115 replies to this topic

[shawnh]

It seems that even our own amazon.com doesn't care much about the devestation of shark finning:
http://www.amazon.co...k/dp/B0001RIQLW

Seems despite over 2 years of protests directly in the feedback below this product, amazon.com continues to carry it.

Send your message to amazon.com today!
-shawn

[Rocha]

Thanks for the heads up Shawn, I just wrote a product review!

Ha! I checked the supplier, Pacific Rim Gourmet, and guess what, they are based here in Hawaii (Kona). Amazing...

http://www.pacificri...ail.aspx?ID=879

I just sent them an e-mail too:

http://www.pacificri...contact_us.aspx

[Rocha]

Now, do you want to see something really depressing? Check this:

http://www.alibaba.c.../Shark_Fin.html

[shawnh]

Yah, that is what got me looking. I was hoping that US based amazon (where finning is illegal) would not support this product...not so much I am going to write to the Pacific company right now...spread the word.

[shawnh]

Email
customerservice@pacificrim-gourmet.com

Company Address
Pacific Rim Gourmet
75-5660 Kopiko Street, Suite C7-210
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740

I hope and expect anyone wetpixel member who sees this post will write to our friends at Pacific Rim Gourmet. I also hope a few of our Kona members will pay them a personal visit, carrying photos and video to help them better understand the issue.
-shawn

[Rocha]

Hi Shawn,

It is making waves already, look at what was posted at http://www.divephotoguide.com/ not long ago:

Amazon.com Carrying Shark Fin Soup?
January 02, 2007 - Amazon.com
I read about this on one of the online forums. Let's do something about this one guys! Please email Amazon (ir@amazon.com and advantage@amazon.com) and explain how horrible this is - how sharks have their fins cut off and are thrown back into the ocean to die a painful death. Our voices can make a difference. While you're at it, email the manufacturer as well: customerservice@pacificrim-gourmet.com, www.pacificrimgourmet.com. It's up to us to police these things and then force those who have the ability to halt distribution of such products to do so!

[shawnh]

Excellent...keep it rolling!

[giftie]

I also submit that developed countries like the US, Canada, and Australia should ban the sale of shark fins as an example to the rest of the world. This might be feasible in terms of reaching out to our legislative officials.

...not to mention European Union, that despite a paraplegic directive on Shark Finning some time ago that member states don't really bother reporting on [although obliged to] and the fact that the effectiveness of the directive was diluted not to harm the economic interests of the Spanish fishing fleet and the Spanish government, the EU remains the biggest exporter of shark fins to the Asian markets.

[echeng]

DivePhotoGuide found out about the shark fins at Amazon from Luiz's post on ScubaBoard. I've just posted about it on the front page here.

If you want to share this on your website, you can use the following code:

It seems that Amazon.com is carrying shark fin soup and other products through three third-party vendors <a href="http://www.amazon.com/14-1-SHARKFIN-SOUP-CRAB-MEAT/dp/B00019FVV8" target="_blank">Roland</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001RIQLW/" target="_blank">Pacific Rim Gourmet</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shark-Fin-Cartilage-Powder-200gram/dp/B000637IIS/">VitaminLife</a>.  With all the controversy surrounding shark fins and the <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=shark+finning" target="_blank">horrible practices</a> used to harvest fins, Amazon should be ashamed to be carrying shark fin soup and should rectify the problem immediately by pulling all shark fin products from their catalog.

What you can do:

<ol><li>Leave feedback at Amazon's product page for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/14-1-SHARKFIN-SOUP-CRAB-MEAT/dp/B00019FVV8/ " target="_blank">Roland Shark Fin Soup</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product//B0001RIQLW/ " target="_blank">Dragonfly Shark Fin Soup</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shark-Fin-Cartilage-Powder-200gram/dp/B000637IIS/ ">VitaminLife</a>.</li><li>Participate in the <a href="http://tinyurl.com/ykaa29" target="_blank">discussion  over at Amazon</a> about the product and why it's bad for them to carry it</li><li>Send e-mail to Roland Food at <a href="mailto:Phyllis.Goldberg@rolandfood.com">Phyllis.Goldberg@rolandfood.com</a>, Pacific Rim Gourmet at <a href="mailto:customerservice@pacificrim-gourmet.com">customerservice@pacificrim-gourmet.com</a>, VitaminLife at <a href="customerservice@vitaminlife.com">customerservice@vitaminlife.com</a>, and write letters of protest to:<br /><br /><em>Pacific Rim Gourmet<br />75-5660 Kopiko Street, Suite C7-210<br />Kailua-Kona, HI 96740<br /><br />VitaminLife<br />15940 Redmond Way<br />Redmond, WA 98052</em><br /><br /></li><li>Write to Amazon.com at Advantage Customer Service (<a href="mailto:advantage@amazon.com" title="advantage@amazon.com">advantage@amazon.com</a>) and 
Investor Relations (<a href="mailto:ir@amazon.com" title="ir@amazon.com">ir@amazon.com</a>)</li><li>Spread the word through your webpage, blog, etc. (<a href="http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=16891&view=findpost&p=113649">code available here</a>)</li><li>Boycott Amazon.com until they comply</li><li>Join <a href="http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16891">the discussion</a> in the Wetpixel forums</li></ol>

Here's a version that will work on forums that use BBCode:

It seems that Amazon.com is carrying shark fin soup and other products through three third-party vendors [url=http://www.amazon.com/14-1-SHARKFIN-SOUP-CRAB-MEAT/dp/B00019FVV8]Roland[/url], [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001RIQLW/]Pacific Rim Gourmet[/url], and [url=http://www.amazon.com/Shark-Fin-Cartilage-Powder-200gram/dp/B000637IIS/]VitaminLife[/url].  With all the controversy surrounding shark fins and the [url=http://www.google.com/search?q=shark+finning]horrible practices[/url] used to harvest fins, Amazon should be ashamed to be carrying shark fin soup and should rectify the problem immediately by pulling all shark fin products from their catalog.

What you can do:

1. Leave feedback at Amazon's product page for [url=http://www.amazon.com/14-1-SHARKFIN-SOUP-CRAB-MEAT/dp/B00019FVV8/]Roland Shark Fin Soup[/url], [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001RIQLW/]Dragonfly Shark Fin Soup[/url], and [url=http://www.amazon.com/Shark-Fin-Cartilage-Powder-200gram/dp/B000637IIS/ ]VitaminLife[/url].

2. Participate in the [url=http://tinyurl.com/ykaa29]discussion  over at Amazon[/url] about the product and why it's bad for them to carry it

3. Send e-mail to Roland Food at [url=mailto:Phyllis.Goldberg@rolandfood.com]Phyllis.Goldberg@rolandfood.com[/url], Pacific Rim Gourmet at [url=mailto:customerservice@pacificrim-gourmet.com]customerservice@pacificrim-gourmet.com[/url], VitaminLife at [url=customerservice@vitaminlife.com]customerservice@vitaminlife.com[/url], and write letters of protest to:

[i]Pacific Rim Gourmet
75-5660 Kopiko Street, Suite C7-210
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740

VitaminLife
15940 Redmond Way
Redmond, WA 98052</em>[/i]

4. Write to Amazon.com at Advantage Customer Service ([url=mailto:advantage@amazon.com]advantage@amazon.com[/url]) and 
Investor Relations ([url=mailto:ir@amazon.com]ir@amazon.com[/url])

5. Spread the word through your webpage, blog, etc. ([url=http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=16891&view=findpost&p=113649]code available here[/url])

6. Boycott Amazon.com until they comply

7. Join [url=http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16891]the discussion[/url] in the Wetpixel forums

Test of above code:

It seems that Amazon.com is carrying shark fin soup and other products through three third-party vendors Roland, Pacific Rim Gourmet, and VitaminLife. With all the controversy surrounding shark fins and the horrible practices used to harvest fins, Amazon should be ashamed to be carrying shark fin soup and should rectify the problem immediately by pulling all shark fin products from their catalog.

What you can do:

1. Leave feedback at Amazon's product page for Roland Shark Fin Soup, Dragonfly Shark Fin Soup, and VitaminLife.

2. Participate in the discussion over at Amazon about the product and why it's bad for them to carry it

3. Send e-mail to Roland Food at Phyllis.Goldberg@rolandfood.com, Pacific Rim Gourmet at customerservice@pacificrim-gourmet.com, VitaminLife at customerservice@vitaminlife.com, and write letters of protest to:

Pacific Rim Gourmet
75-5660 Kopiko Street, Suite C7-210
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740

VitaminLife
15940 Redmond Way
Redmond, WA 98052</em>

4. Write to Amazon.com at Advantage Customer Service (advantage@amazon.com) and
Investor Relations (ir@amazon.com)

5. Spread the word through your webpage, blog, etc. (code available here)

6. Boycott Amazon.com until they comply

7. Join the discussion in the Wetpixel forums

[echeng]

Note that I split this discussion from another topic entitled Finning on the Front Line.

[Seriola]

Thanks for the heads up Eric. Feedback and emails have been sent. It would be great if we could notify the appropriate government officials here in the states. Finning is federally banned correct? If it is then selling SFS should also be illegal. They also could prosecute violations of the CITES protocol/ES Act.

Also... if you guys could vote YES for "Is this review helpful" it will help keep our feedback up on the site.

Wyatt

[shawnh]

Thanks Eric,
The more we get this info front and center, the better.
Shawn

[Rocha]

Thanks Eric, I was going to post it in the front page in a few days, was just waiting for some more feedback. It was a great idea to split the thread.

Luiz

[jbonehoss]

Luiz,

You rock! I *love* your review on Amazon...

"Hey Amazon, since you sell this product, how about selling CANNED PANDA BEAR LIVER too?". You really should not be giving Pacific Rim Gourmet these wonderful new ideas about products. <wink>

Very funny, but too true to laugh

[Rocha]

going back to it, I think I should have been more formal about it! But I was so p****d off that was all that came to mind. I mean, how are we going to try to convince Indonesia to stop harvesting them if we freely trade it here?

[3@5]

not only are they selling it, but they are also showing sponsored links to so-called shark fin manufacturer

Sponsored Links (What's this?)
Shark Fin manufacturer — grade A+ seafood: shark, shark fin. competitive prices. Buy now! — www.senyou.net.cn/index.asp

how much more cynical can you get?
/paul

[echeng]

Sponsorship links are hard to get rid of. For example, if a shark fin manufacturer buys up links on Wetpixel, they'll show up on Google and I'd have to ban them one by one. you can't blanket ban based on keywords on the google adsense system.

But Amazon should be able to do something about their sponsored links, once we get them to give in.

[MikeVeitch]

we (sort of) did it for Disneyland HK, i am sure we can do it with Amazon too.

[photovan]

If you want to share this on your website, you can use the following code:

thanks eric, that was very helpful for someone struggling with code. and also justin for giving permission to post his pics.

you can see my blog entry here

Edited by photovan, 03 January 2007 - 04:27 AM.

[Nunomix]

I couldnt believe it. Already sent an email to them and left comment on Amazon. I also included this in my blog.

Edited by Nunomix, 03 January 2007 - 06:59 AM.