| 18/01/2006
- International — With all the action in the Southern Ocean,
it's good to remember that people all over the world -- our
ocean defenders -- are working hard to defend our oceans back
here on solid ground (and in cyberspace). The 17th of January
was a big day with governments, activists, supermarkets and
even Mother Nature helping to defend our oceans. We have been
joined by 17 governments in a call to the government of Japan
to "cease its lethal scientific research on whales and
assure the return of the vessels" from the Southern Ocean
whale Sanctuary.
The 17 governments comprehensively denounced the so-called
scientific hunt as a sham, noting that "Japan is now
killing more whales in the Antarctic every year than it
killed for scientific research in the 31 years prior to
the introduction of the moratorium on commercial whaling."
They further express "grave concerns" that the
hunt "will undermine the long-term viability"
of both fin and humpback whales.
Let's not forget that along with pressure from governments,
global corporations like Nissui also have a role to play
in bringing an end to the hunt. Japan's second-largest marine
products company, Nissui owns one third of Kyodo Senpaku,
which operates the whaling fleet. We are urging people to
tell Nissui 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 moved to the Japanese Embassy in Berlin to make
the point "you don't need harpoons to study dead whales".
The unfortunate whale appears to have lost itself in the
Baltic Sea and starved to death, but the real scientists
at the it's final destination - the German Oceanographic
Museum - will be able to confirm this.
Meanwhile in the UK, we had climbers scaling a building
at the headquarters 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's ASDA Price' against a backdrop of mutilated and
wasted fish caught as bycatch during destructive fishing.
At the same time volunteers dressed as 'fishmongers,' accompanied
by a mobile advertising van displaying the same billboard
poster, toured the city, visiting one of ASDA's local 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 agreed not only to publish a public policy
on sourcing sustainable seafood within the next six weeks,
but also to remove skate, dogfish (huss), dover sole and
ling from its shelves with immediate effect. They've also
agreed to look closely at taking similar action on swordfish
and marlin within the next six weeks.
Other events around the world starred the whale fluke --
on the beach in New Zealand, outside the White House in
Washington DC and in Toronto, Canada. A giant video-wall
was set up in Dam Square, Amsterdam playing our "Defending
Our Oceans: You can help!" footage. Everywhere people
are being asked to sign up to be an Ocean Defender - simply
by adding your name to this very long list you can make
a difference!
To complete the day, Mother Nature lent a helping hand,
with atrocious weather conditions ensuring there was no
whaling in the Southern Ocean Whaling Sanctuary.
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