Canadian seal slaughter

 

Nearly one million seal pups have been shot and clubbed to death over the last three years during the annual Canadian seal slaughter.



Why kill seals?

The Canadian government says the measure is necessary because the seal population is booming, causing the area's stocks of commercial fish - particularly cod - to dwindle. – This is simply NOT TRUE
There is an international trade in seals for their fur – reports show that a staggering 42% of seals are skinned alive while fully conscious.


The Facts.

• Baby seals are beaten with clubs or weapons resembling ice picks.
• Older seals are shot with rifles either when in the water or while they are on the ice.


• Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is charged with ensuring that the hunt is sustainable and humane. However, a report submitted by a team of independent vets stated that government regulations were not being honoured or enforced. Also, hunters were failing to comply with Canada's animal welfare regulations.

• The Canadian Government claims that the commercial seal hunt is humane and well regulated but independent veterinarians disagree. A team observed sealers at work and examined carcasses left on the ice. They found that 79% of sealers did not check to see if an animal was dead before skinning it, in 40% of cases the animal had to be struck or shot a second time and that a staggering 42% of seals were probably conscious when skinned. Despite evidence of this cruelty being passed to the Canadian authorities no prosecutions have resulted.



• A harp seal can be legally killed as soon as it has begun to moult its white hair, around two weeks after birth. Mother seals caught in the conflict are also killed trying to protect their babies. As a result, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans estimates that almost 95% of the seals killed in the commercial hunt are between 12 days and one year old. The hunt is subsidised by Canadian taxpayers.


• The fishing industry claim that seals are eating all the fish leaving none for them to catch and sell putting them out of business. There is no scientific evidence of this whatsoever, and the truth is that the fisheries are overfishing the waters and netting the breeding stock. The Canadian Government blames the seals for the collapse of N Atlantic cod stocks but this is down to human over-fishing and its own mis-management of the fisheries. In fact seals eat the N Atlantic cod’s main predator so if there were no seals the situation would be much worse.



WHY ACT NOW?

The canadian government allow the clubbing of a certain amount of seals each year, but as yet they have not allocated a quota for this year and when the clubbing has begun it could run into hundreds of thousands being clubbed. When deciding upon the number of seals to be killed, the Canadian Government is ignoring the change in weather patterns that are causing the ice in the main sealing areas to melt early and the pups to drown as they are unable to swim until they are much older. There is nothing to suggest that these changes may not be permanent and the effect that this could have on the harp seal population is unknown. Their response to most of the baby seals drowning in 2002 was to let the seal hunt overrun its quota as prices for seal products were higher than usual.


During 2005, 317,672 seals were killed during the Canadian commercial seal hunt, 98% where less than 3 moths old, most less than a few weeks

Many people remember the high profile campaigns against the clubbing of baby seals back in the 70’s and 80’s but few people realise that the number of young seals being killed is now greater than when the campaigns began. The 2003 seal hunt saw over 350,000 seals killed - the largest seal hunt for over 400 years.



Fishing: The Facts

In 1852 it has been estimated that there were 1.26 million tonnes of cod living on the Scotian shelf. Today, the figure is 40,000 tonnes (3% of the 1852 population).
No wonder the population crashed. In 1968 alone 900,000 tonnes of cod were caught by fisherman in Canadian waters.
For many years the notion of blaming the seals for the disappearance of the fish was promoted by those that were really responsible. Today many people, particularly in fishing communities in eastern Canada, still believe that the seals are at fault.
The fact is that the seals have been used as a scapegoat.
But extensive research – and common sense – is beginning to destroy the simplistic myth of seals –v– cod. Even the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans has now moderated its position stating that:
‘The current scientific knowledge is insufficient to determine the impact of a seal cull on cod fisheries in the short, medium or long term. Science and resource managers question the value of a cull in a fishery driven by economic market conditions. More importantly, there is no way of knowing how other predators and prey might respond to a decrease in the seal population.’
The truth is that seals eat a range of fish and prey species, some of which themselves eat atlantic cod so a healthy seal population may even help maintain cod populations.
In its document ‘Understanding Seals & Sealing in Canada’ (2002) the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans says:
‘It is widely accepted in the scientific community that there are many uncertainties in the estimates of the amount of fish consumes by seals. Seals and cod exist in a complex ecosystem, which mitigates against easy analysis or simple solutions to problems such as the lack of recovery of cod stocks.‘
It goes on to estimate the annual consumption by harp seals of their 4 main prey species:
• Capelin (893,000 tonnes)
• Sand lance (350,000 tonnes)
• Arctic cod (186,000 tonnes)
• North Atlantic cod (37,000 tonnes)

It is worth noting that Arctic cod is a predator of North Atlantic cod – the species driven to commercial extinction by human overfishing.
In other words, killing seals may actually hinder the recovery of the atlantic cod in the north east atlantic.
A recent global study shows there is rarely a conflict between marine mammals and commercial fishing as they generally target different species. Marine biologist Kristin Kaschner at the University of British Columbia states that: ‘Marine mammals are not likely to have a large impact on large fisheries’.


It is now time for the people of the world to act against this barbaric unnecessary practice.

An eye witness report describes the horrific events of a seal cull:

“During April, 2005 I visited the East coast of Canada where I bore witness to the largest wild mammal slaughter on earth. My heart is broken from the scenes I witnessed.
The final leg of the trip was by helicopter and we landed on the ice floes as the sun was rising on a clear, crisp morning. It was the most breathtakingly beautiful place I’ve ever seen. Ice and snow stretched to every horizon. All around, harp seal pups gazed at me with their beautiful dark eyes. Most were only two weeks old.

All too soon, dozens of Canadian fishermen arrived to kill the seals. They fanned out slowly across the ice. The seal pups looked at them expectantly. This was the first time many had ever seen a human. Was it fear or just curiosity in the eyes they raised to greet these new arrivals?

I forced myself to watch as sealer after sealer smashed his steel-tipped club into the faces of these beautiful creatures. It was the most brutal sight I have ever seen.

It was clear that the sealers had scant regard for even the feeble regulations that exist. They ran from one helpless seal to the next clubbing as many as they could, ignoring the requirement to check to see if an animal was dead before moving to the next. Many weren’t and were left squirming in agony.

When the government officials arrived in their helicopter they were more intent on keeping me and the other observers the required 10 metres from the killers than actually ensuring the hunt was conducted ‘humanely’.
Comically, in response to complaints from observers, one official went to great pains to measure one of the sealers clubs to ensure it was within the legal limits – it was!
The fact is that this killing can never be humane and those that carry it out have little interest in making it so. Their main interests are speed and not being witnessed.
Those of us on the ice were repeatedly subjected to intimidation and threats by the sealers who charged towards us brandishing knives and clubs. They did not want to be filmed in their bloody work.


How Can You Help?

The Canadian government not only defends but also promotes this cruelty. Canada is also blatantly circumventing a European law aimed at stopping this terrible slaughter. The seals are used as scapegoats for past mismanagement of fish stocks, a commercial ‘resource’ and a political football.


Boycott Canadaian Tourism
UK tourists spend more than 1 billion dollars (Can.) a year in Canada, contributing to the economy and therefore to the Canadian exchequer.
The seal hunt, by contrast, is a volatile industry estimated to be worth only a few million dollars each year.
The hunt is actually heavily subsidised by the Canadian government and so by visiting Canada as a tourist or by buying Canadian fish and seafood products, consumers are actually inadvertently supporting the hunt.
Staying away from Canada while the hunt continues is the only way you can be sure that none of your money is being used to subsidise the hunt. It will also begin to make the Canadian government – which only seems to care about money – take notice.

The Canadian Tourism Board uses the slogan; “Discover our True Nature”. This is something we are keen to promote as well. It is important that people realise that part of this true nature involves the clubbing and skinning of seals – many whilst still conscious.

Please register your intention to boycott Canada as a tourist destination until the killing stops by writing to them at the following addresses:

Michele McKenzie
President and CEO
Canada Tourism Commission
55 Metcalfe Street
Suite 600
Ottawa
Ontario K1P 6LS
Canada

Maggie Davison
Managing Director
Canadian Tourism Commission (UK)
Canada House
62-65 Trafalgar Square
London
WC2N 5DY

Please clearly and politely state that you will be boycotting Canada while ever the cruel seal hunt continues.


Don’t Buy Canadian Fish and Seafood Products
The sealers themselves are, for the most part, fishermen. The main part of their income is from the sale (and export) of fish and seafood products. The UK is an important customer for these products.
Ensure that you don’t buy any fish products originating from Canadian fisheries.
By boycotting Canadian fish and seafood products you send an important message back to those directly involved in the slaughter of the seals.


Petition
Please download the Save the Seals Petition
http://www.boycott-canada.com/what/index.htm
which will be presented in the House of Commons during 2006. Please make as many copies and obtain as many signatures as possible and return the completed forms to:
Respect for Animals
PO Box 6500
Nottingham NG4 3GB

Donate
Funds are always and urgently needed to fight this terrible slaughter.
Please make a contribution – as generously as you are able – today.