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Seal Hunt 2009 - Protests and Opposition Actions

Activists Protest Against Seal Hunt in Barcelona, Spain

Members of Anima Naturalis, daubed with red paint, protest against the Canadian seal hunt, in front of the Canadian consulate, in Barcelona.

April 23, 2009

Anima Naturalis animal rights activists protest in front of the Canadian consulate in Barcelona against hunting baby seals.

Battle With Animal Rights Activists Over Seal Hunt Continues; Manning

VOCM.com
April 11, 2009

Senator Fabian Manning says Canada has put it's best foot forward in presenting its case for the seal hunt. He says Ottawa understands the economic significance of the hunt to many small communities, but he indicates the animal rights activists are putting up quite a fight. He says at a recent presentation to the European Parliament, activists came behind them and showed a video with the stark contrasts of blue sky, white ice, and red blood.

Top Sustainable Seafood Supplier in Pennsylvania–Cheyney Seafood—Joins the ProtectSeals Campaign

March 11, 2009
RushPRNews

WASHINGTON -The Humane Society of the United States is pleased to welcome Cheyney Seafood to its roster of more than 5,000 seafood purveyors, grocery stores and restaurants that are participating in the ProtectSeals campaign to help end Canada’s commercial seal hunt.

Cheyney Seafood, headquartered in Lebanon, Pa., has a deep commitment to sustainable seafood and responsible marine stewardship. Cheyney distributes seafood to hundreds of restaurants and hotels throughout Pennsylvania including the Harrisburg Hilton Hotel, Hershey Lodge and Convention Centerand the Hershey Hotel. Cheyney also has a retail location where members of the public can enjoy the same high-quality, sustainably harvested seafood that the company sells to restaurants.

Cheyney Seafood has pledged not to sell any seafood from Newfoundland, home to 90 percent of Canada’s sealers, or any fresh seafood from all of Canada until Canada permanently ends its commercial seal hunt.

“We’re taking a two-pronged approach to our participation,” said Diane Church, co-owner of Cheyney Seafood. “We want to send an unequivocally strong message to Newfoundland as the province most deeply engaged in the commercial seal hunt, but we also think it is important to send a message to all of Canada’s seafood industry. Canada’s seafood industry must stop supporting the seal hunt. We ask fishermen who don’t participate in the seal hunt to use their influence to convince those who do to stop. A government buyout of sealing licenses is a win-win for all parties involved.”

Cheyney Seafood is not alone in its dedication to sustainable seafood and to ending the commercial seal hunt. Many of the seafood companies participating in the ProtectSeals campaign are on the vanguard of the sustainable seafood movement, including The Plitt Company, Ecofish and Prime Seafood. Like Cheyney Seafood, each of these companies has shifted some, or all, of its seafood purchasing away from Canada until the seal hunt ends for good. They recognize that the carnage, cruelty and waste associated with Canada’s commercial seal hunt are inconsistent with responsible marine stewardship.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Cheyney Seafood to the ProtectSeals campaign. I applaud Cheyney Seafood’s commitment to a business model that is devoted to marine stewardship,” said Patricia Ragan, director of The HSUS’ ProtectSeals campaign. “As the front end of the U.S. seafood supply chain, their decision to stop selling Canadian seafood will create ripples through the United States.”

Since the launch of the ProtectSeals campaign, the value of Canadian seafood exports to the United States has dropped dramatically, providing clear financial incentive for Canadian fishermen to stop killing seals.

Making a Point

February 28, 2009
The Daily Gleaner

PROTEST: a dog wears a sign at a seal hunt protest outside the provincial fisheries minister's office in halifax on Friday. The atlantic Canadian anti-sealing Coalition staged the event to bring attention to the impending annual hunt.

PETA to launch year-long seal hunt campaign

FERNANDO CARNEIRO /METRO VANCOUVER
February 18, 2009 05:54

When the world arrives in Vancouver for the 2010 Games, an animal rights organization is vowing to have protesters here draped in fake seal fur and red paint.

The seal hunt is Canada’s shame, according to Bruce Friedrich, spokesperson for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

“As much as China was subjected to international condemnation for their human rights record in advance of the Beijing Games, we plan to focus worldwide attention on the fact that Canada is now synonymous with the bloody massacre of hundreds of thousands of baby seals,” Friedrich said.

PETA is launching its year-long campaign today at Vancouver City Hall. It will include billboards and demonstrations all over the world.

“People in China were not thrilled to have what they saw as the glory of the Olympics coming to Beijing besmirched by China’s human rights record,” Friedrich said. “Similarly, if Canada does not want to be subjected to international condemnation, it should abolish the annual seal massacre.”

Small group of demonstrators protests seal hunt during Atlantic premiers visit

February 9, 2009
The Canadian Press

CALGARY — A trade mission by Atlantic premiers prompted an anti-sealing protest by an environmental group in Calgary on Monday.

About a dozen members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society stood outside a hotel carrying placards and handing out brochures condemning the seal hunt. Spokeswoman Karen Orr said 275,000 baby seals are slaughtered strictly for "vanity and politics."

She said the annual hunt, which begins next month, sees millions of dollars pumped into the event with the fur industry as the only beneficiary.

Orr said the money would be better spent retraining Newfoundlanders to develop a tourism sector catering to visitors who could view baby seals, much like whale watching has become big business in British Columbia.

The protesters were disappointed that Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams didn't make the trip.

RAW event raises $900 to stop Canada seal hunt

By Doug Hungerford
Indiana Daily Student

Owner of Roots restaurant Andrew Stevens and a worker for the Humane Society of United States Anne Sterling discuss the situation of seal clubbing during SEALed With A Kiss, a dance fundraiser to raise awarness of seals Saturday evening in The Lodge.

POSTED AT 10:40 PM ON Feb. 8, 2009

More than 175 supporters of Revitalizing Animal Well-Being’s “Sealed with a Kiss” poured in and out of The Lodge at 101 E. Sixth St. on Friday night to dance, kiss and petition against Canada’s annual seal hunt.

RAW, a student-run animal rights organization, celebrated its second-annual kiss-a-thon with live music from DJ Phenom and Atlanta-based band La Chansons. The organizers decorated the room with red hearts and streamers that lined the walls and windows.

Attendee Brandon McHenry said the party was so boisterous it drew him in from the street.

“I was walking from the bars with a few friends, and we heard the music and saw people dancing in the window,” said McHenry, a senior. “When I came up the stairs, I saw the signs for ‘Sealed with a Kiss’ and a couple of people told me what it was about. Their cause seemed really good, and I saw some friends inside so I decided to go in.”

Volunteers for RAW, as well as members and supporters of OUT Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Student Union, sat at the door to sell raffle tickets and T-shirts, collect donations and spread the awareness of seal hunt in Canada.

Throughout the event, which lasted from 8 p.m. Friday to 1 a.m. Saturday, volunteers were able to raise more than $900 and got 175 students to sign a petition against the seal hunt – both numbers up from last year’s event.

Courtney Wennerstrom, RAW co-president and co-founder, said this year’s “Sealed with a Kiss” was much more successful than last year’s.

“In addition to raising more money and getting more people involved, we were much more organized this time,” Wennerstrom said. “We realized that it takes a couple of times to get these things right, and this year we had a great band and great energy, so I’m really pleased with how it went.”

The band, which headlined after DJ Phenom at 11 p.m., was new to putting on a show. “Sealed with a Kiss” was La Chansons’ first performance together, and bass player Kyle Wehrend said it was a great experience.

“The energy was great from the crowd, and it was a good chance to get our name out and have a good time with our music,” said Wehrend, who was visiting Bloomington for the first time.

With the event behind them, Wennerstrom said RAW members are going to begin planning some new projects, including a possible poker tournament to raise money for animal rights. As for next year’s “Sealed with a Kiss,” Wennerstrom said her hope is to not have to have one.

“Our ultimate goal is to not need to raise money or awareness next year,” Wennerstrom said. “We’re really hoping that there just won’t be any hunt for us to fight against at all.”