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News from the 2008 Seal Hunt
Sampling of news reports from the slaughter of 275,000+ harp seal pups
Believe it... know it... oppose it.
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A 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization |
News from the 2008 Seal Hunt
Sampling of news reports from the slaughter of 275,000+ harp seal pups
|
Believe it... know it... oppose it. |
|
Business English The fierce debate surrounding Canada's annual seal "harvest" intensified in March when the European Union proposed a ban on importing seal products from the country, a move that would severely damage the cull. But the seal hunters face another obstacle looming ever larger on the horizon: global warming. The impact of climate change in the northern regions of the globe - with melting ice and more open waterways - is well documented. Recently, more attention has turned to what impact weather conditions are having on the seal population. Those against the hunt say it is not sustainable because volatile ice conditions are causing seals to die in greater numbers. Global Action Network claims the Canadian government's "agenda to exterminate seals" comes at a time when climate change is "causing the very habitat of the ice-breeding seals to disappear". Climate change creating unsuitable conditions But the sealers say global warming is being improperly used to undermine the hunt. "There is a huge difference between climate and weather," says Jim Winter, founding president of the Canadian Sealers' Association. He describes the claims that climate change is creating an unsustainable hunt as "disingenuous at best and manipulative at the worst". Phil Jenkins, an official at Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans, says: "We keep track of the ice itself and over the years we have known situations where we have poor ice, or poor ice for a seal." The government sets quotas every year for how many seals can be killed, based on a list of variables. Last year the ice was so thick off the coast of Newfoundland that sealers had to be rescued in their boats by coast guard ice-breakers. "Usually we incorporate ice condition in our regular advice, but last year was such an unusual condition that we provided an update, once we saw what was going on," adds Garry Stenson, a colleague of Mr Jenkins. Seals are sensitive to the environment and rely on the presence of ice to deliver and nurse their pups.Ice cover is also important because new-born pups do not have fully developed swimming abilities and can easily drown if the ice sheets break apart. "As conditions change, the conditions of the females change, their reproductive rates will change," says Mr Stenson. Reduced quotas The government says this is the type of variable it factorsin when setting the annual quota. For example, in the Gulf of St Lawrence last year "we assumed a very high mortality in the southern gulf, but that's 25 per cent of the whole population", says Mr Stenson. The quota was reduced from 325,000 to 270,000. This year's total allowable catch is set at 275,000. The Canadian government reports that the country's seal population is flourishing and, at almost 6m, is nearly triple that of the 1970s. Anti-hunt campaigners say these numbers are inflated. Paul Watson, one of the leading figures in the campaign, has been making headlines since the late 1970s, sailing his ship, the Farley Mowat, into icy waters to try to stop the hunt. He says each year he sees the direct effect of global warming on the ice. "It's been going on for years and it's getting worse. I don't think the government takes any of that into account," he says. Despite the changes in the ice conditions, Mr Watson says he will continue making the dangerous trek every year, but adds: "I will be happy to no longer go back there." For the sealers, ice conditions and extreme weather are part of the job, says Mr Winter. "Any time you untie the lines you take a risk." © 2008 Financial Times Deutschland, © Illustration: AP Groups pressure EU to ban imports of seal products By CONSTANT BRAND | The Associated Press Animal rights groups called Friday for the European Union to ban imports of seal products, saying the latest videos of animals being hunted off Canada's Atlantic coast show it's inhumane. The EU has been under pressure from lawmakers at the European Parliament and the rights groups to take action over the yearly hunt. "We don't like the cruel seal hunt; we don't like these products in Europe," Sonja Van Tichelen, head of Eurogroup for Animals, which represents 44 groups across Europe, said Friday in Brussels, Belgium. Video footage shot by activists showed sealers using rifles and spiked clubs to kill seals on ice floes. Van Tichelen said the film was shot in Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence over the past two months. EU spokeswoman Barbara Helfferlich said the union's executive body plans to propose legislation within months banning the sale of products from seals that have been "unsustainably hunted ... inhumanely killed." Canadian officials say the hunt is sustainable, humane and well-managed. Canada's ambassador for Fisheries Conservation, Loyola Sullivan, warned the European Union this month that Canada could take action under world trade rules if seal products such as blubber, meat or pelts are banned. Canadian officials argue that a hunting ban would be disastrous for the aboriginal Inuit peoples who live in Canada's Arctic region and depend on the annual seal hunt for income and food. The Canadian hunt of 335,000 seals in 2006 brought in about $25 million. The EU has banned the import of white pelts from baby seals since 1983. Several European Union nations, including the Netherlands and Belgium, have their own bans on all seal products. The United States has banned Canadian seal products since 1972. The activists have also called for a total hunting ban that would affect Canada, which has the world's largest commercial hunt, along with Russia, Namibia, Greenland and EU members Finland and Sweden. ANIMAL RIGHTS GLORIA GALLOWAY April 24, 2008 OTTAWA -- Animal welfare activists will stage demonstrations across Europe tomorrow to put pressure on the European Environment Commissioner to ban the import of Canadian seal products. "Animal welfare organizations all over Europe are going to have a simultaneous press events," Steven Blaakman, a spokesman for the Eurogroup for Animals, said in a telephone interview from Brussels yesterday. The groups have been armed with fresh footage of the seal hunt that is continuing, albeit slowly, on Canada's East Coast. The videos were obtained over the past weeks by the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Human Society International. "Animal welfare organizations are going to use the new footage, new images of this month's hunt to show that it can never be done humanely," Mr. Blaakman said. "Even if you ban the axe, even if you use rifles, it still can't be done humanely." Stavros Dimas, the EU environment chief, has said that he would ban the import of all seal products from culls in which animals suffer. Belgium and the Netherlands have already banned the products but a market remains in other European countries. Mr. Blaakman said tomorrow's demonstrations are meant to push Mr. Dimas to act. "Obviously images always work very strongly. And we just want to show people what actually happens," he said. "The Canadian traders say 'oh, it is being done humanely, there are new rules, there is talk over abolishing the axe.' Even with rifles, it's difficult to kill them instantly. They still suffer. And I think if people saw it they would agree with us as well." But Loyola Sullivan, Canada's ambassador for fisheries conservation, said the images are deceptive and misleading - especially those that suggests seals are being skinned alive. Seals have a strong swimming reflex and, for as much as 45 seconds after they are dead, their body continues to make those types of motions, Mr. Sullivan said. There may be instances where seals are killed inhumanely, he said, but they are isolated and they should be reported to the federal Fisheries Department. Studies also show that only 95 per cent of cattle are killed with the first blow, Mr. Sullivan said, and the rate is much less for hunted animals such as deer and waterfowl. "So if we are going to apply isolated cases there, I think you'd better be prepared to stack up to the killing of every animal in the world, whether in the wild or domesticated," he said. Mr. Sullivan said he has met with the most senior officials of the European Commission to try to prevent the ban from being imposed. "We've had 11 different meetings with members of the European Parliament to give them the facts in this case," he said, "because this is an issue that is totally misrepresented, taking isolated incidents and trying to tell people around the world that it's what's happening in all the cases." Third vessel abandoned in seal hunt The Telegram
A third vessel taking part in the seal hunt has been evacuated.
N.L. seal hunt slow for boats from amid heavy ice By The Canadian Press ST. JOHN'S — The seal hunt continues for crews aboard boats from Newfoundland and Labrador, but at a much slower pace than last year. As of Wednesday, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans says about 44 per cent of the quota was taken at the Front off the northeast coast of the province. Off the west coast, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, sealers have taken about 49 per cent of their quota. Earlier this week, officials confirmed that far fewer boats from Newfoundland and Labrador are taking part in this year's hunt. Some have suggested that the high cost of fuel and lower pelt prices are taking their toll on the annual harvest. Meanwhile, the Canadian Coast Guard has been helping sealers trying to get through heavy ice. The coast guard ship Ann Harvey assisted five vessels caught in the ice off St. Anthony on Wednesday. The ship is now helping six more vessels caught in heavier ice southeast of Bell Isle for several days. Several vessels are also caught up in ice in other areas. EU official criticizes Canada for blocking seal hunt observers PARIS - Canada fumbled its chance to prove once and for all that its critics are wrong in asserting that the seal hunt is cruel and inhumane, Europe's environment czar said Thursday.
European Union Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said the Canadian government, which complains that the EU is being manipulated by anti-sealing groups spreading misinformation, blocked a team of European experts sent on a fact-finding mission during the 2007 hunt. "If a team of experts wasn't able to look at what is happening, and how it is being conducted, why do they (the Canadian government) claim that other evidence is not correct?" Dimas, in Paris to attend a major climate change conference, told Canwest News Service. "I don't know whether it was bad faith. I don't think so. But the fact is they were prevented from doing what they were going to do." The comment from Dimas, who said he will present legislation soon to ban all seal product imports into Europe, represented a two-pronged attack Thursday on the embattled Canadian industry. The second assault was launched domestically when Green Leader Elizabeth May denounced the hunt and called for its permanent closure. She said the hunt is "inherently inhumane," dangerous for workers, produces little economic benefit and hurts Canada's reputation abroad. "Taxpayers' dollars have been wasted on a grand show for the European Union, complete with an expensive propaganda campaign and lobbying effort," May said in a statement. She also criticized the recent arrest of crew members and detention of the Farley Mowat, a hunt observation vessel operated by Paul Watson's Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn shot back that May "has chosen to parrot propaganda from a militant organization which jeopardized the safety of sealers instead of standing up for Canadians in coastal communities." Canadian Fisheries Conservation Ambassador Loyola Sullivan, who has just returned from a tour of European capitals, said the EU delegation announced the trip at the last minute and was denied access to the 2007 hunt for safety reasons. "We entered into the heaviest period of ice you can imagine. We had 100 vessels stranded. We had vessels lost in ice. They had to be airlifted to save human lives," Sullivan said in an interview. "And it wasn't practical to use our fisheries patrol vessels or coast guard vessels to move people out to the ice when we had human life at stake." He said EU delegations would always be welcome to observe the hunt under normal circumstances, and lamented the body's apparent intention of imposing a ban without being fully informed.
The Canadian government has pointed to a 2006 anti-seal hunt resolution that passed overwhelmingly in the European Parliament. It declared that almost half of harvested seals are skinned alive. Canadian officials note that this claim was refuted last December by the EU's own European Food Safety Authority. That same report also recommended that sealers bleed seals after they are clubbed or shot if there is any indication the seals aren't dead prior to being skinned. That step was introduced by the Canadian government as a requirement for this year's hunt. The EU's apparent determination to impose a ban unless there is irrefutable proof that all harvested seals are killed quickly and humanely is neither realistic nor fair, Sullivan said. Imposing those standards broadly "would shut down every wild hunt and every slaughterhouse in the world." Sullivan said the EU, despite promising to make a decision based on facts rather than emotion, appears to be denying Canada "due process" to defend the hunt. "I think it doesn't speak well for democracy." Canada to deport 2 seal hunt protesters SYDNEY, Nova Scotia, April 16 (UPI) -- Two European seal hunt protesters arrested last week for being too close to a Canadian ship off Nova Scotia are being deported, one of them said Wednesday. In Sydney, Peter Hammarstedt, 23, the first officer of the anti-sealing vessel, the Farley Mowat, told the Canwest News Service he will be sent back to his native Sweden on Friday. He said co-accused Alexander Cornelissen of Amsterdam and the ship's captain would also be flown back to the Netherlands. "Once again the thing we're being accused of doing is allegedly being within a half a nautical mile of someone skinning a seal alive, and for that Canada deports us," Hammarstedt said. The men appeared in court Monday and were freed on $10,000 bail and ordered to stay away from the seal hunt. They and 15 other members of the Washington-based Sea Shepherd Society were aboard the Dutch-registered ship when police and federal officials boarded and arrested them. The ship is moored in Sydney, temporarily impounded by the Canadian government, the report said. Don't ban hakapik, say sealers and activists Outlawing tool would make hunt more dangerous, increase animal suffering Phil Couvrette, Canwest News Service Published: Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Calls for banning the hakapik from the seal hunt have accomplished something unexpected: they've made both sealers and activists agree on something -- that a ban isn't a good idea. Sealers say removing the traditional tool, consisting of a long stick tipped with sharp hooks, could make the hunt less safe, while animal rights protesters say it would only prolong the suffering of dying seals and will do nothing to improve the image of the hunt. On Tuesday the premiers of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut called for the immediate ban of the pick, which is often used by protesters to portray the annual hunt as inhumane. Sealers say they understand the government is sensitive about the image of the seal hunt, as Europe ponders a possible ban on seal products, but say banning the hakapik could make the hunt more dangerous. "The hakapik is a device they use for manoeuvering on the ice and dispatching seals where necessary," said Frank Pinhorn of the Canadian Sealers Association. "So they use the hakapik out on the ice for a safety device to help. . . If you're going to take that away what would sealers use in [its] place?" It could not only impact their safety but would make it hard to follow regulations put in place by veterinarians to kill seals, which he says stress, "crushing the hemisphere of the skull" to bleed them out. Rebecca Aldworth of the Humane Society of the United States says removing the hakapik would increase the suffering of seals because seals shot during the hunt are often just wounded by the first bullet. If the hakapik is removed from the commercial seal hunt sealers will have to cut open live conscious animals, which she stressed is not only "an extremely cruel act" but a violation of regulations. "The fact [the premiers are] willing to increase the suffering of seals to appease European decision-makers is an extremely disappointing thing," she said. Ms. Aldworth says the ban would do nothing to improve the image of the seal hunt. "Some of the worst examples of cruelty that I've documented out at the commercial seal hunt involve those seals that are shot and wounded and left bleeding on the ice floes. . . it continues for several minutes until the sealers are able to reach the seals to finish them off." Europe to ban seal products "We will propose a ban of seal fur imports if (a country) can't prove they were obtained in a humane way," Stavros Dimas told the Reuters news agency on Saturday (12 April) at an informal meeting of EU environment ministers in Brdo, Slovenia. The commission's environment spokesperson confirmed to the EUobserver the commissioner's intentions. The ban would apply not just to seal pelts but all goods derived from seals, including meat, vitamins and other products. In recent weeks, articles have appeared in the press suggesting that the EU was considering a seal product ban, but until now, Brussels has strongly denied that a ban was to be imposed, stressing that such a move was only one of a number of possible actions Europe could take. Mr Dimas did not give a timetable for the introduction of such a proposal, saying only: "It will take some time." "I'm very much concerned at the way the hunt is conducted," he said, referring to a report from the European Food Safety Authority published last December, which concluded: "Many seals can be, and are, killed rapidly and effectively. (But) it is not always carried out effectively and this will lead to seals feeling the skinning." EU member states Belgium and the Netherlands introduced similar bans last year, prompting Canada, where some 275,000 harp seals are killed every year during the annual hunting season, to launch a trade dispute with the EU as a whole. Meanwhile, one of the leading international campaigners against the seal hunt, Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, whose vessel was seized on Saturday (12 April) by an elite marine squad from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police while monitoring the hunt, claimed that his team has captured footage of seals screaming while being skinned alive – evidence he says will be used to help convince European institutions to ban seal products. "We haven't seen any evidence of a humane hunt here," Mr Watson said. "We're presenting this evidence to the European Parliament. They are going to pass a bill to ban seal products. That will end the Canadian seal hunt." Two weeks ago, a delegation from Canada including an Inuit leader, fishermen from Newfoundland and Quebec and other regional officials visited Brussels in an attempt to convince Europe not to ban seal products. They said the hunt was at least as humane as any other form of hunting, and that it was not only a part of the Inuit lifestyle traditionally but to this day, the indigenous population depends on the hunt for meat and their livelihood. Commissioner Dimas said that he would make sure that the ban would not affect the traditional Inuit hunt. At the time of the visit, the officials handed out a transcript of a recent report on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio, the Canadian public broadcaster, that had uncovered an interview from the late 1970s of Mr Watson, in which he talked about how easy it is to raise money on the back of the seal hunt. "Of all the animals in the world or any environmental problem in the world, the harp seal is the easiest issue to raise funds on," said Mr Watson. "They're beautiful and because of that, coupled with the horror of a sealer hitting them over the head with a club, it's an image that just goes right to the heart of animal lovers," he continued. Two arrested as authorities board seal hunt protest ship TORONTO (Reuters) - Authorities have boarded a ship that was protesting against the annual seal hunt and arrested its captain and first officer, the government said on Saturday. Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn said in a statement that the vessel, the Farley Mowat, had been boarded to "help ensure the safe and orderly conduct of the seal hunt."
But the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which owns the ship, said the vessel had been outside Canada's 12-mile (19-km) territorial limit. "This is an act of war," Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd said in a statement. "The Canadian government has just sent an armed boarding party onto a Dutch registered yacht in international waters and has seized the ship." The annual seal hunt off Canada's Atlantic coast has long been the target of protest groups who each year broadcast graphic pictures and videos in their efforts to force Canada to stop shooting or clubbing seals to death. The furs are made into coats and other clothes, and there is a growing market for seal oil, which is high in omega-3 fatty acid. The government, which this year set a quota of 275,000 animals from an estimated 5.5 million, says the cull of young harp seals safeguards fishing stocks and guarantees a livelihood for people in the area. The government said last week it had charged the captain and first officer of the Farley Mowat for getting too close to the hunters and obstructing fisheries officers. The ministry released a picture that it said showed the Sea Shepherd closing in on a hunting ship. "The government of Canada has taken action to protect the safety and livelihoods of Canadian sealers by boarding and seizing the Farley Mowat to arrest its Captain and Chief Officer for alleged violations of Canada's Marine Mammal Regulations," Hearn said on Saturday. "We will continue to protect sealers while ensuring the sustainable and humane management of the hunt so it continues to provide economic opportunities for Canada's coastal communities in the future." Last month, several hunters died when their vessel hit ice and capsized in the icy waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. (Reporting by Janet Guttsman; Editing by Alan Elsner) Swilers on the Sidelines. Heavy ice, high fuel costs, low pelt prices keeping some sealers ashore. By Everton McLean Glen Winslow folded his arms and shook his head on a St. John' s wharf Thursday. A light breeze rocked his boat, Roberts Sisters II, and the owner was taking advantage of the warm, sunny day to get it repainted.
Any other year this would be impossible -- the vessel would be 160 kilometres offshore and Winslow would be looking for seals. But this year, the boat's staying tied up for the hunt. The sealing industry just isn't viable anymore. Winslow said. As a result, many hunters are staying ashore this year. "The situation is such that no one has any heart for it anymore," he said. Winslow said this will be the first time in five years he's not taking part in the hunt, which starts on the Front, off eastern Newfoundland Saturday. Fuel costs are too high and pelt prices too low to justify it, he said. Terrible conditions Winslow estimated it would cost him about $9,000 in fuel to motor to the seals, widely reported to be 100 to 200 km off St. John's, plus the cost of bullets, groceries and wages for his crew. "Three years ago we got $107 (per pelt) and there was no cull on them. Right now, we're taking $31, and that's their No. 1 prime beater. We can't even think about it." Winslow said he'd need to see prices around $75 a pelt to cover his costs and make some money. Meanwhile, Mike Symmonds of Conche was home on the northeast portion of the Northern Peninsula, wishing he was hunting seals. The 60-year-old fisherman started hunting the animals when he was 15. He said this is the first year he can recall choosing to stay home. "It makes you feel terrible when you can't get out there, but there's no point when you can't make the dollar," he said. Symmonds said he'd think about taking part in the hunt if the seals were close by, but with the concentration of seals two days away and fuel prices so high, he'd not likely make a profit. "We went out (in the past) when (pelts) were $7, $8, $10. But not with the price of fuel where it's at today. That's the big thing." Symmonds said most of the boats in that community were also staying put. Longtime sealer Glen Penney of St. Anthony said he was staying in, too. "It's an insult for us," he said of the pelt prices. "We were better off years ago, when (pelts) were $5. To travel that distance for a day hunt is not feasible." But not all hunters have decided to forego the seal harvest. Gus Sacrey of Paquet was already on his boat, the Brittany and Ryan, heading towards the seals. Speaking from his mobile telephone aboard the boat, Sacrey was busy watching the heavy ice and looking forward to seeing seals. He said he considered the economic pressure before leaving port, but decided to take the gamble. "Well, we thought about it, but we're always hoping for a better price when we get in," he said. And with fewer sealers taking part, he's hoping he'll get a greater share of the pelts. "We might get a few more seals than other years." For Robert Legge of Twillingate, the decision to take part had little to do with making money. Legge, who makes a living working in Edmonton, bought a small boat to take part in the hunt and for recreation. Readying his vessel at a St. John's dock Thursday, he said he's simply looking forward to enjoying the harvest and, hopefully, breaking even. "It's a traditional thing for me," he said. "It's nice to make the money, yes, but if you don't and you can come even, well, we'd all like to keep the seal hunt going." Canadian seal hunt protestors spark angerApril 4, 2008 OTTAWA (AFP) — Animal rights activists came under fire Friday for comparing the deaths of four sealers to the fate of hunted seals, and face possible charges for interfering in Canada's annual seal cull. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said in a statement that "the deaths of four sealers is a tragedy," but added "the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seal pups is an even greater tragedy." Green Party leader Elizabeth May immediately quit the society's advisory board, while Fisheries and Oceans Minister Loyola Hearn said he would "pursue charges" against the seal hunt protestors. "We will not tolerate the reckless antics of the Sea Shepherd Society," said Hearn, alleging the society's trawler the Farley Mowat this week "attacked" a Coast Guard vessel and endangered sealers' lives. "We will protect our sealers," he told parliament. The Sea Shepherd clan countered that it "has broken no laws" and asserted the right of its Farley Mowat crew to navigate freely outside Canada's 12-mile limit to document the "cruel" slaughter of seals. Sealers routinely face shifting ice, high winds, freezing temperatures and unpredictable seas during the controversial seal hunting season which kicked off a week ago on March 28. One vessel was forced to return to port last week after being hit by huge chunks of ice. On Saturday, a boat accident left three sealers dead and one missing. The 12-meter (40-foot) trawler encountered steering problems and later capsized while it was being towed back to port by the Coast Guard. But Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson said "these men are sadistic baby killers." "They are vicious killers who are now pleading for sympathy because some of their own died while engaged in a viciously brutal activity." "One of the sealers was quoted as saying that he felt absolutely helpless as he watched the boat sink with sealers onboard." Watson said. "I can't think of anything that defines helplessness and fear more than a seal pup on the ice that can't swim or escape as it is approached by some cigarette-smoking ape with a club." A spokesman for Elizabeth May told AFP: "We're opposed to the seal hunt, but we want sealers to be safe. To compare the tragedy of the deaths of sealers to the seal hunt is unacceptable to us." Earlier, fishermen in the French isles of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon off Canada's East Coast cut the moorings of the docked Farley Mowat, witnessed by an AFP correspondent, to show solidarity with Canadian sealers mourning their comrades. Activists also said that the government on Thursday grounded a US Humane Society helicopter used to observe the hunt. Earlier Alex Cornelissen, captain of the Farley Mowat, said the Canadian Coast Guard had "declared war on seal defenders," saying his vessel was "twice rammed" in the port stern in the Gulf of St. Lawrence late Sunday after he ignored warnings not to approach sealers. Officials said the Farley Mowat was "grazed" and there was no damage nor injuries reported. Hearn accused activists of "attempting to provoke a confrontation" with the Coast Guard ship by maneuvering the Farley Mowat in front of the vessel. Such tactics "jeopardize the safety and security of people involved in the annual seal hunt," the minister said, urging the Farley Mowat to withdraw from the area. Ottawa maintains the hunt poses no threat to the harp seal population, and insists the commercial cull is humane and an economic mainstay of its Atlantic Coast communities. The harvest limit was set at 275,000 harp seals this year, up 5,000 from last year. The Farley Mowat's spokeswoman Shannon Mann said: "We've seen seals suffering in agony on the ice. We've seen enough to know that Canada's claim that the seal hunt is humane has no credibility." Seal hunt protesters will be charged, Hearn says The Canadian Press April 3, 2008 at 9:18 AM EDT
ST. JOHN'S — Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn says charges will be laid in connection with an alleged incident involving the seal hunt protest vessel Farley Mowat. Sealers contend that the vessel came too close to them on the ice north of Cape Breton last weekend, even after being warned away by the Coast Guard. Mr. Hearn asserted in an interview with radio station VOCM that the conservation groups broke a law that requires them to maintain a specific distance from the hunt. “They've been very cute. These people are smart. They've been around. They know the law. They know how they can flaunt it,” Hearn said. “However, they push it and in some cases, recently, they've broken it. They cannot approach within half a mile of our sealers. They have done that.” Protest leader Paul Watson, president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, has denied allegations that the Farley Mowat got too close to the hunt and insists his ship was rammed twice by the coast guard icebreaker Des Groseilliers on the weekend. The Farley Mowat is currently in St. Pierre-Miquelon and remains out of Canadian waters. Mr. Watson said the 54-metre long ship was intentionally hit in the stern while stopped. Sealers appeal to EU not to ban seal products CONSTANT BRAND The Associated Press April 2, 2008 at 10:37 AM EDT
BRUSSELS — Canadian sealers and politicians appealed Wednesday to the European Union not to ban the sale of products derived from seals. The appeal comes amid renewed charges that Canada's annual seal hunt off its eastern and northern coast lines is cruel and inhumane. The EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is considering a ban on all seal products amid increased pressure on him to take action by animal rights groups this year. EU officials say he is expected to make his recommendations before summer. Special Ambassador Loyola Sullivan, who was leading a week-long Canadian trip to lobby officials in several European capitals, said a ban could violate world trade rules. And Mr. Sullivan is hinting at possible retaliatory trade action by Canada in response to any ban on seal products such as blubber, meat or pelts. “I believe strongly that there shouldn't be restrictions on access to markets,” Mr. Sullivan told reporters. “The European Commission has an obligation to live up to their [trade] commitments. We hope they exercise that right.” The Canadian government takes threats of a ban “very seriously” and will defend “the legitimate sustainable, humane, economic activity for some of the most disadvantaged people in our country,” he said. The controversial hunt resurfaced at the European Parliament and EU headquarters as this year's hunt began last week in the Gulf of St. Lawrence – the first stage in the largest such hunt in the world. Similar hunts also are carried out in Greenland, Norway, Russia, Namibia and EU-member Finland, but none has been scrutinized by European activists as much as Canada's. That inconsistency has frustrated Canadian officials. The European Parliament called last year on the EU to ban the import of seal fur. This year's hunt will be conducted under new rules intended to appease European concerns, with extra steps added to make sure the animals are dead before they are skinned – a recommendation made in an EU report released in December. That report was inconclusive on recommending a full EU ban. Canadian authorities have set this year's total allowable catch at 275,000 seals, up from 270,000 last year. Seventy per cent of the seals will be taken in an area off Newfoundland's north coast known as the Front, while 30 per cent will be taken in the Gulf of St. Lawrence – the first stage of the hunt. Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik said a ban would damage already fragile isolated communities that depend on the annual hunt for income and food. He also urged the 27-country EU not to apply a double standard on the hunt, citing examples of how animals are poorly treated and used after slaughter in Europe. “I'm sometimes troubled by some countries that try to pretend that our harvest is somehow unacceptable,” Mr. Okalik said. “At least in our case we are trying to use every part of the animal. ... Please look in the mirror and see what you are doing yourselves.” Denis Longuepie and Mark Small, who hunt for seals off the coasts of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, said the way they kill seals with high-powered rifles as opposed to hakapiks – heavy clubs – is humane. “We are very professional, we take courses, we do what we have to do,” said Mr. Longuepie, from Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Que. Mr. Sullivan said Canada is seemingly fighting an uphill media war against campaigns by animal-welfare groups that often try to sway public opinion on the issue by showing photographs or film footage of cute and cuddly seal pups, and of dead and bloodied seals on ice flows. “We continue to see ... images of white-coat seals (the killing of which has) been illegal since 1987,” he said. “They sensationalize, they take steps beyond manipulation.” Environmental and animal-rights groups have already slammed Canadian officials for not allowing them better access to this year's start of the hunt. They insist the mass kill is devastating the harp seal population.
Three dead, one missing after seal hunting vessel capsizes in E Canada OTTAWA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The bodies of three seal hunters have been recovered and one remains missing after their fishing boat capsized early Saturday in eastern Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard said. The 12-meter vessel had steering problems and was being towed by a Canadian Coast Guard ship early Saturday when it overturned about 70 kilometers north of Cape Breton, Canadian Press reported quoting Lt. Lora Collier of the Canadian navy. The vessel, from the Iles de la Madeleine in Quebec, was carrying a crew of six when it ran into trouble in the icy waters. Another vessel that was nearby picked up two of the crew members, who were on deck when the boat overturned. The other four men were sleeping below deck when the boat flipped, Collier said. Divers were still searching for the fourth missing sealer, he said. Canada's annual seal hunt started Friday in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Ottawa has set a quota of 275,000 animals for this year's hunt, up 5,000 from last year. Seven Quebec sealers rescued after ship sinks
Updated Sat. Mar. 29 2008 6:46 PM ET The Canadian Press HALIFAX -- Seven sailors who abandoned their vessel as it sank in ice-filled waters off Cape Breton have been rescued. They were rescued the same day another ship capsized, leaving three sealers dead and another missing. The navy says the sailors from the Annie Marie were rescued by a Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopter around 4 p.m. today, 20 kilometres northeast of Cape North, N.S. They left their 17-metre wooden boat as it took on water, and then waited on the pack ice for help. The sailors were being transported to Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Que, where they live. The navy's news release didn't say what type of vessel the sailors were on, but seal hunting supplies can be seen in a picture of the sailors leaving the boat. The Annie Marie ran into trouble in the same frigid waters where the sealing vessel L'Acadien II capsized overnight, leaving three sealers dead and another missing.
Tragedy switches focus from saving seals to hunter safety CHRIS MORRIS THE CANADIAN PRESS March 29, 2008 at 4:59 PM EDT FREDERICTON — Canada's seal hunt has been dominated for years by the bitter debate over saving seals, but the deaths of three hunters in the icy North Atlantic is focusing attention on the safety of sealers and the risks they take to maintain a way of life. Seal hunters from Iles-de-la Madeleine began making their way home on Saturday following a tragic accident in which a 12-metre fishing boat, L'Acadien II, capsized while being towed behind an icebreaker. Of the six crew members on board, only two were pulled alive from the waters of the Cabot Strait. One is still missing. While the accident cut short this year's hunt for people from Iles-de-la-Madeleine, left the ice floes out of respect for their lost comrades, it's not expected to affect the much larger hunt to come off Newfoundland and Labrador in April. Veteran sealer Mark Small of Wild Cove, Nfld., said most sealers have had close calls during the annual hunt , a fixture of Atlantic coastal life for more than 200 years. As well, there have been numerous tragedies over the years, including the death by exposure of 78 sealers from the S.S. Newfoundland during a savage blizzard in March 1914. “It's something the Newfoundlanders, the Magdalen Islanders and the Labrador people understand,” Mr. Small said in an interview. “It's a way of life. There's a lot of risk involved whether you're out on the ice or out fishing in the summer. It's the hazard of taking part in any activity in the North Atlantic or the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It's part of your life as a fisherman.” Mr. Small, who has been hunting seals for over 50 years in the area called the Front off northern Newfoundland, said sealing isn't as dangerous now as it was in the old days. He said the fishing boats that go out these days are usually strengthened for ice conditions. However, many of the small boats that hunt in the Gulf are made of wood. Seal hunt opponents seized on the weekend tragedy as yet another reason for the Canadian government to reconsider the seal hunt and end it once and for all. “We have said for a number of years that the seals aren't the only victims of the commercial seal hunt,” said Rebecca Aldworth of the Humane Society of the United States. “People have lost their lives this year. It's an absolute tragedy and it's one that could have been avoided if the federal government had stepped in with a sealing industry buy-out package as we have been asking them to do for years.” Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said the Canadian government puts a great deal of effort into making sure hunt opponents abide by exacting standards. But he said the government has not done as much to make sure the hunters are safe. “It seems if you're a conservation vessel they pull out all the stops to make sure every ‘t' is crossed and every ‘i' dotted on all the regulations,” Mr. Watson said in an interview from Los Angeles. “But they seem to waive everything when it comes to the hunters.” The Sea Shepherd ship, Farley Mowat, is currently making its way through the ice of the Gulf of St. Lawrence towards the area where most of the sealing activity has taken place. Transport Canada has directed the Farley Mowat not to enter Canadian waters until it complies with international marine safety conventions. The Farley Mowat is a large, ice-class vessel with a steel hull. “I find it strange the minister is talking about how unsafe my vessel is in the ice, but he's allowing these wooden boats to go out,” Watson said. The ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is unusually thick this year, a stark contrast from last year when there was almost no ice and little hunting took place. Sealers can kill a total of 275,000 seals this year. One-third of that total can be taken in the Gulf, while the remainder will be killed off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Survivor recounts sealer Gulf tragedy HALIFAX - While shocked residents of the tiny Magdalen islands grieved over the deaths of three sealers Saturday, questions arose over a coast guard rescue operation gone wrong, including from one of the survivors. A fourth sealer was still missing.
"There were no members of the icebreaker that were watching the towing," Bruno-Pierre Bourque told RDI, a French all-news TV channel after he had been returned by helicopter to the Magdalen Islands. "They did at the start, there were four or five of them, but I don't know if it was because it was cold, but they went inside and no one was watching." The 12-metre sealing vessel Bourque and the other crew members were on was being towed by a coast guard icebreaker when it capsized early Saturday morning. Bourque said the icebreaker had been travelling at about 2.5 knots but then accelerated to four knots before the sealing vessel, the L'Acadien II, which was being towed on the side of the icebreaker, slammed into a big piece of ice around 1:15 a.m. Saturday. He said that forced the boat over on its side and it quickly took on water. He and the other survivor, Claude Deraspe, in his early 20s, managed to make it off the boat and into the water. "Luckily, there was a boat that was just behind the icebreaker and they fished me out quickly with my colleague," he said. "When we hit the ice, the icebreaker (the Sir William Alexander) didn't know. It was the other boat that alerted the towing boat (the icebreaker) to stop. It all happened very quickly. "Three got out and three didn't, including my father, who was the captain," said Bourque of the crew, which was all from the Magdalen Islands, a windswept archipelago in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, between Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. "People here are in shock," said Joel Arseneau, the mayor of the Magdalen Islands. "It is a tragedy that is really hitting the community. "We are in mourning here and there is an incomprehension about what happened." Arseneau identified the dead men as Bruno Bourque, the captain who was in his 50s; Gilles Leblanc, also in his 50s and Marc-Andre Deraspe, in his early 20s, who is not related to the survivor Claude Deraspe. Carl Aucoin, a young father with a two-year old child, was still missing. The search for the missing sealer continued into Saturday evening in the icy waters off Cape Breton. A Cormorant helicopter from Gander, N.L., circled the area, while several local fishing boats criss-crossed the water. A second sealing boat was actually in trouble Saturday but coast guard and Department of Defence staff successfully rescued seven people off the fishing vessel, Annie Marie. The boat was crushed in the ice pack. Arseneau said people understand the dangers of hunting on the ice, but were surprised the tragedy happened with the coast guard there. "People feel powerless and there is a great sadness here." Mike Voigt, superintendent of the Canadian Coast Guard Search and Rescue in Halifax, said it was too early to outline what took place on the water, but he expected the incident would come under review from a number of agencies, including the Transportation Safety Board. The vessel, registered from the Magdalen Islands, Que., was taking part in the seal hunt when the boat had a problem with its rudder in waters described as being 50 per cent covered with ice. "It was simply a problem with the rudder," said Bruno-Pierre Bourque. "It was broken. It was more a towing than an SOS." Voigt couldn't answer why the men were on their vessel when the coast guard ship towed it free of the ice. "You're looking for regulations for towing. There aren't detailed regulations for search-and-rescue cases," he said. Boat operators normally sign a waiver when they are towed, Voigt said, describing the document as a statement of safety. He couldn't say whether the men were invited onto the deck of the coast guard ship before they were towed. "I don't know what was offered out there. I can't say," Voigt said. Voigt noted that about 600 to 700 boats in the Maritimes are towed annually. "With ice involved, in the middle of the night, there's some risk involved," he said. "But I can't speak to this case." Even while the search continued for the fourth man, the small fleet of boats from the Magdalen Island abandoned the hunt and headed for home. "I believe most are abandoning the hunt for this year because of the tragedy and the extremely difficult conditions," said Arseneau. "Most will return without any revenue." David Bevan, an assistant deputy minister with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said ice is at almost record levels in the Gulf of St. Lawrence this year. "These are very difficult conditions at this moment." Mike Considine, commander with the Joint Task Force Atlantic, which handles military planning and response in the region, said a Cormorant helicopter and a Hercules aircraft were dispatched from 14 Wing Greenwood, N.S., to aid in the rescue. Two search and rescue crew parachuted from the Hercules to the deck of the Canadian Coast Guard ship Sir William Alexander, while two dropped from the Cormorant. They then strapped on diving gear and entered the frigid water, where they were able to recover the bodies of three of the sealers. Considine said the search and rescue crew dove to the extent of their capabilities and the time they could spend in the water before abandoning the search for the fourth man. "They just basically dove until they couldn't carry on any more with regard to the time they could spend in the water." L'Acadien II, which was built in 1988, was about 70 kilometres north of Cape Breton and was being towed to Sydney, N.S. The southern Gulf of St. Lawrence seal hunt began Friday and is concentrated in the Cabot Strait area between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. © Canwest News Service 2008
Canada's seal hunt slowed by bad weather By Tom Chivers and agencies Heavy ice and bad weather are hampering the start of the controversial Canadian seal hunt. Only 15 seals have so far been killed in the hunt, as pursuing vessels found their paths blocked by the sea ice. "It's a very slow start," Fisheries and Oceans Canada spokesman Phil Jenkins said.
Meanwhile, four men are missing after a fishing vessel from the Iles de la Madeleine in Quebec capsized while being towed by a Canadian Coast Guard ship. It was not immediately clear if the vessel was participating in the seal hunt. About 16 boats with 100 hunters headed out from the Iles de la Madeleine at the opening of the hunt toward a large herd of seals in the Cabot Strait between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Three sealing vessels were reported to be struggling in the heavy ice conditions - two taking in water and the other suffering mechanical problems. The allotted catch in this year's seal hunt has been set at 275,000 of the animals, down from a total of 335,000 two years ago. Poor ice conditions last winter brought the limit down to 270,000 last year. The conditions have also hindered animal rights groups' efforts to monitor the hunt. Only one helicopter was able to get off the ground due to a snow storm. The groups say the hunt is cruel and ravages the population of the seals, and that monitoring difficulties make it hard to know if catch limits are adhered to. However, sealers and the fisheries department defend the hunt, which is the largest for marine mammals anywhere in the world. They say that it is sustainable and well-managed, and that it provides income for isolated fishing communities damaged by the cod stock collapse. Fishermen sell seal pelts mostly to the fashion industry in Norway, Russia and China, as well as blubber for oil, earning about US$78 for each seal. The 2006 hunt brought in about $25 million (£12.5 million). However, the United States, the Netherlands and Belgium have all banned Canadian seal products, and the European Union is considering extending its ban on baby seal pelts to include adult products. Click here for video footage. Activists allege cover-up in seal hunt Friday, March 28, 2008 Animal welfare activists accused the Canadian government yesterday of denying them access to the start of the seal hunt to cover-up the annual harvest. The hunt was to begin half an hour before dawn today in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, but observers and journalists will not be able to document it because they were not issued permits by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. "The government is determined to do everything in its power to stop people from documenting what happens on the ice flows," charged Rebecca Aldworth, director of Canadian wildlife issues for the Humane Society of the United States. "This says to the world that there is something to hide out on the ice flows off Canada's East Coast," she added. The Department of Fisheries confirmed that it hasn't issued any permits for observers and explained it is holding off until it has a better idea of the sealing activity. "We are not in the business of running a travel agency here and we have to make sure this is a safe and orderly hunt," said department spokesman Phil Jenkins. He couldn't say how many permits had already been issued to sealers, but said a few vessels have left Quebec's Magdalen Island. "We want to make sure we don't have a complete media circus above one or two or three sealing vessels," Mr. Jenkins stressed, adding the department received a record 60 permit requests to observe this year's harvest. He said a decision will be made today on issuing permits to observers based on the number of sealing vessels involved in the harvest. The Humane Society was planning on taking journalists, mostly Europeans, to the first day of hunting today by boat and helicopter. Another leading opponent of the seal hunt, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), said it will attend the first day of the hunt no matter what. "Regardless of whether we have the permits or not, we will use our helicopters to go observe the hunt," said Sheryl Fink, a senior researcher with the IFAW. Ms. Aldworth said it's the first time in 10 years of documenting the seal hunt that she is not able to get permits to attend the kick off. She blames it on the fact that the Canadian government is lobbying against a possible ban on seal products by the European Union that could come as soon as June. A delegation of Canadian officials and hunters heads to Europe today to make a plea for the controversial sealing industry. "This is a first and I think it stands out given what is happening politically in Europe," Ms. Aldworth said. Seal hunters, protesters head for the ice floes Sealers and observers headed to the ice floes Friday as the annual seal hunt began in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Animal welfare activists had accused the Canadian government Thursday of denying them observer permits as part of a "cover-up" of the hunt just as the European Union is weighing a ban on the import of seal products.
But on Friday, Phil Jenkins of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said 60 observer permits had been issued, "so the flap you saw yesterday afternoon about coverup and all that kind of stuff is nonsense and always was." The Southern Gulf hunt is concentrated in the Cabot Strait area between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, but vessels have not yet reached the floes there because of heavy ice. Most of the hunters, so far, are from the Magdalen Islands. About 16 vessels were taking part in the hunt on Friday. A separate hunt in the northern part of the gulf, between Newfoundland and Quebec, will likely open next week. The largest part of the hunt, off Newfoundland's northeast coast, will probably open the week after that, he said. The Newfoundland hunt is responsible for about 70 per cent of the animals killed. Observer permits were issued for groups such as the Humane Society of the United States and the International Fund for Animal Welfare. There were also permits for media organizations such as the United Kingdom's Sky TV. Once on the ice floes, observers, who usually go to the hunt by helicopter, are allowed no closer than 10 metres to sealers. On Thursday, a spokeswoman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare said the Canadian government was trying to limit access to the hunt while it works to lobby against a possible ban on seal products by the European Union that could come as soon as June. The government denied the claim and said it is only driven by safety concerns. A delegation of Canadian officials and hunters headed to Europe Friday to make their case for the sealing industry. For this year's harvest, the government set a quota of 275,000 seal harps out of a population of nearly six million. Canadian officials have long maintained the hunt is well-monitored and sustainable and Ottawa announced earlier this year that hunters will now have to take extra steps to ensure the seals die humanely. © Canwest News Service 2008
EU officials considering 'measures' to protest Canadian seal-hunt The Associated Press BRUSSELS, Belgium: The European Union is considering measures against Canada to protest its annual seal hunt set to start later this week off its Atlantic coast, EU officials said Wednesday. EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is "looking into the nature of the inhumane killing of seals," and is drafting a text to be presented before June, EU spokeswoman Barbara Helfferich told reporters. She would not say if the measures could include an import ban on products derived from Canadian seals, or other economic or political sanctions. Animal rights campaigners and lawmakers are putting increasing pressure on the EU's executive office to take a tougher stand against the annual hunt, which has been criticized as cruel. Seal hunts also are carried out in Greenland, Norway, Russia, Namibia and EU-member Finland, but none has been scrutinized by European activists as much as Canada's — which has frustrated Canadian officials. Animal rights groups often try to sway European opinion on the issue by showing photographs or film footage of cute and cuddly seal pups, and of dead and bloodied seals on ice flows. British EU lawmaker Neil Parish appealed to the Commission to impose a van on seal fur imports from Canada. "As the culling season gets under way, the time has come for the Commission to take action," said Parish, who chairs a European Parliament animal welfare panel. "The slaughter of seals in Canada, including seals that are just a few weeks old, is barbaric and the EU should not condone it. The methods used, cudgeling with a 'hakapik' or shooting, have too often not killed the seal outright, and I am not satisfied with Canadian assertions that seals are not still being skinned alive." The European Parliament last year called on the EU to impose a fur import ban. However, this year's Canadian hunt will be conducted under new rules meant to appease European concerns, with extra steps added to make sure the animals are dead before they are skinned — a recommendation made in an EU report released in December. That report was inconclusive on recommending a full EU ban. Canadian authorities have set this year's total allowable catch at 275,000 seals, up from 270,000 last year. Seventy percent of the seals will be taken in an area off Newfoundland's north coast known as the Front, while 30 percent will be taken in the Gulf of St. Lawrence — the first stage of the hunt. The EU already has in place a 1983 ban on the import of white pelts taken from baby seals, and a total ban could spell disaster for Canadian hunters and aboriginal peoples. Several EU nations, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, already have their own bans on all seal products. The United States has banned Canadian seal products since 1972. Animal rights groups say Canada's seal hunt is difficult to monitor, ravages the seal population and does not provide a lot of money for sealers. But sealers and the Canadian government have defended the hunt as sustainable, humane, well-managed and a necessary source of income for hunters. Many of them live in isolated fishing communities and deeply rely on the seal hunt because their cod fishing died out years ago. The slaughter of some 335,000 seals in 2006 brought about US$25 million. Seal hunt to start Friday with new rules in place Updated Wed. Mar. 26 2008 7:59 AM ET The Canadian Press OTTAWA -- The annual seal hunt is due to get underway Friday off the East Coast with new regulations in place, aimed at making the controversial kill more humane. Phil Jenkins, a spokesman for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Ottawa, says the new rules require hunters to sever the arteries under a seal's flippers, thereby ensuring seals are dead before they are skinned. He says, "it's really going an extra distance to make sure that it's humane as it can be." Nevertheless, animal rights groups say they remain opposed the hunt.
As Rebecca Aldworth, director of Canadian wildlife issues for the Humane Society of the United States puts it: "They've added bleeding to the killing process. This won't change anything." This year's total allowable catch has been set at 275,000 seals, up from 270,000 last year. The total allowable catch was 335,000 two years ago, but poor ice conditions led to the change last year. Seventy per cent of the seals will be killed in an area off Newfoundland's north coast known as the Front, while 30 per cent will be taken in the Gulf of St. Lawrence - the first stage of the hunt. "People around the world are shocked to know that Canada, which is perceived as one of the most progressive nations in the world, allows this outdated, archaic slaughter to continue," Aldworth said. The United States has banned Canadian seal products since 1972. The Netherlands and Belgium also ban seal products. The European Union is considering a ban on all seal products, having outlawed the sale of the white pelts of baby seals in 1983. Registered hunters in Canada are now not allowed to kill seal pups that haven't molted their downy white fur, typically when 10 to 21 days old. Animal rights groups say the seal hunt, the largest marine mammal hunt in the world, is cruel, difficult to monitor, ravages the seal population and doesn't provide a lot of money for sealers. Sealers and the Fisheries Department defend the hunt as sustainable, humane and well-managed, and say it provides supplemental income for isolated fishing communities that have been hurt by the decline in cod stocks. Fishermen sell seal pelts mostly for the fashion industry in Norway, Russia and China, as well as blubber for oil, earning about $78 for each seal. The 2006 take of some 335,000 seals brought in about $25 million. The department estimated the total harp seal population to be 5.9 million in 2004, the last time it conducted a survey. The government says there were about 1.8 million seals in the 1970s, and the population rebounded after Canada started managing the hunts.
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A plea to end the killing...
Martin Sheen speaks out!
