By Rebecca Regnery

Gorton’s has been serving seafood to American families for more than 100 years, growing from a small operation in Gloucester, Massachusetts, to small part of a giant multinational conglomerate. But despite its lofty position as America's leading frozen seafood producer, Gorton's still prefers to think of itself as a family, to the point of telling web site visitors what hobbies the company executives enjoy. And like most families, Gorton’s of Gloucester Inc., also has a secret, one it would rather not share.

Gorton’s is not just in the business of selling frozen seafood products—Gorton’s parent company is also in the business of hunting internationally protected whales and then selling the products from those whales commercially, that is at least until a recent announcement resulting from pressure from concerned consumers like you.

Trust the Gorton's Fisherman

The image of the Gorton’s fisherman in his yellow rain cap and slicker is a familiar American icon. But imagine a far more disturbing portrait: the Gorton’s fisherman posing as Ahab, harpoon in hand, hunting his great whale, indifferent to public opinion and international laws. It sounds outrageous, of course, but the fact is, Gorton's contributes to the financial health of a company that has for many years been devoted to hunting the great mammals of the sea.

Gorton’s, based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, has been producing seafood products for American consumers since fisherman Slade Gorton founded the business in the 1800s. Today, however, Gorton’s is no longer the trusted local family-owned business of years past. Gorton’s is now owned by the Japanese conglomerate Nissui (Nippon Suisan Kaisha). And since 2001, when Nissui purchased Gorton’s, the whaling company that Nissui co-owns has been responsible for the slaughter of more than 2,700 whales.   

Nissui's story is a sordid one. Before it became a multinational conglomerate, Nissui was a Japanese fishing company with a whaling division. In 1986, a ban on commercial whaling was put in place by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to protect whales from an otherwise inevitable slide toward extinction. Instead of complying with the ban, the Japanese government helped Nissui dodge it.

One year after the ban, the whaling fleets formerly owned by Nissui and two other whaling companies merged to create Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, Ltd., a company in which Nissui took a 31.9% share. The government of Japan contracts with Kyodo Senpaku to kill hundreds of whales each year, and Nissui has been selling the canned whale products commercially.

A report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) explains the relationship between Gorton’s, Nissui, and Kyodo Senpaku in greater detail.
 
Something Smells Fishy

Modern day whaling has led to the commercial extinction of eight out of the ten species of great whales. Recognizing that whales were in serious trouble, the IWC implemented the ban on commercial whaling. The Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) strengthened the IWC’s conservation efforts by implementing its own ban on international trade in great whale products.

Just a year after the IWC ban went into effect, Japan began exploiting a loophole that allows IWC members to issue themselves special permits to hunt whales for scientific research and to sell the products from these hunts commercially. Most scientists believe there is no scientific validity to Japan's research and that the same results can be obtained using non-lethal methods.

In 2003, 20 distinguished scientists, all members of the IWC's Scientific Committee, detailed the flaws in Japan's research in the journal BioScience, and concluded: "Today, so little of any significance to IWC management can be obtained only from whaling catches that it is impossible to justify killing animals on this basis, particularly given the many thousands of whaling catch samples already analyzed or archived. Moreover, nonlethal techniques often provide better data at less cost, to both budget and animals."

IWC member countries have passed at least 19 resolutions calling on Japan to end these hunts. The United States has been equally critical on its own. Under the Pelly Amendment to the Fisherman's Protective Act, the U.S. secretaries of commerce and interior have four separate times certified Japan for undermining IWC's conservation agreements. Once a country is certified under the Pelly Amendment, the U.S. president has the right to impose legal trade sanctions, although none have yet been issued. 

Japan has not only ignored all international attempts to end its whaling, but has also aggressively worked to overturn the IWC ban. It continues to increase both the number of individual whales killed and the number of species targeted in its annual hunts. In 2005, Japan announced it will almost double its total catch of minke whales, and will also add the endangered fin and humpback whales to its death list.

Furthermore, there is no humane method for slaughtering a whale. Modern methods, among other problems, do not routinely or reliably render the animals instantaneously insensible and can cause the animal to suffer prolonged agony before death. The difficulty of instantly killing a small minke whale will be magnified with the much larger fin whales. Even the pursuit of a whale can mean stress and sometimes death for the mammal, even for animals who are never struck, or for those who are struck and escape.

Tell Gorton’s and Nissui to Halt Whaling

On March 24th, 2006, after a 3 month consumer campaign by The HSUS, EIA, and Greenpeace, Kyodo Senpaku announced that its shares will be transferred to several public-interest corporations. According to press reports soon after, Nissui also plans to discontinue its canning and sale of whale meat products. It is unclear exactly when or how these changes will occur, or whether Nissui stands to profit from them. What is clear is that Japan has no plans to stop killing whales.

By continuing to hunt whales, Japan and Kyodo Senpaku are undermining international conservation efforts and laws. Gorton's customers should know about its connection to Nissui, and about the parent company's historic support of whale hunting. Gorton's has the power to change Nissui's attitude toward whales and Nissui can influence the government of Japan.

Japan could not continue whaling without the Kyodo Senpaku whaling fleet, which at least until recently, Nissui co-owned. Nissui receives lucrative returns from Gorton's, funds that are important to Nissui’s profitability and that help finance its other operations.

In the past, consumer pressure has forced companies to change their destructive ways toward animals. The best example occurred when American consumers successfully pressured tuna companies to adopt dolphin safe standards. In today's increasingly global society, corporations must address the concerns and needs of consumers around the world. Consumers can make a positive difference.

American consumers buy more frozen seafood products from Gorton’s than any other company in the United States. Most Americans, however, stand steadfastly against whaling. Gorton's and its parent company Nissui can persuade the Japanese government to act with honor and end its slaughter of whales once and for all.

Rebecca Regnery is Program Manager of Oceans and Wildlife Protection for Humane Society International.