Tokyo, Japan — You did it! After months of pressure from Ocean Defenders everywhere, our friends at seafood suppliers Gorton's, Sealord and parent company Nissui have withdrawn their active support for Japanese whaling.
This does not mean an end to the so-called scientific whaling program, but it does mean we've driven home a very important point: whaling is bad for business.
Our campaign has put Nissui in the spotlight, a one-third shareholder in Kyodo Senpaku, which owns and operates the whaling fleet. That implicated two of the world's largest seafood companies with links to the whaling business: Gortons in the US, wholly owned by Nissui, and Sealord in New Zealand, 50 percent owned by Nissui. You took our campaign from the high seas to the high streets (or the bounding main to the main streets, if you're North American). Ocean Defenders from New Zealand to New York sent thousands of emails to these companies, calling on them to use their influence to end whaling and warning them that consumers do not support the activities of their parent company.
Globally, Ocean Defenders sent a total of 100,000 emails to Nissui-related companies.
Nissui lost seafood supply contracts in Argentina after activists placed stickers denouncing whaling on Nissui products in supermarkets and sent more than 20,000 emails.
By linking to our Gorton's information page, online activists drove information about Gorton's relation to whaling activities up into the number two slot for Google searches on "Gortons."
"This is a gorgeous example of the power of consumers in today's globalised markets," said Adele Major of the Greenpeace International web team. "We've moused them into submission."
For more info and links to discuss directly with other Ocean Defenders:
http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/the-expedition/news/nissui-sealord-gortons
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