SAN FRANCISCO— Several activists dressed as lobsters delivered a petition with more than 20,000 signatures to the management at a Costco store today. The petition urges the company to stop selling lobster products not certified as sustainable.

The performing “lobsters” chanted about saving whales while displaying large whale plushies tangled in pretend fishing rope. Several customers filmed with their phones and asked questions about lobster and whales.

Costco has stated a commitment to sustainable products, but the chain continues to sell American lobster not certified by the Marine Stewardship Council.

“We’re asking Costco to stop selling American lobster that puts whales at risk of deadly entanglements,” said Ben Grundy, oceans campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Whales have to swim through a dangerous maze of millions of seafood traps and ropes. Too many whales perish for the seafood on our plate. Several other retailers have already stopped offering uncertified lobster, and we’ve asked Costco to follow suit several times, with no response.”

The Gulf of Maine lobster fishery had its Marine Stewardship Council sustainability certification suspended last December, due to a court finding that the fishery was out of compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. Millions of traps with vertical fishing lines are set each year to catch American lobster. Deployed throughout critical whale habitat, these fishing lines connect traps to the ocean’s surface and risk entanglement of marine life.

Another sustainable seafood advisory group, Seafood Watch, added American lobster to its “red list” of seafood to avoid in September 2022. Shortly after that announcement, Whole Foods decided to stop selling Gulf of Maine lobster. Seafood Watch is operated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Entanglement in fishing gear is a persistent threat to endangered whales on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. When whales become entangled in fishing gear, they can drown immediately or die over an extended period from injuries, infections or starvation.