Representatives
of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claim that the decision was the
result of a video the organization distributed concerning “horrific abuse caught on tape at
the company’s slaughterhouse.”
Delaware North
Companies Vice President for Corporate Communications Wendy Watkins said
Wednesday in an email response that the company is not using lobsters from the
Bean company in its operations. Watkins would not comment on whether the
decision to stop using the Bean products was because of the PETA video.
David Byer,
the senior corporate liaison for PETA, said that PETA contacted
Delaware North directly after it saw an advertisement for Linda Bean
Maine Lobster promoting the sale of its lobster on a stick at the Minnesota
Twins baseball park and at the TD Garden in Boston.
Delaware North
responded to PETA saying it had stopped using Bean’s lobsters, Byer
said.
The PETA
official said that the organisation had reached out to Bean’s company to
educate them about more humane ways to kill lobsters before it released the
video.
“They refused
to engage us in conversation,” Byer said, and the decision was made to try to
convince companies not to buy her products.“I hope more companies do what
Delaware North has done,” he said.
 |
Linda Bean at Port Clyde. Photo - by C.A. Smith Photography
|
PETA had asked last year for animal cruelty charges to be filed against the Bean processing plant in Rockland, but District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau said he would not prosecute because the animal cruelty law did not cover invertebrate species — animals without backbones.
In a separate
matter in December, the US Food and Drug Administration found what it said
were serious violations of federal seafood safety at the Bean processing plant
on Merrill Drive in the Rockland industrial park. A warning letter was sent out in February.
The manager of
the plant said that the violations simply involved the plant not being able to
show the federal agency scientific evidence to support the company’s position
that its processing method results in the food being safe.
According to
other sources Delaware North won a sustainability award from the National
Restaurant Association two months ago but does not have specific seafood
purchasing guidelines. Consistency across all food would seem to missing and
reliance on organisations such as PETA for advice would seem to be questionable
for long term supplier engagement.
Read more HERE.
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd.
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