Those
who kill the seals and their related industries are our targets.
That's
why our MAIN BOYCOTT TARGET is: Canadian
seafood, especially seafood from Atlantic Canada.
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
owns one of 2 seal processing companies. 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.
* 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 over 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.
Add
to this the fact that the Canadian Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO)
has said that they will not stop the seal killing until the fishery
corporations demand it! That means those few fish companies that
support these massacres will have to reverse their position and/ or
all the others will have to speak out against the seal killing. The
Canadian seafood boycott will encourage both these actions.
Seafood
from Atlantic Canada is:
Seafood
from Atlantic Canada is our primary focus of boycott, especially seafood
from Newfoundland. Our main targets are:
snow
crab
scallops
mackerel
turbot
|
lobster
mussels
herring
sardines
|
cold-water
shrimp
cod
prawns
flatfishes
|
 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 already cooked. 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 manager.
In addition, we urge you to BOYCOTT CANADIAN SALMON, (mostly a Pacific
species), since we need all Canadian seafood companies to pressure
their MP's and DFO representatives to stop the seal kill.
So, if you eat seafood at restaurants or
cafeterias, be sure to ask where it's from... and BOYCOTT CANADIAN!
The
ultimate success (or failure) of the boycott will rely on how we, as
SEAL ACTIVISTS, can affect the dynamics between the following 2 major
categories of companies in the Canadian Seafood business:
1) CANADIAN
SEAFOOD EXPORTERS (Corporations that sell Canadian seafood)
These are the
companies who sell or distribute Canadian seafood to the US market.
They are all "guilty" corporations that we will shamelessly
pressure until the seal massacre is declared over.
Please see our comprehensive (new) section
for:
* A detailed list of 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 who purchase Canadian seafood and sell it to American consumers.
As the boycott grows, some are complying with the boycott while others
resist...
Please see our comprehensive (new) section
for:
* A detailed list consists of Restaurant chains, supermarkets,
fish markets and distributors and how we can support or pressure them,
depending on their actions for the seals.
*
A focus on RED LOBSTER Restaurants
(Owned by The Darden Group, this parent company also owns another
large chain of restaurants called the Olive Garden) 
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...
See our detailed Red Lobster Demo
section now!
* A focus on PUBLIX Supermarkets
 The largest employee-owned chain of supermarkets, located in the southeast U.S., with over 800 stores, this chain unabashedly sells large quantities of Canadian seafood, including seafood from Newfoundland while claiming to be a part of the Canadian seafood boycott!
Seal activists can call them on their attempt to get credit for helping the seals while doing absolutely nothing to further the boycott and bring about an end to the seal "hunt." Write an email from here.
We also encourage leafletting and protests at Publix. Email us to request leaflets. Be sure to include the quantity you would like and your mailing address. To get help in organizing a demonstration, email us here.
Various
creative tactics involved:
In addition
to the monthly RED LOBSTER DEMOS,
there are several specific tacticts we can use to make the boycott
effective:
 *
One of them is spreading the word by way of the "SEAL
OF APPROVAL" campaign!
This
project takes the boycott campaign directly to ALL businesses that
sell Canadian Seafood.
Learn more, get involved, help the seals, and if you're a go getter,
you could actually win a trip to go see live Baby Seals in Canada!
Spearheaded by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, this project
will make a difference!
*
Another tactic very near ready for activists is the "BOYCOTT
IN A BOX" campaign spearheaded by Animal Alliance of Canada.
(Details coming soon)
NON-
FOOD ITEMS TO BOYCOTT:
Here are
a few other Canadian seal products out there to avoid...
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 them including:
Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Birger Christensen, New
Vogue, and
Vogue Furriers.
(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 design leaflets, brochures, ads, and other media 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.
* Sending donations and/or raising funds for Harpseals.org to print
leaflets and purchase billboards, radio, and television
commercials and spread the boycott across the country.
The
day the seafood came out of the bag!
Although
Harpseals.org had been boycotting Canadian seafood for several months
prior, the day finally came when some major environmental players
made their official announcement...
Read the 2005 press release: "International
Seafood Boycott is Imminent"
ARE YOU A VEGAN AND RELUCTANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BOYCOTT?
Read
our Vegan special "Why vegans can
and should support the boycott" written by an 18 year practicing
vegan. |
