So soft, so stylish... so... dead...

Although the European WHITE COAT ban instigated in 1986 had a dramatic effect on the seal pelt market, it is a troubling fact that the world demand for seal pelts is now growing. The victims? Baby seals just grown out of their whitecoat stage.
(95% of the seals killed in the Canadian seal hunt are between 12 days and 4 months old.)

Pelt prices are at their highest in years, and furriers and fashion moguls are attempting new marketing directions to revise the once struggling industry.

WHO BUYS THE PELTS?

The following are the country-by-country seal skin export statistics from Industry Canada . The numbers are the "raw" seal skin exports in Canadian dollars.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Norway		3,046,648	5,998,388	6,858,225	6,761,996
Greenland				2,108,421	4,000,000
Finland			300	509,888	1,912,936
Hong Kong		155		80,521	380,338
Germany	86,270		11,390	1,117,775	255,288
Turkey					62,556
Russia				21,397	30,365
Denmark	389,953	749,155	562,625	148,130	11,285
Kazakhstan					496
Mexico					13
Subtotal	476,123	3,795,958	6,572,703	10,844,357	13,415,213
Others	75,507	529,346	684,191	821,518
Total	552,630	4,325,304	7,256,894	11,665,875	13,415,213

Which companies sell finished seal fur coats, accessories, and trinkets?
Help stop the seal slaughter by boycotting ALL products from the following companies.

Birger Christensen
Ostergade 38
DK-1100 Copenhagen K Denmark
Phone: 45 33 11 55 55
Fax:  45 33 93 21 35
bc@birger-christensen.com
Makes and sells harp seal fur garments. In their store, they also sell harp seal fur garments made by Prada and Dolce & Gabbana.

Prada
Prada S.P.A.
Via Andrea Maffei, 2
20154 Milan, Italy
Phone: 39 02 54 67 01

Prada (U.S. office)
Katherine Ross, V.P. of Communications
610 W. 52nd St.
New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212 307 9300

Dolce & Gabbana
Via Goldoni, 10,
20129 Milano, Italy.
+39 02 774271
Fax +39 02 76020600.

Gucci
685 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10022
212-750-5220
clientservice-europe@gucci.it

Versace
Donatella Versace
Versace S.P.A. Headquarters
Via Manzoni, 38
Milan ITALY 20121
Phone: 39 02 76 09 31
Fax: 39 02 76 00 41 22

Lets tell the designer companies what we think of "seal fashion".

These companies are selling coats made from the skins of seal pups for around U.S. $2,000. These companies are also using seal skins for pillows, lamp shades, even knapsacks (which they are selling for U.S. $230), neckties, wallets, eye glass cases....
(We at harpseals.org can think of a few unconventional uses for the neckties...)

WHO PROCESSES THE PELTS & HOW?

There are only a few major processing companies. Atlantic Marine Products ( PO Box 39, Main St., Catalina, NL, Canada A0C 1J0, Tel: (709) 469-2849, Fax: (709) 469-3211, Contact: Chris Pilgrim. Sales manager: Martin Duchesne, 709-785-7387, aag819@thezone.net; Plant manager: Dean Russell, 709-469-2849, cell 709-468-6347), the second largest, is a subsidiary of the Barry Group (one of the largest seafood companies in Atlantic Canada) and has a plant in Catalina, Newfoundland .

Atlantic Marine Products now sells over 100,000 pelts each year. They are capable of processing up to about 150,000 pelts in their Catalina plant.

Another processor, Carino Company Ltd., (P.O. Box 6146, St. John's, NL,Canada A1C 5X8, Tel: (709) 582-2100, Fax: (709) 582-2487, Contact: John Kearley), which is owned by a Norwegian corporation, has a plant in a sealing town called South Dildo, Newfoundland. (We are not making this up!) The plant is located in a small industrial complex next to a fish processing plant. There, employees make great efforts to maintain a low profile, worrying that any attention they get will be negative. There are no signs that say "Carino" on their building.

The processing of the pelts requires more than a month and involves several steps. Each pelt is approximately 3-4 feet long by 2-3 feet wide. The usual process involves soaking them in brine for several weeks and then tanning them, but the pelts can be stored for several months in brine without any degradation. Some of the pelts are also dyed. After the pelts are tanned, they sell them to brokers, who in turn sell them to fur coat and accessory manufacturers in China and other countries in the Far East, Russia, Siberia, and Western Europe (see table above).

We have heard that thousands of excess pelts are stacked in warehouses throughout eastern Canada and Norway. This may or may not be true (we are currently trying to verify its accuracy), but if we consider that over 300,000 seals were killed in 2002 and only about 85,000 pelts were exported, according to government statistics, the question remains, "What happened to the rest?" One Atlantic Marine Products brochure states ,"We keep our warehouse well stocked at all times…" Perhaps that's their way of looking at the bright side...

THE VALUE OF THE PELT INDUSTRY

The total export value of the fur industry in Canada increased from CAN$185,309,841 in 2001 for "raw furskins" to CAN$ 242,556,390 in 2005. For processes/tanned skins, the export value rose from CAN$ 216,081,324 in 2001, to CAN$ 286,760,595 in 2005, according to Industry Canada. The value of the seal skin exports (see table above) is about 5% of the total value of the Canadian fur industry. in 2001, Canada's fur industry was valued at $335 million, and seal fur was a small portion of Canada's fur trade.

The prices of seal pelts rose in the early part of this century. In 2003, they sold for approximately CAN$45 . In 2005, they sold for about CAN$70. In 2006, the prices were hyper-inflated, averaging about CAN$118. Thus prices came down in subsequent years (see tables below). 

Atlantic Marine Products also claims that they represent a great value to the community. An Atlantic Marine Products brochure contends that, in Catalina, "the harvesting and processing of seals forms a community event involving many local residents." However, the plant itself only employs about 45 people, in what looks much more like a daily grind than a county fair.

2008 Price List 04/03/08 from Carino in Canadian dollars

December 10, 2007	I	II	III	IV
Ragged Jacket (Note #2)	$20.00	$15.00	$10.00	$0.00
Beater A	$33.00	$23.10	$13.20	$0.00
Beater B	$22.00	$15.40	$8.80	$0.00
Beater C	$15.00	$10.50	$6.00	$0.00
Bedlamer, Small, Natural	$15.00	$9.00	$6.00	$0.00
Bedlamer, Small, Yellow	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Bedlamer, Large, Natural	$25.00	$15.00	$10.00	$0.00
Bedlamer, Large, Yellow	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Ring Seal, Natural	$10.00	$6.00	$4.00	$0.00
Blubber (per Kg.)	$0.20

Note #1: All products will be subject to quality inspection!
Note #2: Notmore than 5% Ragged Jackets will be accepted in any lot purchased!
Any and all above prices are subject to change without notice!

2007 Price List from Carino in Candian dollars

March 27, 2007	I	II	III	IV
Ragged Jacket	$30.00	$22.50	$15.00	$0.00
Beater A	$55.00	$38.50	$22.00	$0.00
Beater B	$40.00	$28.00	$16.00	$0.00
Beater C	$25.00	$17.50	$10.00	$0.00
Bedlamer, Small, Natural	$20.00	$12.00	$8.00	$0.00
Bedlamer, Small, Yellow	$15.00	$9.00	$6.00	$0.00
Bedlamer, Large, Natural	$40.00	$24.00	$16.00	$0.00
Bedlamer, Large, Yellow	$20.00	$12.00	$8.00	$0.00
Ring Seal, Natural	$10.00	$6.00	$4.00	$0.00
Blubber (per Kg.)	$0.20

CONCLUSIONS

Seal killing is a business- a sickening one, with the pelts bringing in the largest profits from this business. Seal oil (blubber) for human consumption is a smaller industry. Unfortunately, the seal killing will continue as long as it is profitable. Our job is to make sure that it isn't. In 2008, with gas prices at an all time high (boats need fuel, too), and prices as low as they were in the first few years of this century, sealers were lucky to break even. If the demand for seal furs remains this low, we can expect fewer and fewer sealers to participate in this dangerous work.

Of course, we also must consider that the sealing industry would not have been profitable for the past several years were it not for the government subsidies (including coast guard ice breakers leading sealing boats to the seals).

While eliminating the demand for seal skins is an important part of ending the seal massacres, it's not the only way to ensure that this industry becomes unprofitable. Since the fishing industry is so closely tied with the sealing industry, our boycott of Canadian seafood will ensure that the seal killing becomes a drain on the economies of the Maritime provinces, especially Newfoundland, where most of the seal killing takes place. So, join the boycott today!