications and social audits failing to detect abuse, it’s time retailers – including Loblaw – proactively implement a due diligence approach to sourcing all seafood products. 

Send a letter to retailers demanding they stop selling unethical seafood and take accountability for their products.