Hollywood Stars Demand Costco Stop Its Purchase and Sale of Faroe Islands’ Salmon
Published by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Hollywood Stars Demand Costco Stop Its Purchase and Sale of Faroe Islands’ Salmon in Response to Horrific Slaughter of Pilot Whales
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is asking big-box retailer Costco to stop its purchase and sale of salmon exported from the Faroe Islands until the Faroes bring the brutal and archaic mass slaughter of pilot whales and other cetaceans, known as the “grindadráp” or “grind,” to a grinding halt.
Actors Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver), Eric Balfour (Haven), Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner), Ross McCall (24: Live Another Day), Cliff Simon (Stargate SG-1), Clive Standen (Vikings); actresses Shannen Doherty (Charmed and Beverly Hills, 90210), Perry Reeves (Entourage) and Red Hot Chili Peppers front man Anthony Kiedis have teamed with Sea Shepherd to send a letter to Costco CEO Craig Jelinek on from the organization’s founder, Captain Paul Watson.
The letter comes on the heels of yesterday’s news that a pod of 30-50 pilot whales was slaughtered in the first grindadráp (grind) of the year, on the island of Viðoy in the Danish Faroe Islands archipelago. (See full story here.)
The letter to Jelinek expresses concern that chain-store giant Costco is selling salmon farmed in the Faroe Islands, an archipelago of 18 isles in the North Atlantic, where hundreds of wild, migrating cetaceans are slaughtered each year.
Describing this massacre of ocean wildlife, the letter states that “entire pods of pilot whales and dolphins are driven by hunting boats to the shallow waters along the Faroe Islands…. Those cetaceans who are not herded far enough into the shallows will have a gaff hook stabbed into their blowholes and will be pulled ashore the rest of the way by rope. The panicked and thrashing whales or dolphins are then slowly sawed into behind their blowhole with a special Faroese hunting knife and killed by the severing of their spinal cords, as each animal is brutally slaughtered before the eyes of their family members. No member of the pod is spared, not even pregnant females or juveniles.”
Though Faroese whalers claim that the grind brings a quick and humane death, some of these highly intelligent and socially complex marine mammals take as long as four minutes to die, as the steely waters of the Faroes run red with blood.
The letter to Jelinek continues, “As a large and respected member of the corporate retail community, Costco should not condone these acts of brutality by economically supporting the Faroese salmon fishery. Costco can apply economic pressure to end the atrocity known as the ‘grind,’ a whale hunt that should be deemed illegal by the anti-whaling EU but yet is supported by Denmark, a part of the EU. Mr. Jelinek, Costco, and you as its CEO, now have the opportunity to show your members and the international community that you represent a company of compassionate individuals who care about the fate of intelligent and sentient whales and dolphins as well as the oceanic eco-systems upon which they – and all life on Earth – depend for survival.”
Read full letter hereThe grind is an outdated practice as the Faroese people have one of the highest standards of living in all of Europe and access to the same foods found in grocery stores in Denmark. In addition, Faroese health officials have warned against consumption of the pilot whale meat, especially by children and pregnant women or women of childbearing age, because it is contaminated with neurotoxins such as mercury.
Though it is the slaughter of cetaceans by the Faroese that is opposed by Sea Shepherd, the organization is calling for a boycott of salmon exported from the Faroes until the senseless grind is permanently ended.
Said Watson of the Hollywood industry’s support: “These compassionate celebrities have offered their desperately needed voices to the pilot whales who were killed recently in the Faroe Islands and to those who are at risk each time they pass by Faroese shores. We must make it known that the blood of intelligent and social whales and dolphins stains every package of salmon from the Faroes. This archaic massacre of cetaceans, defended by the EU-member nation of Denmark, must be sunk economically. I encourage all concerned consumers to do their part by boycotting salmon from the Faroe Islands at Costco and wherever it is sold.”
Sea Shepherd urges supporters worldwide to contact Costco and ask the company to show that it does not support the slaughter of whales and dolphins by halting its purchase and sale of salmon exported from the Faroes.
Contact information for Costco is as follows:
Costco Wholesale Corporation
845 Lake Dr
Issaquah, Washington 98027
Seattle, WA 98124
Phone: (425) 313-8100
Email: cjelinek@costco.com and customerservice@costco.com
A link to a sample letter can be found here
and is shown below.
The appeal to boycott Costco comes just weeks after Sea Shepherd released a 22-minute documentary short on YouTube shot by McCall, chronicling his experience in the Faroe Islands, along with a companion essay he published in the Huffington Post.
Since 1983, Sea Shepherd has sent ten campaigns to the Faroes, saving hundreds of whales and dolphins while dealing with the arrest of Sea Shepherd volunteers and the seizure of the organization’s boats.
Faroese law states it is illegal to interrupt the killing and illegal to sight a pod of whales and not report it. To further protect their beloved Grind from outside interference, this year the Faroese enacted laws that prohibit Sea Shepherd crew from entering their waters and wearing Sea Shepherd shirts on land.
This year, in response, Sea Shepherd Global announced Operation Bloody Fjords, a new operation targeting the massacre of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands.
With years of footage of this bloodshed, Operation Bloody Fjords will include culling together decades’ worth of photographic and video evidence to target the Grind in legal, political, commercial and economic arenas. A full-length documentary feature will also be produced.
SAMPLE LETTER
LETTER TO COSTCO CEO CRAIG JELINIK
Costco Wholesale Corporation
845 Lake Dr
Issaquah, Washington 98027
Seattle, WA 98124
Phone: (425) 313-8100
Email: cjelinik@costco.com and customerservice@costco.com
Dear Mr. Jelinik:
I expect you are aware of the brutal pilot whale slaughter that goes on in the Faroe Islands, where Costco buys its salmon before selling it to consumers.
Mr. Jelinik, by purchasing Faroe Islands’ salmon, you are supporting the cruel massacre of Pilot Whales. Employees from Faroese salmon farms participate in the slaughter, known as ‘the grind,’ which wipes out entire family pods of whales. Some of the discarded whale meat may be even used to feed the salmon on these fish farms.
Stop selling Faroe Island salmon in Costco stores, Mr. Jelinik. Not only are you selling consumers fish that could be made from murdered whales, but you are actively funding a genocide of peaceful creatures whose capacity to think and feel quite possibly surpass that of humans, according to current research.
Mr. Jelinik, show your capacity to think and feel. Show that you have a backbone to stand up for the innocent who are being systematically wiped out by your business associates. Stop buying Faroese salmon to sell at Costco until these islands agree to finally end the brutality once and for all.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Read the full article at: http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/2016/07/07/hollywood-stars-demand-costco-stop-its-purchase-and-sale-of-faroe-islands-salmon-1826
