Why will this boycott strategy be successful?
Here are a few powerful reasons why a targeted boycott on Canadian seafood can be effective!

MOST sealers are fishermen. Seal products are illegal in the U.S, but these fishermen sell their seafood here. This is our direct response.

Many seafood companies lobby for the seal kill. One of them (the Barry Group) owns the second largest seal skin processing company (Atlantic Marine Products). Others think they'll catch more cod if they kill off the seals. And those companies that don't actively lobby for the kill either quietly support the massacres or are too timid to challenge government policies. This boycott will encourage all to demand an end to the killing.

Officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada have said, in meetings with animal protection organizations, that the annual seal massacre will not end until the Canadian fishing industry wants it to end. We can put pressure on this industry by boycotting their products.

Americans purchase about 70% of the seafood exports from Canada. That gives us consumer power! Canadian seafood exports to the U.S. add up to about CAN$3 billion (compared to about CAN$16 million in income from seal pelts). Just making a dent in the sales of Canadian seafood here in the U.S. will pressure the Canadian seafood industry to demand an end to the seal kill.

Find information on the progress of the boycott here.

Oven Poppers "Sole Stuffed with Shrimp and Lobster in Newburg Sauce." The lobster may come from Canada.

These products can be found in many forms: dried, salted, smoked, canned, fresh or frozen.

They are sold in grocery stores where they SHOULD (according to US law) be labeled as coming from Canada, except if they're sold in the fresh fish section already cooked or made into prepared meals. They are also sold in restaurants and cafeterias.

If any seafood you intend to purchase is not labeled with the country of origin, please ask the clerk, waiter, or manager or write to or call the manufacturer.

So, if you eat seafood at restaurants or cafeterias, be sure to ask where it's from....and BOYCOTT CANADIAN!

Gorton's grilled salmon and grilled (pollock) fillet are from Canada

The success of this boycott depends on the actions of both Canadian seafood exporters and American seafood vendors:

1) CANADIAN SEAFOOD EXPORTERS (Companies that sell Canadian seafood)
These are the companies who sell or distribute Canadian seafood to the US market. We need all these companies to pressure their MP's and DFO representatives to stop the seal kill.

Please see our Exporters section for:

A detailed list of Canadian distributers and wholesalers and the ways in which we can put the pressure on them.

Handy print friendly list of offending companies to carry in your wallet.

2) AMERICAN SEAFOOD VENDORS (Companies that buy Canadian seafood)
These are the companies that purchase Canadian seafood and sell it to American consumers. As the boycott grows, some are complying with the boycott while others resist...

Here is a list of Restaurant chains, supermarkets, fish markets and distributors and how we can pressure those that have not joined the boycott of Canadian seafood.

Vita herring is from Canada

* A focus on RED LOBSTER Restaurants
(Owned by The Darden Group, this parent company also owns the Olive Garden restaurants, Smokey Joe's restaurants, and Bahama Breeze restaurants)

Why Red Lobster? This well known restaurant chain is one of the largest purchasers of Canadian Seafood in the world, making it a prime target of the seafood boycott...

This well You can help pressure Red Lobster to join the boycott by

1. Distributing leaflets to patrons entering and exiting the restaurant. (Choose those restaurants that are located in shopping plazas to avoid being asked to leave.)

2. Organizing or participating in a demonstration at a Red Lobster restaurant. (Let us know about your demo so we can post it on the web site.)
Learn more about the Red Lobster Demonstrations

3.Contacting Red Lobster to ask them to join the boycott.

4. STAYING OUT OF RED LOBSTER WHILE THEY CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE CANADIAN FISHING INDUSTRY.

* A focus on Publix Supermarkets
Publix is a chain of over 800 supermarkets in the southeast United States. It's the largest employee-owned supermarket chain in the country. As such, it would be expected to be more responsive to customer concerns than a major publicly-held corporation. Nevertheless, Publix sells at least half a dozen different types of Canadian seafood in their fresh fish section at any given time, including seafood from Newfoundland and other provinces in Atlantic Canada. This is in addition to selling pre-packaged, canned, and frozen seafood from Canada, including Brunswick canned seafood, Canadian Cove frozen seafood, Sea Specialties and Vita Brand refrigerated seafood, Gorton's frozen seafood, Oven Popper's frozen seafood, and several other brands of Canadian seafood.

Publix is supporting the Canadian fishing industry in a big way and helping to perpetuate the annual slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seal pups in Canada. If they joined the Canadian seafood boycott today, AND STOPPED BUYING ALL THIS SEAFOOD FROM CANADA, the Canadian fishing industry would be forced to demand a ban on the seal "hunt."

Take action:

1. Contact Publix and demand that they stop buying all Canadian seafood.

2. Let Publix customers know about the seals and the Canadian seafood boycott by talking to Publix seafood consumers and offering them leaflets.

3. Demonstrate at Publix. Let us know about your demonstration so that we can publicize it.

RESTAURANTS AND STORES THAT HAVE JOINED THE CANADIAN SEAFOOD BOYCOTT

TWO ORGANIZATIONS ARE MAINTAINING LISTS OF VENDORS THAT HAVE JOINED THE BOYCOTT:

The HSUS List of vendors that have signed a pledge This list includes restaurants and stores recruited by HSUS employees as well as volunteers from many organizations. Important note: Some of the vendors have volunteered to boycott only certain Canadian seafood. Please ask before you order or check for labels before you buy any seafood from them. And please ask the manager to stop buying all Canadian seafood.

The Sea Shepherd list of vendors that have pledged to boycott Canadian seafood. As with any promise, follow up is important, so please check for seafood sources if you patronize these vendors. Let us know if you find any Canadian seafood, and be sure to ask the management to stop buying all seafood from Canada.

Action Cards

We're making it easy for you to promote the Canadian seafood boycott.

With our free Action Cards, you can tell grocers and restauranteurs in no uncertain terms that you want them to stop selling Canadian seafood and offer alternatives instead. These Action Cards provide you will a powerful yet easy way to have a big impact for the seals. Order some today!

You can also print out these cards from Animal Alliance Canada and leave them at the stores and restaurants that you patronize.

If you go to Red Lobster, you can hand them one of our special Red Lobster cards.

Recruit Seafood Vendors to the Boycott

Join us in recruiting seafood vendors to the boycott! Just ask us to send you a Boycott Recruitment Kit. This kit contains a guide, a pledge form, and a few other useful documents and is available by email.

You can also use the HSUS kit. These kits are available through the (snail) mail and contain stickers and/or decals.

You can also send letters to your local supermarkets and restaurants that sell seafood asking them to stop selling Canadian seafood.

Send Letters and Emails to Companies that Sell Canadian Seafood

We've made it easy with addresses, phone numbers, and automated emails to major targets. Click here for your quick and easy way to help promote the boycott of Canadian seafood

If you aren't able to actively recruit restaurants, supermarkets, and other seafood vendors, you can still

*Always ckeck labels or ask if seafood is from Canada before purchasing or ordering seafood, and mention the Canadian seafood boycott to waiters, store managers, seafood department managers, etc. Ask them to support the boycott by sourcing from other countries.

*You can also help to educate people about the seafood boycott through a public awareness event or other action.

1) Nutritional supplements:
The following products are made from murdered baby seals:

Terra Nova, Canomega, and Omegavite.

These are all omega-3 fatty acid capsules...

Although these particular seal products are ILLEGAL in the USA, international seal protectors should be sure to AVOID them.

And, we bet you guessed we were going to tell you this:
There are many excellent ALTERNATIVES to baby seal oil as a nutritional supplement.

Here are 2 ideas:
1) flax seed oil, which is sold in capsule form and a liquid that can be added directly to food (sold in natural food stores, the natural food sections of major groceries, and in the pharmacy area of WalMart).

2) hemp seed oil, with a nutty flavor, sold in liquid form. This is harder to find but is available on the internet. Also available are packages of ground hemp seeds and various products made from hemp seeds. This may come as a disappointment to some, but you can't get high from hemp seeds :}


2) Seal Pelts:
Although seal pelts are ILLEGAL in the US, it is the SALE OF PELTS TO THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET THAT PROPELS THE SEAL KILLING YEAR AFTER YEAR!

All seal loving people, and especially Americans, should certainly boycott fashion houses that sell seal pelts, including:

Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Birger Christensen, Gucci, Versace, New Vogue, and Vogue Furriers. And please let them know that you are no longer their customer because of their use of seal pelts.

(See our seal pelt industry: exposed page for details)

Other ways of participating in the boycott:
Besides participating in the boycott yourself, you can help by:

• Informing everyone you know about the boycott.
• Helping us secure free or discounted ads and publicity to spread the word about the boycott.
• Sending us names of sympathetic reporters, talk show hosts, news anchors, etc. in your neighborhood and/ or being a local spokesperson for Harpseals.org.
• Distributing leaflets about the boycott in your community.
• Helping us recruit celebrities as spokespeople and to help in spreading the word about the boycott.
• Sending donations and/or raising funds for Harpseals.org to print leaflets and purchase billboards, radio, and television commercials and spread the word about the boycott across the country.