ENLIST RED LOBSTER TO BOYCOTT CANADIAN SEAFOOD

Quick Summary:

"As leaders of a company who is otherwise respected the world over, your indifference to this slaughter where hundreds of thousands of the world's most precious and innocent creatures are being senselessly massacred every year in Canada, we beseech you to invest your pride and positive values by taking a stand against this violent hunt.  By joining the boycott of Canadian seafood your company will become the world's new leader; known for having the willingness to stand against a corrupt and otherwise powerful seafood industry; celebrated for the willingness to change your menus while seals die; recognized for standing in the way of violence; prized by your patrons for your stewardship and respected the world over for your compassion of the baby seals."

Contact Info:
RED LOBSTER/DARDEN RESTAURANTS
cotis@darden.com
5900 Lake Ellenor Drive Orlando, FL 32809
(407) 245-4000,  1-800-562-7837

(The Darden Group, this parent company also owns the Olive Garden restaurants, Smokey Joe's restaurants, and Bahama Breeze restaurants)


Our Letter to Red Lobster:
Attention: Clarence Otis, Jr. - Darden Chairman / CEO, Andrew Madsen - Darden President / COO, Kim Lopdrup - Darden Sr. VP / Red Lobster President, Barry Moullet - Darden Sr. VP, Supply Chain and Dev., Charles Ledsinger, Jr., Darden Board Member; Pres. / CEO, Choice Hotels, and Michael Rose - Darden Board Member; Chairman, Gaylord Hotels

We the undersigned are aware that Red Lobster/Darden Restaurants continue to purchase large amounts of Canadian seafood each year, including seafood from Prince Edward Island, one of the sealing provinces, in defiance of the worldwide boycott of Canadian seafood.  We are deeply saddened and frankly, disgusted to find this out.

There is no excuse for ignoring a boycott that can save the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent baby seals every year. We urge you to take meaningful action now, and stop purchasing all seafood from Canada. This is an issue of animal cruelty as well as reckless disregard for the welfare of a species and an ecosystem.

The public is aware that your large chain of restaurants may be the single largest importer of Canadian seafood in the world.  Supporting the seal hunt is irresponsible behavior and runs counter to your supposed concern for the environment.

By joining the Canadian Seafood Boycott you will be credited with helping to end to this cruel, wasteful, irresponsible slaughter that takes place in Canada each year. We the undersigned plan to boycott Red Lobster restaurants until Red Lobster/Darden Restaurants join the Canadian seafood boycott.

As leaders of a company who is otherwise respected the world over, your indifference to this slaughter where hundreds of thousands of the world's most precious and innocent creatures are being senselessly massacred every year in Canada, we beseech you to invest your pride and positive values by taking a stand against this violent hunt.  By joining the boycott of Canadian seafood your company will become the world's new leader; known for having the willingness to stand against a corrupt and otherwise powerful seafood industry; celebrated for the willingness to change your menus while seals die; recognized for standing in the way of violence; prized by your patrons for your stewardship and respected the world over for your compassion on behalf of the baby seals.
Join the Fight for the Seals!

Consumer Facts:
MOST sealers are fishermen. Seal products are illegal in the U.S, but these fishermen sell their seafood here. This is our direct response.

Many seafood companies lobby for the seal kill. One of them (the Barry Group) owns the second largest seal skin processing company (Atlantic Marine Products). Others think they'll catch more cod if they kill off the seals. And those companies that don't actively lobby for the kill either quietly support the massacres or are too timid to challenge government policies. This boycott will encourage all to demand an end to the killing.

Officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada have said, in meetings with animal protection organizations, that the annual seal massacre will not end until the Canadian fishing industry wants it to end. We can put pressure on this industry by boycotting their products.

Americans purchase about 70% of the seafood exports from Canada. That gives us consumer power! Canadian seafood exports to the U.S. add up to about CAN$3 billion (compared to about CAN$16 million in income from seal pelts). Just making a dent in the sales of Canadian seafood here in the U.S. will pressure the Canadian seafood industry to demand an end to the seal kill.

ECONOMIC FACTS ABOUT THE HUNT:
The Seal hunt is a fur trade issue and revenues from the slaughter account for less than 1 percent of the province's economy... yet the government actually subsidizes the hunt and calls it a 'harvest'.

Is the Seal Hunt Economically Important? No. Sealing is an off-season activity conducted by fishermen from Canada's East Coast. They make, on average, one twentieth of their incomes from seal hunting and the rest from commercial fisheries. Even in Newfoundland, where 90 percent of sealers live, revenues from the hunt account for less than 1 percent of the province's economy and only 2 percent of the landed value of the fishery. According to the Newfoundland government, out of a population of half a million people, less than 6,000 fishermen participate in the seal hunt each year.

The commercial seal hunt is an activity that Canada's federal
government could easily replace with economic alternatives, should it
choose to do so.

Keep focusing on the RED LOBSTER RESTAURANT CHAIN! If we can put enough pressure on Red Lobster, we can get this huge restaurant chain to do the right thing for the seals. This could mean the end of the seal slaughter in record time! Continue to focus on supermarkets, too, especially Publix, if you live in an area served by this chain.

If you're shy or have difficulty approaching strangers, you can try using these lines:

Would you like something to read while you wait in line?, or...

Learn how you can stop the seal slaughter just by boycotting Canadian seafood, or... 

Read about how you can save seals by boycotting Canadian seafood.

What is Canadian Seafood?
Canadian seafood is our primary focus, especially seafood from Atlantic Canada.

1) Common seafood from ATLANTIC Canada includes:
snow crab
scallops
mackerel
turbot lobster 
mussels
herring
sardines   cold-water shrimp
cod
prawns
flatfishes (e.g., flounder)
2) Common seafood from PACIFIC Canada includes:
salmon
pacific whiting
canary rockfish
lemon sole lingcod 
pacific cod
pacific halibut
pacific ocean perch  sablefish
silver grey rockfish
pacific red snapper
geoduck clams
pink coldwater shrimp