The Puffer Forum

Succinctly put in this website:
http://www.1worldcommunication.org/Walmart.htm

http://walmartwatch.com/ More...

They also HARDCORE Oppose unionization. They completely shut down a store in Quebec putting hundreds out of work because they had the "audacity" to attempt to unionize...

So not just being human rights violators, they are also contributing to the extinction of the GSP...

I have boycotted Walmart for >10 years for just this reason.

Yeah thats pretty bad! I guess one more place not to shop? Dont think there are many north american companies NOT taking advantage of a situation like that though...It would be hard to buy many things if we all looked into how they are made around the world. Im sure that no matter how many times I ask and how many times fish stores tell me that their SW fish were collected in a humane, reef safe way, Ive bought many fish that were not! Its sad but its all about money and lying to make that money is nothing new...I know that most of the fish shops I go to believe that their fish are caught safely but they can never know unless they go to see themselves...Makes it really hard to shop anywhere!

Justin: It's one thing to catch them in humane ways It's a totally DIFFERENT thing to catch them in such extreme numbers and condemn them to die in little 1 cubic foot overstocked tanks in a box store somewhere....

Your walmart is ONE out of how many stocking 100 GSP's at a time in these 1 cubic foot acrylic death traps? (My local walmart doesn't stock GSP's thank goodness....we had to go down to Naniamo to "My Fish Tank" to get our little guy) I've seen my local walmart's fish tanks, and seriously, here, there is NO ONE in the fish dept..none..the tanks had some live fish...but mostly dead fish from not being fed....it was disgusting...

You deplete the wild stock, there wont be anymore of these funny cute critters left.....because no one has figured out how to breed captive yet. Trust me, I'd rather go to a LFS and pay extra for a GSP who's been captive bred and help preserve the species in the wild (no matter how polluted the estuaries out there are, gotta work on that next) than support a giant congomerate that's hell bent on murdering 1000's of these fish at a time....

And Justin: There are "Fair Trade" directories all over the net if you want to look into it. Fair trade goods cost a little more than the sweatshop stuff...but hey at least your concience is clear eh?

I think you completly missed what I was trying to say! My only point was that as much as I would love to believe any LFS, saying that their fish are caught in a humane way, I can't...I have been diving in the Philippines and heard the TNT explosions myself! When I asked our guide after the dive what it was, he told me and I was shocked. We spoke for a while about local fish exporting and he told me he knew of NO local companies or individuals collecting fish without dynamite or poison. That doesnt mean there are none but there are very few I believe...Many claim to be operating in a humane and reef safe way but when you are down there, you realize how easy it is to say whatever you want and do whatever you want. My point was, LFS do not know exactly how the fish they are getting were caught...and I often wonder how many poor fish had to die for me to take just one home and put him in my home! I always feel very hypocritical because I would never support catching fish in such a horrible manner but Im sure Im often buying fish which were collected in this way!

Oh and I have never supported Walmart...Ive never even bought ANYTHING there...The first time my brother and I went there, We were next door to one and after always hearing about there fish problems, we went in...

Having said all this, I know we all want whats best for fish and really are all on the same side of this issue. My brother, who will be a full Marine Biologist in 3 more years (sorry Im just very proud of this), was just doing what he thought was best for some fish he saw in need of help and felt for....And I would hope that he would do the same thing everytime!

What does he plan to do w/that degree? Does he live near the ocean?

Yes, we live a few minutes from the ocean! He is moving to Florida though I think...Want to work in the estuaries and swamps there. Just needs to finish up school first!

AAANYWAY

Their profits are down YAY!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15990209/

One small step.....

Do you only buy fairtrade items? You dont have to answer if you dont want (obviously), Im just curious now...

Personally I like our Wal-Mart and continue to shop there weekly. We have a Super Wal-Mart that has a grocery store and its where we do the vast majority of our shopping. The fish department is always clean and well cared for, few dead fish if any, no obvious signs of illness, and NO puffers for sale. Everyone I’ve talked to is very happy working there. My only issue with them is that they have too few cash registers open during busy times so the lines get too long.

So I went to the Wal Mart yesterday and...NO PUFFERS! Its been almost three weeks now and NO PUFFERS!!! Dont know how long this will last but my brother got a letter from Wal Mart apologizing for the whole situation and assuring us they would not sell puffer anymore! I was shocked that they did all this! It seems like the manager of this specific store (who was amazingly nice when we met him) made it happen!

Oh...and I bought my first things from Wal Mart! I like that store! Lots of different stuff...Did so much Christmas shopping there...