FILE - In this Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014 file photo provided by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014, fishermen on boats go over bottlenose dolphins in Taiji, western Japan. Japanese fishermen killed about 40 dolphins targeted for their meat as part of a larger group trapped recently in what activists say was the biggest roundup they have witnessed in the last four annual hunts. A group of American celebrities and other activists want President Barack Obama to refuse to sign an international trade agreement until Japan bans the capture and slaughter of dolphins in the fishing town of Taiji. (AP Photo/Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, File) NO SALES
February 05, 2014 - 7:13 PM
WASHINGTON - A group of American celebrities and other activists want President Barack Obama to refuse to sign an international trade agreement until Japan bans the capture and slaughter of dolphins in the fishing town of Taiji.
Backing the effort are Oscar-winning performers Sean Penn, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Jennifer Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Charlize Theron as well as TV stars Ellen DeGeneres and William Shatner, and many others.
In a letter dated Wednesday that includes dozens of names, hip-hop producer Russell Simmons asks U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy to urge Obama to make stopping the dolphin hunt a key factor in negotiations for the trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The Oscar-winning 2009 documentary "The Cove" chronicled the dolphin roundup in Taiji. Fishermen defend the hunt as a tradition.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014