Seal Song: The Canadian Seal Slaughter

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Is the seal hunt subsidized by Canadian taxpayers?
    In 1996, Canadian taxpayers spent about 3.4 million dollars to subsidize the landing of seal meat, fund the Canadian Sealers Association, and finance other industry support and inspection services (Southey, 1997).
    Although the level of direct subsidies has been reduced in each subsequent year, other subsidies have been provided through other agencies, such as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Human Resources Development Canada. These subsidies have occurred in the form of grants and interest free loans, and continue today. The cost of indirect subsidies, such as government-funded icebreaking services, is also unknown. [TOP]

What products are made from seals?
There are very few markets today for any seal part. Markets that do exist are poor, and largely unstable. Traditional seal products include the meat, pelts, oil and penises.
    Seal meat has a strong, unfamiliar taste, and attempts to market it outside of the small coastal communities where it has been consumed for decades have failed. To remedy this, the Canadian government is currently investing taxpayers’ money in the development products such as “seal pepperoni.” This product is created by stripping all taste from seal meat, and injecting it with pepperoni flavor.
    According to the Canadian Sealers Association and industry statistics, there is a glut of seal pelts on the market. Before the seal hunt even began last year, there were more than 100,000 seal pelts stockpiled by sealing plants. The Sealers Association explains that the number of seals killed in the past four years has grown at an incredible rate, outpacing market demand.
    Seals are also killed for their oil, three different grades of which are produced. Industrial grade oils are shipped to Europe and Asia, and human grade oil (which is used to produce a supplement for Omega 3 fatty acids) is sold to Asia. Other revenue comes from the sale of seal penises, as aphrodisiacs in some parts of Asia, although this market has recently decreased. [TOP]

What do harp seals eat?
    Traditionally, the diet of harp seals has been described by examining the contents of their stomachs. Since the first reports of stomach content analyses in 1941, at least 67 species of fish and 70 species of invertebrates have been recorded. Clearly, harp seals eat a wide array of fish and invertebrates, although it is difficult to express confidently the relative importance of these species.
    Atlantic cod is a minor but consistent prey species, estimated to make up less than 3% of the harp seal’s annual diet. [TOP]

Did harp seals cause the collapse of cod stocks?
    At the time of the cod stock collapse off eastern Canada in 1992 it was popular to blame seals, over-fishing by Europeans, cold water, and a variety of other factors. As early as 1994, two Department of Fisheries and Oceans scientists concluded "that the collapse of northern cod can be attributed solely to overexploitation [by humans]" (Hutchings and Myers 1994). Most people now agree that seals did not cause the collapse of any East coast fish stocks. [TOP]

Are harp seals impeding the recovery of depleted cod stocks?
    There is no scientific evidence that they are. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans acknowledges that while there are concerns about the impact of seals on the depleted stocks of groundfish, a cull — the killing of seals for the express purpose of reducing the populations — is not being considered at this time for reasons explained below (source: Atlantic Seal Hunt 1999 Management Plan, DFO). [TOP]

Would a reduced seal population benefit commercial fisheries?
    There is no scientific evidence that it would. In fact, many scientists now believe that reducing the harp seal population might hurt commercial fisheries. Those who support culling harp seals often refer to estimates of the annual consumption of fish by seals to support their demand for an increased seal kill. But in reality, estimates of food consumption tell us nothing about whether seals are having direct or indirect effects on the abundance of various fish stocks, or on the catches of commercial fisheries.
    In a complex marine ecosystem it is simplistic to assume that by removing one species, another would benefit. In fact, in the case of seals, the effect might be detrimental to the recovery of cod stocks since seals also eat the predators of Atlantic cod. For example, harp seals in the Northwest Atlantic feed on squid, which are a predator of juvenile Atlantic cod. In this situation, a reduction in harp seals could lead to an increase in squid numbers, resulting in even greater predation on cod. [TOP]

Please Take Action for Harp and Hooded Seals

About the Author: Rebecca Aldworth grew up in a small outport in Newfoundland where she became a vocal opponent of the seal slaughter. She moved to Montreal in 1993, and studied at Concordia University. In 1994, she became the president of the Concordia Animal Rights Association, and in 1996 organized a large protest in Ottawa against the Canadian seal hunt. In 1997, she was elected president of the Concordia Student Union, and in the same year, became a campaigner for IFAW Canada. In 1998, Aldworth helped to organize IFAW's National Rally for the Seals in Ottawa, the largest animal protection demonstration in the history of Canada. Rebecca currently works to track and depress markets for seal products around the world. For the past two years, she has attended the commercial seal hunt as an animal welfare witness, documenting cruelty and working to educate the public about the grim realities of the hunt. [TOP]

Take Action

The International Fund for Animal Welfare remains committed to ending the commercial hunting of seals. But it can’t do it without your help. You can help stop the seal hunt just by donating a few minutes of your time.

Visit www.canadasealhunt.ca

This year, the International Fund for Animal Welfare will use the Internet as a vehicle to bring public attention to this outdated hunt. Updates as well as footage from this year’s hunt will be webcast. There will be links to surveys, veterinary reports, economic analyses and other pertinent information. [TOP]

Visit Canada Seal Hunt: Take Action

On this page, you will be able to send an email to key politicians who have the power to stop this hunt. You will be directed to the appropriate individual, based on the country you live in. There are also summaries of the issues to include in your letter.
      It may not appear that drastic changes have occurred as a result of protest letters — but they do help. The constant flow of letters of opposition has kept the Canadian government from announcing a major cull of harp seals (something that has been considered), and has allowed organizations to confidently claim widespread public opposition to the hunt. Those letters ensure that the Canadian government sees the anti-seal hunt movement as a viable force to deal with. [TOP]

If you live in Canada

Visit your Member of Parliament, and demand that he or she work to end the commercial seal hunt. Your MP is there to represent the views of their constituents — make sure that your voice is heard. To find out who your MP is, call elections Canada at: 1-800-463-6868. [TOP]

Watch out for harp seal oil capsules, a product of the commercial seal hunt.

Seal oil capsules are sold as a source of Omega 3 fatty acids, and may be found in the supplement section at a pharmacy, health food store, or grocery store near you (including in the United States, and especially at any Asian traditional medicine shop). If you see harp seal oil capsules, please make a note of the brand name and the store name and location, and contact IFAW at raldworth@ifaw.org so we can educate the store manager about the cruelty involved in the hunt. You should also complain directly to the manager; as a customer, your opinion is valued. [TOP]

Destroying Seal Products Markets

The problem with going after markets for seal products these days is that they are largely based in Asia right now, where animal defense has little support, and even less education has been conducted. The United States is central to keeping kill levels down. The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) makes it illegal for any U.S. resident or corporation to trade in seal parts (except for a few native exemptions). U.S. residents can work to preserve the MMPA from attacks that are waged on it from time to time. The MMPA is the single largest trade barrier to seal products in the world. We need to ensure its survival.
       And finally, extensive research on international markets for seal products is being conducted as we speak. In the very near future there will be many more opportunities for individuals to get involved in destroying the market for seal products. Please contact IFAW to keep abreast of its action alerts, as well as visit Animals Voice Online often for same. [TOP]

Tourism

As early as 1969, Brian Davies, the founder of IFAW, had suggested that tourism provided an alternative to the seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. To demonstrate his point, he organized a small symbolic tour to the ice floes in March of 1970.
       In 1974, the first commercial tour was attempted. A small group of tourists arrived at the tiny airport in the Magdalen Islands only to be met by one of the first pro-sealing protest demonstrations. The tourists were trapped at the airport for about two hours before being allowed to proceed to their hotel. But the initial hostility quickly dissipated, and within days several landsmen sealers were acting as tour guides on the ice.
       For several years thereafter, small numbers of tourists arrived annually. However, the hunting did not stop in the Magdalen Islands. Sealers wanted to be able to show the live seals to tourists, and then turn around after their departure and conduct a hunt.
       Today, an eco-tourism operation is conducted out of the United States, and flies tourists out to the ice floes off the Maggies each year.
       Perhaps one day, because of seal-watching tourism, seals — like whales — will be worth more alive than dead.