Greenpeace, along with Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the Humane Society, revealed the link between the whaling in the Southern Ocean and Gortons. We revealed that the Japanese parent company that wholly owns Gortons, Nippon Suissan, also partly owns the whaling fleet whose boats depart every year to hunt whales in Antarctica.

Gortons and Whaling Today

This year the Japanese whaling fleet plans to take 935 Minke whales and 50 each of the endangered fin and humpback whales. Greenpeace is opposed to this senseless slaughter and is asking Gortons and Nissui to use their influence over the whaling fleet to end the hunting.

What links Gortons and Whaling?

As the diagram shows Gortons is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Suisan Kaisha. Nippon Suisan Kaisha also holds 30% of a company called Kodo Senpaku, which owns the Japanese Whaling Fleet. It is important to realise that there is only one Japanese whaling fleet, the fleet is not one of many, or part of a large industry, it is the single commercial whaling fleet hunting in the Southern oceans and if we can stop it, the whales will be saved. It's as easy as that.

Gortons and Whaling, The Future

It is our hope that the management of Gortons can put pressure on Nissui Suissan Kaisha, and that they in turn will put pressure on the whalers, Kodo Senpaku, convincing them to put the fleet to better uses. What might those better uses be?

Well we know that whale watching has proved a lucrative industry in many parts of the world, far more profitable than the loss-making business of killing whales, freezing the meat and failing to sell it. We'd suggest that the whaling fleet devote itself to educating tourists about whales, because as we and the whales know only too well, there's no-one as good at spotting whales as the whaling fleet. What can you do about Gortons and Whaling?

In the mean time you can help us. You can write to Gortons about whaling, and ask them to live up to their reputation as a caring and responsible family firm,and put pressure on their owners and the whalers to change their business.

If you have a website or weblog you could also add this banner to your site to help us spread the word about Gortons and Whaling. Just enter the HTML below into your site to display the banner.

Go to: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/gortons-and-whaling and take action!

To stay informed about our campaign to save the whales, and the oceans join Greenpeace as an ocean defender, and follow our year long voyage to defend our oceans. Visit: http://www.oceans.greenpeace.org