Greenpeace supporters take symbolic action against Japan's whaling in the Southern Ocean.
We have been joined by 17 governments in a call to the
government ofJapan to "cease its lethal scientific research on
whales and assure thereturn of the vessels" from the Southern Ocean
whale Sanctuary.
The 17 governments comprehensively denounced the so-called
scientifichunt as a sham, noting that "Japan is now killing more
whales in theAntarctic every year than it killed for scientific
research in the 31years prior to the introduction of the moratorium
on commercialwhaling." They further express "grave concerns" that
the hunt "willundermine the long-term viability" of both fin and
humpback whales.
Let's not forget that along with pressure from governments,
globalcorporations like Nissui also have a role to play in bringing
an end tothe hunt. Japan'ssecond-largest marine products company,
Nissui owns one third of KyodoSenpaku, which operates the whaling
fleet. We are urging people to
tellNissui that "whaling is bad for business" and use its
influence to stop whaling now.
In Germany, a 20 ton fin whale found dead in the Baltic Sea was
movedto the Japanese Embassy in Berlin to make the point "you don't
needharpoons to study dead whales". The unfortunate whale appears
to havelost itself in the Baltic Sea and starved to death, but the
realscientists at the it's final destination - the German
OceanographicMuseum - will be able to confirm this.
Meanwhile in the UK, we had climbers scaling a building at
theheadquarters of ASDA - the supermarket chain owned by Walmart.
Scoring just one point out of 20, ASDA came rock bottom of our
recent
league table with the least sustainable seafood policy of any
UK supermarket. It was found to be selling at least 13 species on
Greenpeace's 'danger list' including swordfish, marlin and Atlantic
cod.
Climbers hung a massive banner with the ASDA logo and
catchphrase 'That'sASDA Price' against a backdrop of mutilated and
wasted fish caught asbycatch during destructive fishing. At the
same time volunteers dressedas 'fishmongers,' accompanied by a
mobile advertising van displayingthe same billboard poster, toured
the city, visiting one of ASDA'slocal stores to deliver the message
to the supermarket's customers.
The action was a huge success. Within a hour of arriving at ASDA
House,campaigners were invited inside to discuss policy. ASDA
agreednot only to publish a public policy on sourcing sustainable
seafoodwithin the next six weeks, but also to remove skate, dogfish
(huss),dover sole and ling from its shelves with immediate effect.
They'vealso agreed to look closely at taking similar action on
swordfish andmarlin within the next six weeks.
Video Defending
Our Oceans: You can help! screened in Dam Square,
Amsterdam.
Other events around the world starred the whale fluke -- on
thebeach inNew Zealand, outside the White House in Washington DC
and in Toronto, Canada. A giant video-wall was set up in DamSquare,
Amsterdam playing our "Defending Our Oceans: You can help!"footage.
Everywhere people are being asked to sign up to
be an OceanDefender - simply by adding your name to this very
long list you canmake a difference!
To complete the day, Mother Nature lent a helping hand, with atrocious
weather conditions ensuringthere was no whaling in the Southern
Ocean Whaling Sanctuary.
Take action
Tell Nissui Europe to use its influence to stop whaling.
Support us
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