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Editor's Note: Mary Redcord is our CFO for our Group of Companies and enjoys an international reputation for insightful comments on current events. Mary has a habit of getting right to the heart of the matter and skewering those that deserve it while being kind to those that don't. Mary lives on her sailboat on Vancouver Island. Mary's article on the seal hunt may make you reconsider what you thought you knew about the topic.
Canada has a population of about 6 million harp seals on the east coast. The annual hunt allows approx 280,000 to be harvested. Seals eat fish and crabs. Lots of them. If left to their own resources the seals would produce to the point where they eat all the fish. Second point. Humans also live in the Northern regions of Canada. They eat fish and seal and whatever they can afford to have flown in from the south. They have been doing this for thousands of years. Well except flying in supplies they have been doing that for eighty years or so. Third point. The seal looks cute -the younger ones look even cuter.
Well there you have it. The problem started when animal rights activists decided for reasons of their own that harvesting the seal as opposed to harvesting a chicken, duck, goose, turkey, turtle, calf, rabbit or cow was a cruel and bad thing to do. Some, but not all relented a bit and admitted that seals slaughtered for subsistence by indigenous peoples might not be as bad and could be accepted. The real problem in most of their minds was the slaughter of cute helpless seals for their pelts for sale as leather goods. So they took pictures and they held rallies and they advertised and they became a special interest group which tried its best to outlaw the seal hunt and to bar seal products from the market. They went out on the ice and interfered with the hunt and some of them even threw paint on people wearing sealskin garments. They were going to save the cute little baby seals if it was the last they they ever did. Many animal rights activists made it their life mission and collected millions of dollars and actually made enough to live a comfortable life style saving the cute baby seals. These folks were on a mission -from God- to save the seals from Evil and the Canadian devils that clubbed them to death. In their minds it was a classic and righteous case of good against evil. Nothing else counted. They became fanatical about their mission.
Here is a link to a typical site that reflects how these people think. They get themselves worked up and off they go spewing the most ridiculous statements that you could imagine. They vilify Canadians and all those associated with the seal trade. These people are of course idiots. But they are vocal, clever idiots and they band together. And soon they are a constituency and elected officials need to pay attention to them. And that is how a special interest group is formed. And there is nothing more dangerous than a special interest group of dedicated idiots who have banned together for what in their minds is a just and worthy cause.
The human mind loves sharp contrasts. Cold and Hot, Pleasure and Pain, sweet and sour. The white seal pup. The white snow. The red blood. The pictures were shocking to many. The cute seal pups with their bulging eyes looking up helplessly as the mean (evil) sealer crushed their brains with a club. The contrasts where there and the media loved it. The anti-sealing campaign grew to the point where Europeans outlawed seal products. The value of a seal skin fell from over $115 to under $15 in just four short years. The Canadian harvesters were vilified around the world as brutal murderers.
The Canadian government failed to support the sealers in that they did not manage the publicity crisis. In fact even within Canada there was a strong anti sealing movement by people who had no idea of the real story behind the seals. Most of Canadians over 80% of them lived in a narrow band clinging to the US Canada Border in just a few population centres. These people have no idea how northern Canadians live. The Government tried to support our sealers in their typical polite Canadian way and you can read about that in our DFO link below. But the anti sealers blew them out of the water with bigger budgets, elaborate websites, more dedicated workers, demonstrations, celebrity spokespeople and the like and it's fair to say they won the battle for public opinion.
And an unfortunate fact for the sealers is that several different groups combined their efforts to attempt to defeat them. They were the anti sealing group, the vegans and the animal cruelty group and even humane societies got involved. With these three separate groups politicians and movie stars and other Celebes suddenly realize that they too could gain if they aligned themselves with these groups. You start getting people like Sir Paul McCartney, Pam Anderson, Brigit Bardot and many others and hundreds of groups around the world and possibly millions of individuals you have a public relations problem when translates into a problem for the seal hunting industry itself. There is a point of no return here with the momentum that is built up and in my opinion we have passed it. There is no point in flogging a dead horse and in the case of the seal hunt thanks to the Federal Government's inaction and under funding in managing the hunt and it's inability to match the huge funding of the anti sealing group -the horse has been dead for years. So to speak.
It is interesting to review Jacques Cousteau's comment on the seal hunt ...The harp seal question is entirely emotional. We have to be logical. We have to aim our activity first to the endangered species. Those who are moved by the plight of the harp seal could also be moved by the plight of the pig - the way they are slaughtered is horrible."
The facts are that the Northern people the Inuit have used seals as a food staple and as part of their culture for thousands of years. They eat seal meat to sustain life and they use seal skin products to withstand the intense cold temperatures. The original kayak was made with seal skin. The seal is to them as the cow or pig or chicken is to us -it is a food staple that the great majority of us consume on a regular basis to sustain life.
Another fact is that seals eat so many fish that if allowed to breed uncontrolled they would eat all the fish in the region leaving nothing for the humans to eat. In addition to the subsistence hunt to provide food northerners also cull the herd to obtain seal pelts which are then used for clothing. Again if the seals were not culled they would destroy the local fish industry. Some say they only consume small cod and others say the impact on the fish industry is not that bad. However the cod fishery being what it is these days doesn't not need any additional load on it. Culling the herd keeps it healthy and in balance with nature. Those are the facts. My CEO tells this story about his youth :
"...In my youth I unlike many other Canadians did have an opportunity to travel up to the Northern Regions of Canada on the East Coast. I went as far as Nain and Davis Inlet in Labrador. I had an opportunity to catch glimpses of life in the north that other Canadians living in that 100 mile long strip along the US/Canada border never saw. And my trip was just to the beginning of our far northern regions. I saw a completely different way of life to life in the South. I still remember seeing these wild looking sled dogs on short chains being tossed a frozen fish. Down south the dog would be living in a comfortable bed eating the best of balanced foods having treats and living the easy life. Up North these were working dogs and they were tough as nails and they looked part wolf to me. I suspect they were some sort of husky wolf cross. No Fido's here. I couldn't see those dogs begging or holding up a paw or rolling over for a treat. They looked happy though. You could also feel the bond between the residents and their food- the fish and seal that sustained them. Unlike our food wrapped in plastic theirs was trapped or fished or hunted. They were closer to nature. It was an eye opener. I was offered seal flipper and was told it was a treat but I declined because at the time my tastes were hamburgers and KFC and raw seal meat just didn't sound that good to me. Had I missed a few meals or had a more open mind at the time I am sure I would have loved it."
The idea behind this website is to uncover bullshit and suggest a better way. The problem with the seal hunt is that the animal rights groups have completely misunderstood the hunt and focused in on the bullshit as fact -forgetting that this hunt is necessary for maintaining a health population of seals, for providing basic food to northern residents and for assisting the economy of northern seal hunters to sustain families and communities. The evil doers here are not the seal hunters they are the animal rights activists who in their righteous ways are ruining entire families and communities and throwing dispersion on a culture that for centuries has lived proudly on the Earths coldest and most challenging climates.
My suggestion is that if you encounter an individual spouting off about the evils of the Canadian seal hunt that you tell them the other half of the story. In fact, if there was no seal hunt -there would be no fish for those very Europeans that depend on Canadian East coast fish to eat. There is a lot of irony to go around on this topic. The animal rights activists are having great success with seals but how about chickens, turkeys, veal, beef, pigs and rabbits. There -notsogood! Europeans eat meat fish and fowl, wear leather garments and shoes and seem to have a selective memory about which animals can be killed for food and pelts. In fact, Europeans kill billions of animals every year for their food and pelts. Some also seem to have a selective memory about the tens of thousands of Canadian troops who gave they lives to save European lives during the second world war. To call Canadians cowardly, villainous, brutal killers because of the seal harvest is way over the top. Only an idiot would say that. Especially for a group that force feeds geese to have nice plump livers, that murders bunny rabbits and quacking young ducks for food and that chows down on veal or baby cattle as they chug down a bottle of wine.
Our Canadian Government has done a lousy job of getting the story out on the Seal hunt. As a result the special interest groups have made big gains in the elimination of the hunt. Should that happen there will be disastrous results to the seal population and to the economy and lives of Northerners in Canada.
Another fact about this website is that while we uncover bullshit in this case the way in which the anti sealing groups have acted we also suggest a better way so here goes:
1. Leave the native seal hunt as is -they have been doing it for countless generations and it is required for survival in the Northern Regions of Canada.
2. Develop a more humane method of killing seals which minimizes pain and suffering and which produces no blood or requires a clubbing action. The killing process like any other kill process in an agricultural operation should be done in private with no access by photographers. Photography is never allowed in a pig, cattle or chicken processing plant where the kill occurs so why should it be allowed in the seal hunt. Possibly some spring loaded device on a pole where the harvester places the mechanism on the seals head and pulls a trigger would do it. Anyway it is not rocket science and the traditional hakapik could be retired. Thus a "clubbing action" to perform the kill would not occur. The hunter would simply walk up to the seal quickly place the device on the seal's head, pull the trigger and bob's your uncle and the seal is in heaven while his body and pelt remain on earth for human use.
3. Quotas should be set with reference to the size of the herd and it's sustainability and also to the price of pelts. It makes little sense to take a pelt if there is no market for it. The break even point needs to be carefully calculated.
4. Canadians need to be aware of the facts associated with he seal hunt and the need to actively support the hunt by consuming seal meat products for food and pet food and using seal pelts for clothing. This is Canada and seals and the far north are a part of us. At one time it was not uncommon to see warm sealskin winter boots made in Canada by Canadians. Now we place our feet into cold rubber boots made in China. Apparently seal meat is a good source of protein and vitamins. The meat needs to be tested to see how it stands up against other protein sources and that information needs to get out to Canadians. It could be that seal meat could appear in Canadians menus much like other unusual meats such as buffalo. I don't think it is fair to just leave our Northern Canadians hanging without our support. If it wasn't for them we would not have any sovereignty in the North because nobody would be living there! Some of our best Canadians live in the North lets support them!
5. Should the EU confirm the seal ban -Canada needs to make a non emotional decision on what to do. It should be founded on common sense and basic economics. Given the almost universal inaccurate information about the hunt -the costs to correct that might be more that any benefit from the hunt. The stake holders need to come together and consider options and pick the best one. I am not an expert on the Seal Industry or the Seal hunt but I do know that when an industry meets a critical point in it's development it needs to adjust to the new situation or risk destruction.
What follows is a selection of links that provide various views on the Seal hunt. Each provides an interesting point of view. You decide! One thing is for sure - they all can't be right!
Cheers! Mary Redcord May 29/2009
LINKS
HarpSeal.org -working to stop the seal hunt
DFO Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Gov. Gen. eats slice of slaughtered seal's raw heart to show support for hunt
The Canadian Press, May 26, 2009
- Political animals
The Economist, May 14, 2009
- True lies about the seal hunt
The Telegram, Brian Jones, May 8, 2009
Seal Hunting Wikipedia
Boycott Canadian Seafood This group has gone nuts and wants the world to boycott Canadian Seafood! Check out the partners page which includes dozens of organizations including the US Humane Society
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