Lowes Food Stores on Tuesday joined the Canadian seafood boycott, which the Humane Society of the United States launched three years ago in protest of Atlantic Canada's annual seal hunt.
The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based supermarket chain operates more than 100 stores in the Carolinas and Virginia.
There are three levels of participation: boycott all Canadian seafood, boycott seafood from Atlantic Canada or boycott only Canadian snow crab. The HSUS is targeting the seafood industry because the majority of sealers are fishermen.
According to the HSUS, more than 3,600 grocery stores, restaurants, hotels and casinos nationwide have pledged to boycott Canadian seafood until the seal hunt ends. The participants include Harris Teeter, Whole Foods Markets, Trader Joe's, Legal Sea Foods, Oceanaire Seafood Room, Margaritaville Cafes, Ted's Montana Grill and Bon Appetit Management Co.
Atlantic Canada's seal hunt opened March 28 with a 2008 quota of 275,000 harp seals, which are harvested for their pelts.
