Prime Minister Stephen Harper dines on seal meat on August 18, 2009, to show his support for the Canadian sealing industry
The Canadian Prime Minister’s office recently released a photo to the media showing Mr. Harper – along with Human Resources Minister Diane Finley, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl – munching on seal meat during a recent visit to Iqaluit, Nunavut.
The Globe and Mail reported spokesperson Andrew MacDougall sent an email to the press announcing: “The Prime Minister said, ‘I really enjoyed eating seal meat and look forward to having it again.’”
In a shocking and symbolic political statement earlier this year, Governor General Michaëlle Jean publicly carved a freshly slaughtered seal in audacious opposition to the E.U. ban, then turned to the woman beside her and asked, “Can I try the heart?” Defence Minister Peter MacKay christened her “Canada’s new Braveheart” for this brazen act of defiance, and added, “I would encourage all Canadians to try seal. It’s a wonderful product.”
Harper argues that the sealing industry adheres to the “tightest standards” of any industry involved in the sale of animal products. If these standards assert that sealers must bludgeon the skulls of baby seals and drag their squirming bodies across the ice before skinning them (often while still alive), then I suppose he’s right.
According to PETA, “…sealers routinely hook live seals in the eye, cheek, or mouth to avoid damaging the fur, then they drag the seals across the ice. Many of these gentle creatures may not even have eaten their first solid meal or taken their first swim before they are slaughtered for their skin.” 99 percent of all seals killed for the hunt are between three weeks and three months old.
In a 2001 study commissioned by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, it was reported that many Canadian sealers were not using the hakapik properly, which contributed to “considerable and unacceptable suffering”, and added that in 17 percent of cases observed there were no visible lesions in the seals’ skulls, which means approximately 55,000 seals may have been skinned alive.
In a recent news conference, Prime Minister Harper addressed the European Union’s ban on the import of Canadian seal products that was finalized this July: “There is no reason the seal industry should be singled out for discriminatory treatment by Europeans or any other nation.” The Canadian government has already launched an appeal of the E.U. ban to the World Trade Organization.
Mr. Harper has always been an outspoken supporter of the Canadian seal hunt, claiming this industry is essential to the survival of communities in Northern and Atlantic Canada. However, the E.U. ban would not affect the Inuit populations in Canada, as it would still allow the trade of seal products derived from hunts carried out by indigenous communities that contribute to their sustenance.
The total allowable catch (TAC) of seals in Canada for 2009 is 280,000 harp seals, 8,200 hooded seals, and 50,000 grey seals, which amounts to 338,200. There are also a number of seals that are “struck and lost”, which the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association reports is approximately 16,250 annually.
It would appear that the sealing industry is a Canadian gold mine, judging by all the fuss from the government to stop the E.U ban on seal product imports from Canada. There is virtually no market for seal meat, so these fluffy babies are being killed for the coats on their backs. The startling truth is that the life of a Canadian seal is reduced to a mere $14, the current value of a single pelt.
The Canadian seal hunt is a barbaric practice that causes unimaginable suffering to thousands of baby seals every year. Despite public outrage and pressure on the government to stop the hunt, the massacre continues. Please speak out against this cruelty and urge the Canadian government to stop the seal hunt.
A young seal witnesses the bloody remains of his murdered mates
For more information on the Canadian seal hunt and to find out what you can do to stop it, visit:
http://www.canadiansealhunt.com/ , http://www.harpseals.org/about_the_hunt/pelts.html
Also, the Canadian commercial seal hunt isn’t even about the seal meat; they use the skins and throw away the rest. I think for our Governor General to keep her Braveheart title, she should volunteer to undergo a hakapik ~ brave soul that she is 8 )
True the skin is sold. The meat is eaten by the hunters and is sold to specialty restaurants. The harp seal is not endangered. I honestly do not know what the fuss is about. As long as strict controls are kept there shouldn’t be any problem.
On a parallel note, I do not hear anyone complaining about the endangerment of the cod population. Why not? What about the caribou, the elk etc… Are they not cute enough. Let me tell you from experience that a seal is akin to a bear. If it is not killed quickly it can give a vicious bite.
What are the fishermen in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia doing these days? They are drilling for oil off shore and in Alberta. Now, how good that is for the planet?
Current Headlines
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Greenland:
Sealskin Imports, Seal Meat Exports
04.09.1997;
Greenland plans to import sealskins for processing and re- export, and has also begun promoting the export of seal meat to the Far East. Initially, the plan involves buying 10,000 skins from overseas, “a purely commercial standpoint,” says a representative of the Great Greenland fur company. The export of seal meat will “provide an opportunity to industrialise the hunting trade,” says Prime Minister Lars Emil Johansen.
It is the first time the Greenland Home Rule Government has given the Great Greenland fur company permission to import seal skins. The Home Rule Government has sanctioned the initiative on the condition that the skins are not used in Greenland, i.e. that they must be re-exported. Thus, the import authorisation will not affect buying within Greenland. “If we can buy skins overseas and resell them for a profit, then, depending on market prices, this should be a healthy business proposition. We see overseas buying from a purely commercial standpoint,” said managing director Poul Klents of the Great Greenland to the newspaper “Sermitsiak” on August 29.
The Great Greenland tanning plant in Qaqortoq has stepped up production in order to meet the increasing demand for skins. This year, production will exceed 75,000 skins and M.D. Klents expects it to reach almost 100,000 next year. The annual catch of seals numbers approximately 150,000-170,000. The most probable market is Canada, where sealing has increased considerably, and now accounts for way in excess of 200,000 seals a year.
In addition to the existing sealskin exports, Greenland also hopes to export seal meat, the sale of which today is limited to the domestic market. “Our main consideration is an improvement in conditions for the hunting trade. We intend to discard the romantic and traditional train of thought and provide an opportunity to industrialise the hunting trade,” Prime Minister Lars Emil Johansen explained this spring (“Sermitsiak”, May 2 1997) and went on to say, “we shall focus on improving the profits gained from seal products.”
“We cannot be the only people in the world that enjoy eating seal meat. On the markets in the Far East there is a lack of meat, and we’ve got it,” the Prime Minister said. He pointed out that, “we have two things, the seal meat, and a large potential market,” referring to the fact that in the Far East there is “a gigantic market for seal meat,” and that Greenland has a “gigantic, unexploited seal reserve.” The North West Atlantic stock of harp seals, whose whelping areas are off New Foundland and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is estimated at numbering around 5 million.
Greenland was severely paralysed by the campaigns against sealing, even though these campaigns were not, in fact, directed at Greenland, but primarily at the Canadian and Norwegian hunts. The US introduced a total ban on the import of seal skins, and the EU introduced a ban on the import of the skins of pups under the age of 3 months. These bans, together with massive boycott campaigns, led to the complete collapse of the EU market, including that of the skins from adult seals.
In order to reduce the extent of the damage caused by the anti-sealing campaigns, the Greenland authorities, amongst other things, decided to subsidise the buying of sealskins. In such a way, both the hunt and the production of seal products could be maintained. This policy has born fruit and Greenland is now ready to reap the benefits of the brighter market prospects for sealskins.
For further information please see the following documents:
Demand for Removal of US Marine Mammal Import Ban
Orsoq: Eat meat and Blubber from Sea Mammals and Avoid Cardiovascular Disease
Greenpeace damage control: A visit to Greenland
Greenepeace: Indigenous Hunts must be Non-commercial
Trade Barriers and The Indigenous Peoples’ Production