FOR AN IMPORTANT UPDATE, SEE PAGE 3 OF THIS THREAD, POST DATED 1 APRIL 2006, or for a quick link to new subject matter, click here (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3622801a13,00.html)
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The original thread started here (http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/632816)

Group fires at Sealord over whaling link
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Whales being pulled onto a boat
Nov 27, 2005

An American activist group is calling for a boycott of New Zealand's largest seafood company, Sealord, because one of it's major shareholders is involved in Japan's whaling programme.

Earth Island Institute wants the Sealord group to disassociate itself from it's Japanese partner Nissui because of it's involvement in Japan's controversial scientific whaling programme.

Earth Island is the second-most powerful marine activist group in America.

"You can't really save the whales if Nissui's out there killing them at the same time you're buying Sealord products," says Mark Berman, the Associate Director of Earth Island Institute.

"Nissui is a whale killing company - it's on paper. It's a well known fact they have a cannery that produces cans of whale meat," says Berman.

Sealord is 50% owned by several Maori shareholder groups, and the Japanese own the other half.

The relationship between Sealord and Nissui began in 2002.

Sealord's Chief Executive Doug Mckay confirmed any dividend payments are shared 50-50 with their Japanese partner, but says Earth Island's threats are unjustified.

"Sealord does not have a problem with what Nissui does in it's own patch," says McKay.

"(Nissui) are one of the industry participants in their Japanese government's scientific research programme on whaling, which is well-canvassed, well-debated (and) well-understood through the International Whaling Commission," says Mckay.

Earth Islands claim that the Japanese government's programme is bogus, and will be asking shoppers for support. Consumers are being urged to tell the owners of stores not to stock it on the shelves

Doug McKay is calling the conservationists' campaign - which is planned for the new year - "commercial terrorism".

...... and more bad news for another New Zealand company, Sanford!

http://www.nbr.co.nz/home/column_article.asp?id=13599&cid=4&cname=Business%20Today

Sanford profits down 44pct to $30.4m
Exchange rate needs to drop below 60c
Sanford [NZX:SAN] has reported a massive $23.5 million drop in profit for the year to 30 September, down 44 per cent to $30.4 million from $53.9 million last year.

That despite sales revenues of $365.8 million, an increase of 4.4 per cent over last year.

The company said it found itself in the same net as most exporters, strangled by the high dollar and high fuel costs.

"The ongoing high value of the New Zealand dollar coupled with record high fuel prices continues to seriously impact on fishing and aquaculture profitability.

"Results from our Pacific tuna and expanded Australian operations were well below expectations and a slow-down in the North American orange roughy market impacted sales and profitability in the latter part of the year.

"Results from the acquisition of the Simunovich scampi and inshore fishing operations were in line with expectations but catch and profitability targets for the Ocean Fresh business in Australia and the Ocean Breeze tuna operation in the Pacific were not met," the company said.

"The high level of the New Zealand dollar resulted in foreign exchange gains which totalled $40.4 million (before tax) this year compared with $55.2 million last year.

"At 30 September 2005 forward cover of $13.5 million remained with a potential gain of $5 million that will be realised by the end of November 2005," the company said.

Net cash flows from operating activities decreased from $59.5 million last year to $40.7 million.

"Investing in the purchase of assets and subsidiaries (mainly from Simunovich Fisheries Limited) took $176.1 million which was financed from borrowings and cash flow," the company said.

The company said for every $US1 change in the barrel price of fuel, profitability was trimmed by approximately $100,000 NZD.

Sanford also took a swing at government regulators, saying the industry "continues to be impacted by constant escalation of Government imposed charges on the industry without any consideration on the economic impact on the industry.

"Costs of fisheries and conservation services that are levied on the industry increase despite the large decrease in hoki quota.

"Other Government costs such as ACC levies, maritime and food safety charges, border and biosecurity charges, road user fees, and OSH charges continued to escalate despite our declining earnings because of the high New Zealand dollar."

Sanford said exchange rates above 60 cents would make 2006 a difficult year, with profits likely to fall even farther.

"In the current exchange rate environment and without further forward cover it will be very difficult to reach this year's result. For Sanford Limited a 1 cent variation in the exchange rate changes our tax-paid profit by $1 million."

:mad: That's horrible!

They sound as lif they have nothing to do with whaling while they Japanese counterparts/partners go and harpoon whales!
And sure...."commercial terrorism"....they're crazy.

I do not put the blame on Sanford, but maybe the orange roughy was never meant to be harvested and on that hoki quota, sure overfishing for years has absolutly NOTHING to do with the current situation.

What a mess. Anyone think of a way out ?

Just reading the articles quickly (and watching the wee video)...

I have to say the PR dude who came up with the concept of "commercial terrorism" is a frikkin' genius! In today's world of "war against terror" and random bombings, nothing strikes more the public mind than the mention of terrorism. Somebody finds who that guy is and makes him/her work for us!
*grabs pliers and blow torch*
Just waiting for a name and adress!

As much as i agree with the uproar about sealord being owned by and sharing profits with the japanese whailing industry, i can't help but feeling slightly bemused that american environmentalists take upon themselves to create such a noise about it when there are environmental issues at least as bad as on their own soil/waters. Personally i have never heard of this group before today...

But hey, whatever works as they say :wink:

TP:yinyang:TH

Oh, talk to Sorseress about that one. American environmentalists are pretty damn obsessive about what's taking place on the home front as well.

I have to say the PR dude who came up with the concept of "commercial terrorism" is a frikkin' genius! In today's world of "war against terror" and random bombings, nothing strikes more the public mind than the mention of terrorism. Somebody finds who that guy is

Tiz no different from the 'environmental terrorism' that we have accused them of. I'd say they haven't a creative bone in their pointy little head! They cannot differentiate economic from ecological sustainability.

Its gonna be great to see what happens to Sealord - I thought the "we have no problems with...." comment was pretty shocking.

Thankfully mosty New Zealanders are horrified by whaling, and I'm sure that when the campaign starts there will be some "problems" down at Sealord head office.

For those who havent heard of Sealord, they basicially make the vast majority of seafood products down here - so it's big money.

I think that Sealord will have a hard time claiming that the International Whaling Commission's allowance for "scientific research" isnt obviously used for commercial purposes - when the New Zealand government openly opposes and exposes such practises.
When the NZ government views something as "bogus", and criticises the Japaneese government(a HUGE trading partner) - it's very definately a serious issue -
Perhaps some good ol' commercial terrorism will help Sealord grow a few vertabrae, although how they are supposed to criticise a company that owns 50% of their shares - I have no idea.

Perhaps some good ol' commercial terrorism will help Sealord grow a few vertabrae, although how they are supposed to criticise a company that owns 50% of their shares - I have no idea.

veeeeeery carefully! :lol: Personally I don't think they'll develop the backbone......the great god $$$$ is too powerful for most companies to ignore :sad:

J

Having been lucky enought to witness Sir G. Palmers speech at the Sea Change 05 conference last week, I have grave fears for cetaceans.

Unfortunately Japan has been buying votes and it is very likely that full-scale commercial whaling is on the cards in the very near future.

Everyone knows that Japan uses the scientific loophole for commercial whaling. :mad: just boycott the company.

I personally do not support whaling, but I do feel that tell the Japanese that "whaling is wrong" is not going to work. Whaling is not about all about food, it's also a part of their culture and telling that their culture us wrong is like smacking them right in the face.

There must be a balance between perserving traditions and saving the whales, right?

Not New Zealand, but bad news nevertheless
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fe20051130a1.htm

HOLY S**T!!

They're STILL killing dolphins in Wakayama? I thought that international public outcry banned that!

I had a buddy from Japan who told me about it. Its not popular in Japan either, but videotaping the slaughter has become taboo to the point that if you videotape it, you're bound to get your tail kicked.

*sigh*

Well, on the bright side, the Ling cod have made an excellent recovery off the coast here. Crab season has been pushed back due to smaller crabs a few hundred kms north of here, but our crabs are excellent. Lotta happy octopuses about that decision I'm sure.

John

That's sick!!

Well at least mercury poisoning will eventually get all the people who eat the dolphins.

I cant imagine slaughtering such a friendly animal, although I spose I shoot rabbits.

It is unfortunate that Japan has a kind of censorship on their news programs ect.
I dont think many Japaneese would approve either, had they seen the footage.

Plus there'a the traditional Faroese "grindarap" or "Grind" a pilot whale hunt, where the whales are herded into shallow water and butchered (i mean that literally :mad:).

see

www.campaign-whale.clara.net/issues/faroe.html

J

Wow...I don't even know what to say...

Pensively yours...

I personally do not support whaling, but I do feel that tell the Japanese that "whaling is wrong" is not going to work. Whaling is not about all about food, it's also a part of their culture and telling that their culture us wrong is like smacking them right in the face.

There must be a balance between perserving traditions and saving the whales, right?

The truth is, most of the people in Japan who are pro-whaling tend to be part of a rural or aging population. The industry there has been desperately trying to target a newer, younger demographic who did not grow up with whale meat, unlike the older population who ate a lot of whale when it was cheaper and plentiful during the postwar reconstruction. The attempts to repopularize whaling have met with mixed results. On Okinawa, for instance, most of the young people prefer Big Macs (possibly why that generation has the highest obesity rate for their age group among Japanese).

The truth is, most of the people in Japan who are pro-whaling tend to be part of a rural or aging population. The industry there has been desperately trying to target a newer, younger demographic who did not grow up with whale meat, unlike the older population who ate a lot of whale when it was cheaper and plentiful during the postwar reconstruction. The attempts to repopularize whaling have met with mixed results. On Okinawa, for instance, most of the young people prefer Big Macs (possibly why that generation has the highest obesity rate for their age group among Japanese).

Recently, there were some whale meat promotional activities and it is said that you could get canned whale meat at a museum of natural history or the aquarium..can't remember, but it's a museum of some sort. I've heard that whale tastes like beef,but I wouldn't want to know its taste in the first place.

... because one of it's major shareholders is involved...
... disassociate itself from it's Japanese partner Nissui because of it's involvement in Japan's controversial scientific whaling programme ...


And to add insult to injury... sorry, I realize that's missing the point a bit, but COME ON... :bonk:

Sealord's partner drops ownership of whaling company
01 April 2006

The date is an unusual one (I doubt that this is any prank), but for the full story see here (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3622801a13,00.html)

"Nissui, 50 per cent owner of Nelson-based Sealord, has announced it will withdraw from its ownership of a Japanese whaling company and intends to stop its canning and sale of whale meat in Japan.

Sealord chief executive Doug McKay welcomed the decision and called the announcement a positive step.

The announcement was made in the wake of conflict in the Southern Ocean between Japanese whaling companies and anti-whaling protesters."

.... and there's more in the link

:shock:
*impressed*

Well that shut me up....

TP:yinyang:TH

Well I found this great article and its been on the news here in Aus. It looks as though there has been a re-evaluation of the whale meat industry. The younger generation in Japan dont seem to like their whale meat....

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10376170

Well I found this great article and its been on the news here in Aus. It looks as though there has been a re-evaluation of the whale meat industry. The younger generation in Japan dont seem to like their whale meat....

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10376170

http://www.macguff.fr/~goomi/unspeakable/WEBIMAGES/CARTOON/v035-sushi.jpg

TP:yinyang:TH

love that web comic

Excellent.....

"Five Japanese private companies have quit the whaling business. One of the private firms that is dumping its shares is a huge Japanese fishing company called Nissui.

The firms said they will transfer their shares in the country's largest whaling fleet to public interest corporations.

The new shareholders will include the Japanese government agency that promotes whaling.

The Japanese fleet will continue to hunt for whales.

Japan insists that efforts to hunt whales will be redoubled. From now on, whaling will be seen as something backed by the whole of Japan, not just private firms, an official said."

"This is an important milestone as we continue our work to end whaling once and for all," said an oceans specialist with activist group Greenpeace. "

Yeah - right.
:shock:
.

Ummm...hello? Steve? hello? Stevey? Helloooo?Well that seemed to kill that thread...did I say something? (again?):roll:

The Japanese have this culture of saving face, but in the case in point, this changing of the deck chairs on the whaling fleet changes very little in real terms. That is increasing numbers of whales are going to die for commercial purposes under the thin guise of unneeded, unwanted and spurious research. Worse still the Japanese have already targeted protected and endangered species and intend killing 50 Humpback & 50 Fin whales on their next series of whaling trips.

Japanese scientific whaling has been supplying around 1 000- 2 000 tonnes of whale products from captured minke whales Balaenoptera acutorostrata and Balaenoptera bonaerensis annually as a "by-product" which, in fact, subsidizes in part the scientific whaling operation. This is currently the main source where new whale products from species covered by the IWC moratorium could be added to the commercial market in Japan (another possible source is those whales taken incidentally, such as entangled in trap nets, or stranded).

Nissui , along with the other shareholders in the company "Kyodo Senpaku", has given away its shares. The 24th March press release from Kyodo Senpaku release includes: "the shares of our company will be transferred to several public-interest corporations including the ICR, so that the share ownership will better reflect our activities". The ICR is the Japanese Research Institute that chartered Kyodo Senpaku's Ships and crews to carry out whaling

"Under the new regime, Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, Ltd are committed to redouble thier efforts so that they can better contribute to the further development of the research and promoting sustainable utilization of whale resources"

The Institute of Cetacean Research was founded in 1987 as a zaidan hojin - a non-profit organisation funded by donations. Start-up costs were met by Kyodo Senpaku (about 1,250 mil. yen; $9.6 mil.)

So Japanese Whaling Companies play semantics with ownership and everyone rolls over and claims "victory" for the environmentalists and there's no further discussion???

Hello?
Give me strength:confused:

Ummm...hello? Steve? hello? Stevey? Helloooo?Well that seemed to kill that thread...did I say something? (again?):roll:

Howdo M; no, I've just been busting foofoo on too many things, and didn't quite know how to respond to yours - other than beat you round the head with a sock full of rotten fish :wink: ).

See you next week; I'll be down.
O

"TOKYO - (May 11, 2006). In an effort to whet an appetite for whale among younger consumers, a new Japanese company is set to expand sales of the meat to include school lunches and some family-oriented restaurant chains. To broaden sales of whale meat, a new company has been set up following the return of Japan's whaling fleet last month from a hunt in which the take of minke whales nearly doubled from the previous year. The new company will start business late next month and hopes to sell 1,000 tons of whale meat over the next year. "Given that our take of whale has doubled this past year, it would be difficult to sell it through the routes we have used up to now," Hattori said, adding that school lunch companies would be charged lower prices for the meat. "We have to preserve this sort of traditional food culture among children."

Hey Steve - I bet these guys could find a way to remove that ammonia smell from Architeuthis and open up a whole new market!

I bet these guys could find a way to remove that ammonia smell from Architeuthis and open up a whole new market!

Squid rings you can hula with!
Now that's a catchy ad campaign.

TP:yinyang:TH

When I first saw this thread, it seemed distant and very unrelated. But it striked me as how closely it actually is in my life when I saw a crate of Hoki Fish Sticks (or something) with the big fat word "SEALORD" stamped on it.

Well, not exactly a worthy contributive post to the thread, but I thought this was marginally on topic and worth sharing.