Fish farm censorship
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 03 November 2015 15:30
- Written by editor
14-year-old Freyja Reed was suspended from her soccer team for speaking out against its fish farm sponsor, Marine Harvest.
Tell Marine Harvest to let Reed play AND speak her mind.
Sign the petitionA,
A 14-year-old soccer player has been suspended from her club after speaking out against the league’s fish farm company sponsor.
Goalkeeper Freyja Reed was “shocked” to find her Tier 2 team was sponsored by Marine Harvest, one of the largest fish farming brands in B.C. She and her mother, who has long advocated against salmon farming, took offense to the corporate opportunism in the youth soccer league.
After speaking out, the Reed family received an ultimatum: keep their opinions on farm fishing to themselves, or find another soccer league. This ridiculous instance of corporate overreach has gone too far. Reed should be able to speak her mind and still play soccer!
“I cannot apologize for standing up for what I believe in,” said Reed, who knows that fish farming harms wild salmon populations and are breeding grounds for disease.
Marine Harvest, which produces some 40,000 tonnes of farm-raised salmon each year, recently became the sponsor of the renamed “Marine Harvest Riptide” soccer league. The eight sponsored teen teams wear the Marine Harvest logo on their jerseys and track jackets.
Reed’s team said her advocacy was a “breach of our organization’s code of conduct.” But we can’t let corporate sponsors dictate what our teens can and can’t say. We need to join the Reed family and demand that Marine Harvest let Freyja play!
Thanks for all that you do,
Ledys and the team at SumOfUs.org
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More information:
Vancouver Island soccer club suspended after teen player slams sponsor, CBC News, 26 October 2015.
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