Target Faces Lawsuit Over Good & Gather Tuna Sustainability Label Claims

Every can and pouch of Target's Good & Gather tuna carries a promise: "sustainably caught," complete with the Marine Stewardship Council checkmark. A proposed class-action complaint filed March 18 in federal court says that promise is fiction.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, targets Target's Good & Gather canned and pouched tuna, which carries front-label claims that it is "sustainably caught" and includes the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) checkmark logo. Back-of-label statements go further, describing the product as "sustainable seafood" and "wild caught using sustainable practices to help protect ocean resources for future generations to enjoy."

Plaintiff Sarah Kim alleges those statements constitute false and fraudulent advertising, specifically calling out the "unsustainable" fishing practices of Target's tuna supplier, The Tuna Store LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bellevue, Washington-headquartered Tri Marine Group, which itself is owned by the Bolton Group in Milan, Italy.

The complaint traces the supply chain up to its highest level and doesn't pull punches once it gets there. According to the filing, "The Bolton Group is a massive, global fishing conglomerate. Greenpeace has issued reports on the failures of the Bolton Group to meet its marketed sustainability goals." The complaint goes on to allege that Target's tuna "is caught by fisheries that utilize large-scale fishing methods that indisputably harm the oceans and marine life through bycatch, overfishing, and ghost gear."

The complaint also highlights Target's "Target Forward" sustainability campaign and its partnership with MSC, arguing that "Target knows that conscientious consumers go shopping in search of sustainable products, which, in turn, drives market share." It further asserts that despite representing to consumers that it has "full traceability" of its tuna products, Target "turns a blind eye to the unsustainable fishing practices used in sourcing its tuna products and boldly uses [its] Sustainability Promise as proof of sustainable fishing methods."

The suit accuses Target of leveraging sustainability messaging to charge a premium for its Good & Gather brand tuna sourced from fisheries using environmentally damaging practices.

The proposed class includes 100 or more members, with the amount in controversy exceeding $5 million.

For the tuna fishing community, the case cuts to the heart of a debate that's been building for years: whether MSC certification and retailer sustainability promises actually mean anything at the level of the fishery. The complaint joins a string of similar eco-label lawsuits in recent years, with suits previously filed against Mowi, Gorton's, ALDI, and Conagra over comparable sustainability claims. The difference here is the direct targeting of a major retailer's private-label brand and the explicit tracing of the supply chain through to a Milan-headquartered conglomerate with a documented Greenpeace record.

Target, The Tuna Store LLC, Tri Marine Group, and the Bolton Group have not issued public responses to the complaint as of publication.