and increased as a proportion of gross income from 5% to 25%. Greenpeace campaign successes in that period included a decrease in whales killed worldwide from around 70,000 to 1,000, international treaties banning the dumping of nuclear, industrial and oil industry waste (including Shell's controversial Brent Spar oil storage facility) and human sewage in the North East Atlantic, an international treaty protecting the continent of Antarctica, the temporary abandonment of building new nuclear power stations in the UK, the treaty banning nuclear weapons testing worldwide, and Greenpeace's worldwide, campaign against genetically modified crops and food. Greenpeace launched its global campaign against GM crops in 1997, and Lord Melchett was arrested in 1999 when he took part in an environmental protest against a genetically modified crop trial in Lyng, Norfolk, at which GM maize was cut down and removed by 28 volunteers. Melchett spent a night in police custody and then a night in Norwich Prison before being released on bail. The case came to court in 2000 when Melchett and his 27 codefendants were unanimously acquitted of theft and criminal damage. When he left in 2001, Melchett was the longest serving Executive Director of a Greenpeace national office. The UK model of campaigning was increasingly adopted by Greenpeace's other 30 national offices and was accepted as being in part responsible for Greenpeace's successes with both the Brent Spar and genetic engineering campaigns. Melchett was also Chair of the Board of Greenpeace Japan, which became the third largest and most influential environmental organisation in Japan, securing a number of significant changes in Government policy and corporate behaviour. When he retired as Greenpeace's Executive Director, he remained on the organisation's international board and took up a part-time consultancy work with IKEA, Iceland and ASDA supermarkets, and briefly with industry PR company Burson-Marsteller UK.[6] Burson-Marsteller in the USA had formerly been PR consultants for the Monsanto Company, and Lord Melchett stood down from the Greenpeace International Board following accusation that his employment with Burson-Marsteller compromised his integrity. He was Policy Director at the Soil Association from 2002. The Soil Association has campaigned against the introduction of GM crops and food, and for the introduction of support for English organic farmers through the Government's Organic Entry Level Scheme (subsequently Countryside Stewardship). The Soil Association has published reports and campaigned on school, nursery and hospital food, the poor quality of children's food in popular restaurants,