Victory for shark campaigners in Canada
Silky shark and bottlenose dolphin, Costa Rica (Sharkwater documentary)
Last week it was reported by Rob Stewart (director of the documentary Sharkwater) that both Loblaws and The Great Canadian Superstores were selling canned shark fin soup in the run-up to the Chinese New Year. He wrote on his blog:
“After Sharkwater’s release in Canada, Galen Weston, the CEO of Loblaws, brought me out to dinner with his wife Alexandra, and expressed his great interest in supporting the cause…Selling shark fins en masse; supporting the destruction of sharks, the oceans and the ecosystems we depend on for survival is how Loblaws supports the cause. Its outrageous that its happening in our own backyard… after we already know shark populations have dropped more than 90%. Help us fight this, and show Loblaws and Galen Weston that this was a bad decision… and lets get shark fin removed from Canadian Superstores. There’s still time to turn this around.” –Rob Stewart on the Abandon Fear blog
I’ve previously written about the dire situation of the world’s shark population. When I read Rob’s post today I got set to fire out an email of complaint to the corporate head office, but then learned (to my delight) that Loblaws had already withdrawn shark fin soup from all its stores’ shelves a few days later in response to the public outcry. This just goes to show the importance of letting the powers that be (whether they be corporate or governmental) know our opinion about how they run their business (or what they decide to do with our money). Speak out! Fill in a comment card, call your MP, write a letter to the editor! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. For more information on what you can do to help sharks (and other ocean life), visit www.savingsharks.com.
January 26th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Great post - nice to see what a little public pressure can do.
Greenpace Canada also highlighted Loblaws in its report on sustainable seafood last June.
January 27th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
That’s a great report and really highlights the current depressing state of retail seafood in this country. Read that and suddenly you’ll be horrified wherever you go at what’s blithely being sold without a second thought.