Letter: Moral choices for supermarkets

From Mr Richard Moore

Sir: Richard D. North obviously has not thought long and hard enough about IFAW's campaign to persuade supermarkets not to buy Canadian fish because of the Canadian seal hunt (Section Two; "Moralists", 7 December).

He believes that companies should not make moral choices on behalf of their customers. Fortunately they have already done so. Supermarkets sell toiletries that are not tested on animals, dolphin-friendly tuna and free-range eggs. They sell these products because there is a demand for them.

A recent MORI poll showed that the majority of the British public think that supermarkets should stop selling Canadian fish. Mr North suggests that if firms make moral choices it will lead to their closure. Quite the opposite - the public wants to do business with companies that are morally sound. A major retailer ignores public opinion at its peril.

Incidentally, the fact that seals are thousands of miles away from the salmon fisheries is irrelevant. Seal hunters are fishermen who kill seals for a few weeks a year for extra cash. Salmon fishermen and sealers are part of the same industry.

Mr North's "loathing" of our campaign is regrettable. If the 100,000 letters received by supermarkets across the country as a result of our campaign are anything to go by, he is very much a minority voice.

Yours faithfully,

Richard Moore

International Fund for

Animal Welfare

Crowborough, East Sussex

8 December