On October 11, the Trader Joe’s grocery chain announced that it would stop sourcing shrimp from Mexico in response to a request from the Boycott Mexican Shrimp campaign, led by AWI, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Center for Biological Diversity.
The vaquita porpoise is nearly extinct due to decades of entanglement in gillnet fishing gear for shrimp and, more recently, other species (including the endangered totoaba fish) in Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California. AWI and allies are urging retailers and consumers to say no to shrimp from Mexico, in order to pressure the Mexican government to take stronger steps to protect the animal—including a permanent ban on all gillnet fishing, removal of illegal nets from the water, and significantly increased enforcement efforts.
Trader Joe’s announcement received wide coverage in the Mexican media. AWI is grateful to Trader Joe’s and to the thousands of people who heeded our call to contact the company and urge it to join the boycott. For more information on how to support the campaign, including a contact list of retailers that still purchase shrimp from Mexico, please visit www.BoycottMexicanShrimp.com.