Stuff Iceland

AndyF

New member
Well I have to say how disgusted I am theat Iceland has restarted whaling, with the news today that they killed their first Fin whale (a species on the UN endangered list). The world has survived without killing whales for decades, so there is clearly no compelling reason to restart.

Personally, I'm going to avoid buying any product identifiable as being sources from Iceland, and I'd encourage everyone to do the same. I'll also boycott and company that sources products from there.

Consumer power may have an effect, where weak-kneed politicians do not.

This is a typical example of greed over environmental concerns. Stuff 'em thats what I say.
 

dunc

New member
Indeed..

Personally, I'm going to avoid buying any product identifiable as being sources from Iceland, and I'd encourage everyone to do the same. I'll also boycott and company that sources products from there.
Do we have any idea what products this may include?
 
E

emgee

Guest
AndyF said:
Well I have to say how disgusted I am theat Iceland has restarted whaling, with the news today that they killed their first Fin whale (a species on the UN endangered list). The world has survived without killing whales for decades, so there is clearly no compelling reason to restart.

Personally, I'm going to avoid buying any product identifiable as being sources from Iceland, and I'd encourage everyone to do the same. I'll also boycott and company that sources products from there.

Consumer power may have an effect, where weak-kneed politicians do not.

This is a typical example of greed over environmental concerns. Stuff 'em thats what I say.

Agree with the sentiment but boycotting their produce seems a bit difficult as AFAIK I don't ever but anything Icelandic anyway.
 

AndyF

New member
emgee said:
Agree with the sentiment but boycotting their produce seems a bit difficult as AFAIK I don't ever but anything Icelandic anyway.

Fish products mainly... but the right companies have to be targeted. Competitive purchases are the best weapon against a company. Their marketing departments live by market share.

Anyway, via their web sites I've e-mailed :

Heinz (John West tinned fish)
Iceland Stores (nothing to do with iceland, but sellers of frozen fish)
Sainsburys

To ask them if they source any products from Iceland. I don't actually expect a response, but if the hint of a consumer boycott puts the sh*t up just one of them then it will have worked.

Anyone want to try a few more, like Tesco, Somerfield etc., here is my wording for you to use:

I would like to know if (company name), (or any of its subsidiaries) sources products or ingredients from Iceland. Following Icelands resumption of commercial whaling, and the first killing of a fin whale (an endangered species) I and many others will be boycotting all companies that source Icelandic products. I would like to know if your company falls into that category

Thank you.


This is the sort of thing where "viral marketing" can change a policy..... I've e-mailed everyone I think may be receptive to this idea, and asked them to pass it forward.

I'm curious to see how much sh*t one person can stir up....







 
M

MSD

Guest
I think most of the western world has rather bigger environmental problems of its own than worrying about Iceland catching a few whales. Iceland is one of the few countries in the world which seems to have been able to manage its fish stocks in a sustainable way. The main reason they haven't joined the EU is because the EU (and all other  European countries except Norway, also not in the EU) has shown itself completely useless at managing fish stocks. A recent survey of cod stocks showed disastrous overfishing. There were two exceptions....the main cod fields around Iceland and off the Norwegian coast (this was in my Sunday newspaper here in Sweden, which seems to have a slightly more objective viewpoint about this question). Just maybe they know what they are doing!

I was a Icelander/Norwegian who had to listen to a load of Brits telling them about environmental management of the sea, I think I would take absolutely no notice whatsoever. Get off those high horses and get down to the fishing docks in Britain if you want to protest about environmental destruction!!!

Mark
 

gus horsley

New member
I agree with the sentiments about Icelandic whaling.  Whilst we're at it maybe we could also boycott:

Japan - for the same reason.
China - for their horrendous contribution to the fur trade.
Malta, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus - for collective killing over 120 million of our migrating birds per year.
Denmark - for fuelling a power station entirely on sand-eel oil which is an important part of the marine food chain.

And virtually every other country in the world for their failure to grasp that the earth is not here to be plundered indiscriminately.
 

cap n chris

Well-known member
What about medicines used to murder microbes?

What about people being natural and "using" earth's resources, rather than "plundering"?

It's all the degree of perspective and emotionally-loaded words, surely? i.e. if there are 1,000 rabbits is it OK to kill and eat one? If so, why not 1:1,000 whales? Why do we eat cows but not horses? etc. etc.. la la la...
 

AndyF

New member
Gus has good points regarding other countries, but I'm particularly irritated by the Iceland action because it is, without doubt, hunting of an endangered species and by a particularly barbaric means. There are no commercial grounds for it, as the Icelandic economy had done very well without whaling for 20 years.

It will also potentially encourage other countries to follow the lead, then it will not be 1:1000, it may start to be 1:250 or 1:100 and we will soon be back to 1970's levels of hunting.

This needs to be nipped in the bud to prevent it spreading. Other countries will be watching carefully the worlds reaction...

 

whitelackington

New member
cap 'n chris said:
What about medicines used to murder microbes?

What about people being natural and "using" earth's resources, rather than "plundering"?

It's all the degree of perspective and emotionally-loaded words, surely? i.e. if there are 1,000 rabbits is it OK to kill and eat one? If so, why not 1:1,000 whales? Why do we eat cows but not horses? etc. etc.. la la la...


China for having a near 20% increase in activity and consequently increasing polution faster than the whole of Europe could possible reduce our poution.
 

complex

Member
If you're going to boycott Icelandic companies then you should also avoid shopping at Top Shop, Oasis, House of Fraser etc since they are now owned by Baugar (and Icelandic investment company).  In fact I believe that Iceland (the frozen food store) has also been taken over by Baugar, along with another food chain (Morrisons??).

 
M

MSD

Guest
AndyF said:
Gus has good points regarding other countries, but I'm particularly irritated by the Iceland action because it is, without doubt, hunting of an endangered species and by a particularly barbaric means. There are no commercial grounds for it, as the Icelandic economy had done very well without whaling for 20 years.

It will also potentially encourage other countries to follow the lead, then it will not be 1:1000, it may start to be 1:250 or 1:100 and we will soon be back to 1970's levels of hunting.

This needs to be nipped in the bud to prevent it spreading. Other countries will be watching carefully the worlds reaction...

BUT, everytime you eat fish and chips you are (a) quite possibly eating a fish which is just as endangered as a whale and (b) eating potatoes which have almost certainly been grown with lots of artificial pesticides and fertilisers, unless your local chippe uses organic potatoes (c) eating oil produced by a company which probably wants to start large-scale production of genetically modified oil-seed rape and (d) contributing to globabl warming and poluution because the electricity used to cook it was produced from eitehr coal or gas.

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. It's much easier and more comfortable to focus on other countries' environmental short-comings than our own. And like I said, the Icelanders seem a good deal better at environmental protection of the sea than Britain, or most other European countries. Icelanders have hunted whales for hundreds, if not thousands of years in a perfectly sustainable way. It was only when big economies like the US muscled in that stocks became seriously depleted.

Cruelty is another issue and I dare say we could have a long argument about whether hunting animals who live in the wild is more or less cruel than battery farming and mass production of animals for slaughter.

Since I'm a vegetarian I don't eat meat, fish or whale. That's a personal choice I've made, but I don't think most people on this forum would agree if I insisted on trying to enforce my moral principles on the rest of you (just think, I could picket Bernies and shout abuse at anybody eating bacon).

Mark
 

AndyF

New member
complex said:
If you're going to boycott Icelandic companies then you should also avoid shopping at Top Shop, Oasis, House of Fraser etc since they are now owned by Baugar (and Icelandic investment company).  In fact I believe that Iceland (the frozen food store) has also been taken over by Baugar, along with another food chain (Morrisons??).

Good info, though I must admit I don't shop at Top Shop very often...

Seems they are major shareholders in Hamleys, Somerfield & Iceland stores,House of Fraser and Whittards Coffee shops
 

Bob G

New member
This may seem extreme, but the next time I see a Björk CD I'm NOT going to buy it - at a time like this we must all make sacrifices.
 

AndyF

New member
MSD said:
BUT, everytime you eat fish and chips you are (a) quite possibly eating a fish which is just as endangered as a whale and (b) eating potatoes which have almost certainly been grown with lots of artificial pesticides and fertilisers, unless your local chippe uses organic potatoes (c) eating oil produced by a company which probably wants to start large-scale production of genetically modified oil-seed rape and (d) contributing to globabl warming and poluution because the electricity used to cook it was produced from eitehr coal or gas.

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. It's much easier and more comfortable to focus on other countries' environmental short-comings than our own. And like I said, the Icelanders seem a good deal better at environmental protection of the sea than Britain, or most other European countries. Icelanders have hunted whales for hundreds, if not thousands of years in a perfectly sustainable way. It was only when big economies like the US muscled in that stocks became seriously depleted.

Good points, I actually stopped buying fish from the fish and chip shop some time ago, and I don't buy veal, fois grois etc. and I'm gradually weening myself off factory farmed product.

It doesn't really matter though, how the whale stocks became depleted, what matters is Fin Whales are listed as endangered and that fact alone should warrents action being taken.

I don't want to try to force my views on others, it is absolutely a matter of personnal choice, I simply wanted to state what I'm going to do, and spread an idea that others may or may not want to participate in.

I don't think that the arguement that "well there is so much other bad stuff going on that we can't do anything about it" holds water though. It's these headline issues that get people thinking about the less well publicised issues, and result in other small actions rippling down (eg recycling) as they become more environmentally aware in their daily life.



 

gus horsley

New member
I stopped eating fish quite a long time, even farmed fish since they bring their own problems.  I eat meat but organically produced, same for fruit and veg.  It costs an arm and a leg but helps me to feel I'm doing something positive.  I'm also actively involved in attempting to pressurise the Maltese government in particular to stop hunting endangered species, since they are the worst offenders at the moment.  You only have to look at the unbelievable decline in the numbers of quail and turtle doves now seen in this country - they're favourite "game" for the Maltese.  I would urge everyone, if they are at all concerned about environmental issues (and we all should be) to get involved in some way, however small.  It is possible to change things, but not by sitting at home whingeing.

There, that's my 2p worth.  Feel free to have a go.
 
M

MSD

Guest
I absolutely agree with your last point Andy. But if we don't get our own house in order we are just being hypocrites. That's what gets my goat about so many international issues. Like the US fighting wars for the ostensible purpose of promoting democracy and freedom at the same time as they have hundreds of people imprisoned without trial and proper legal representation at Guatanamo Bay and claim that the Geneva convention is no longer relevant. Same story in Sweden with closing nuclear power stations and buying electricity generated by, guess what, nuclear energy from Eastern Europe. Never mind that those power stations are dodgy and unsafe, so long as they're not in our backyard we can just sweep that uncomfortable fact under the carpet, can't we?

Mark
 
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