The Humane Society of the United States is proud to announce that the nation's second largest natural and organic foods operation, Earth Fare, has joined The HSUS ProtectSeals campaign to send a message to Canada that the commercial seal slaughter must end.

Earth Fare has agreed to avoid buying all seafood products form Canada until Canada permanently ends the seal hunt.

"The cruelty perpetrated off the east coast of Canada in the annual baby seal slaughter is simply not acceptable," said Mike Cianciarulo, CEO, Earth Fare. "The ProtectSeals Campaign fits perfectly into ethics of Earth Fare; we care deeply about sustainable fisheries and oppose this sort of senseless slaughter. We're proud to be part of this effort."

Earth Fare, a well-known and highly respected company, with over $100 million in annual sales, has stores in North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia. The stores offer organic produce, a wine-and-cheese department, a meat-and-seafood counter, aisles of groceries and a cafe that sells prepared foods, organic juices and coffee.

"We are very proud and pleased to have the support of Earth Fare," said John Grandy, senior vice president of The Humane Society of the United States. "It simply doesn't make sense that Canada continues to slaughter hundreds of thousands of baby seals each year. It is harming Canadian seafood sales and Canada's reputation."

By encouraging restaurants, chefs and consumers to boycott Canadian seafood, The HSUS intends to convince that country's fishing industry to stop participating in and supporting the commercial seal hunt.

Earth Fare joins the list of more than 3,000 restaurants, grocery stores, hotels and casinos across the United States who are participating in the ProtectSeals campaign. Other campaign participants include Legal Sea Foods, Whole Foods Markets, Trader Joe's, Publix Supermarkets, Margaritaville Cafes, Ted's Montana Grill and Oceanaire.

Facts:

• The HSUS launched the campaign against Canadian seafood in March 2005.
• Seal hunting is an off-season activity conducted by commercial fishermen from Canada's East Coast.
• Restaurants, seafood distributors and grocers participating in the ProtectSeals campaign pledge to avoid Canadian snow crab, or all seafood from Eastern Canada, or seafood from all of Canada until the hunt ends for good.
• Nearly two-thirds of Canadian seafood is exported to the U.S., producing $2.5 billion annually for the Canadian economy, compared to far less than $20 million generated each year by the commercial seal hunt.
•  Canadian government trade statistics reveal that Canadian exports of snow crabs – the primary target of the seafood boycott - to the U.S. have dropped by hundreds of millions of dollars in the two years since the campaign was launched. 
• In addition to the more than 3,000 companies that are participating in the campaign, more than 490,000 individuals have signed pledges not to buy or consume Canadian seafood.   Canada's commercial seal hunt is the world's largest slaughter of marine mammals, with more than 1 million seals killed in the past three years.

For more information on the campaign to save Canadian seals and to sign the boycott pledge, please visit humanesociety.org/protectseals.

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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization – backed by 10.5 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty -- On the web at humanesociety.org.