Porter’s Five Forces hits the fish counter

Sustainability, ethics and corporate social responsibility all feature heavily in the news about bluefin tuna this week, as does the theory of Porter’s Five Forces in shaping business strategy. The bluefin is the victim of consumer trends – the explosion in the demand for sushi and for fresh tuna steaks to barbecue, as well as successful campaigns to persuade us to eat a more omega 3-rich diet to protect us from heart disease (and even to prevent eye disease, according to this report on Monday). But it is being over-fished to a critical point at which stocks are becoming completely unsustainable. A film which premiered in the UK on Monday makes the point very clearly - The End of the Line, a documentary based on a book by journalist Charles Clover, examines the mismanagement of bluefin fisheries as a microcosm of how we are hoovering the seas of their fish to the point at which species cannot be sustained and risk dying out altogether. It is generating much publicity for the issue, such as this article from the Times, in order to give it a higher profile.

The aim of the film is to generate a change in consumer demand in order to persuade the industry to change. But there has been a strong response from supermarkets first; Marks and Spencers, Sainsbury’s, Morrison, Waitrose and the Co-op have all made changes to the way they source their supplies of tuna because they are concerned that their supplies will become unsustainable – they don’t want to be stuck in a market in which demand is strong but supplies cannot be found. So even though customers don’t yet understand the problem supermarkets are protecting fish before they disappear entirely. The film has already had an effect on another high-street name, the Pret A Manger sandwich chain. Co-founder Julian Metcalfe was so incensed when he saw the film he made the chain change its policy on tuna. Out went the yellowfin tuna from the sushi - less endangered than bluefin, but still overfished. The tuna and cucumber sandwiches are - from July - to use only supplies from a sustainable rod-and-line fishery from the Maldives, says the chain’s head of sustainability, Nicki Fisher.
This is an issue which should gain much more publicity - the website which supports it gives a great deal of information about the issue, and suggests which fish we should buy and which to avoid in order to help move towards a more sustainable industry. It won’t give the summer feel-good factor or revive the fortunes of the cinema industry like Mamma Mia, but it might help to trigger a change in behaviour.