Monday, April 11, 2011
seal hunt
The Canadian Press
Date: Monday Apr. 11, 2011 1:53 PM ET
ST. ANTHONY, N.L. — The annual seal hunt off the north coast of Newfoundland is underway amid poor ice conditions and a shrinking market.
A spokeswoman for an animal welfare group says she spotted only four boats heading to the floes off St. Anthony on Monday.
Rebecca Aldworth, Canadian director of Humane Society International, says she could see very few harp seals on the thin and scattered ice pans as the group's helicopter swooped low to film the hunt.
She says the federal Fisheries Department has indicated 27 boats would be heading out, a far cry from the hundreds of boats that participated when pelt prices peaked at over $100 in 2006.
Since then, prices have plunged to about $20 with the European Union imposing a ban last year on imported seal products.
Aldworth says the sealing industry appears to be winding down, but her group won't stop its protests until the Canadian government officially bans the hunt.
Fishermen involved in the smaller hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence also reported fewer boats heading out last month, with most blaming a lack of ice cover.
The quota for the harp seal hunt this spring has been set at 400,000 animals by Fisheries. The total allowable catch for hooded seals is 8,200, some of it rolled over from last year.
The Canadian Sealers Association has predicted that an improved market would see sales hit a high of 120,000 pelts this year, roughly double last year's figure of 68,000.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Federal scientists call for experimental cull of 73,000 grey seals in the Gulf
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Bureaucrats wade into online debate about Canada’s seal hunt Steve Lambert
They knew they were going into hostile territory, and it appears they didn't sway many minds, but federal employees are feeling pretty good about going head-to-head with critics of the seal hunt in online forums, Twitter tweets and the blog of a teenage girl.
The pilot project, which ran last spring, could lead to more cases in which bureaucrats rebut government critics on websites big and small.
“The project was successful in that we tested, refined our processes and executed rapid response during the pilot,” Claude Rochon, spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, wrote in an e-mail.
“Discussions about pilot findings and next steps are taking place within DFAIT and across government.”
Documents obtained under the Access to Information Act by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, long-time critics of the seal hunt, show government employees posted on website forums and small personal blogs, and also responded to Twitter messages.
A Toronto-based company called Social Media Group was hired for $75,000 to monitor online chatter about the seal hunt and help the government correct what it perceived as misinformation – suggestions that seals are an endangered species, for example, or that sealers are allowed to kill newborn white-coat pups.
When one of the authors on Vegansaurus!, a San-Francisco-based food website, called the seal hunt a genocide that threatened to decimate the herd, the government wrote back.
“Hi. My name is Martha and I'm an employee of the Government of Canada working on the seal file. While some may not agree with the harvest itself, it is worth noting that the seal population is healthy and abundant. The Northwest Atlantic harp seal population is currently estimated at 6.9 million animals – more than triple the size of the herd in the 1970s.”
Martha McLean is deputy director of e-communications in the Foreign Affairs Department. She also posted links to a government fact sheet about the seal hunt, but was met with a cool response.
“Great idea, Canada! Send an employee to try to justify seal slaughter – oh pardon me, ‘harvest' – to a bunch of vegans on a vegan website,” wrote a poster named theolivia.
When a teenage girl in West Virginia wrote on her blog, gogreenveggiegirl.blogspot.com, that baby seals are killed for their white coats, another department employee named Elisa Kaltcheva responded by pointing out that the killing of white-coat seals has been illegal since 1987.
And when a Twitter user named Bernoid alluded to a “kill quota for baby seals,” an official in the Department of Fisheries and Oceans suggested the government respond by pointing out the ban on killing white coats.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare was pleased to see that government officials have been upfront about their identities when they posted comments. But the group feels the government is in spin mode by posting links to government fact sheets instead of to independent scientific studies.
“They're not using the best available information. They're just sticking to their talking points, so I think it is just another propaganda machine,” said Sheryl Fink, director of the fund's seal-hunt campaign.
The documents obtained by the fund show that bureaucrats considered some online chatter too inflammatory to respond to. At one online news site in the United States, people for and against the hunt were in a lengthy argument over whether seals were being skinned alive. The government decided to stay out of the debate, deeming the conversation “already heated and unreceptive.”
So far, the government's movement into the world of online debate has been somewhat tentative. Representatives have been posting single replies using a form-letter style of writing – almost like a letter to the editor of a newspaper.
But because online commentary can quickly become a back-and-forth argument, the government has to consider how far down the debate path it wants to go.
“I'm interested to discover how this pilot can help us articulate this [seal hunt] issue and to suggest ways for the (government of Canada) to move toward more of a dialogue-like engagement – some time down the road,” Barry Nesbitt, another department e-communications employee, wrote in an April 1 e-mail to colleagues.
“My sense from today is that we have to find ways to identify individuals who want to discover content that exists outside their particular point of view/echo chamber of comfort. Then both parties have to determine to what extent we can have a real discussion with the hope that others will be drawn to the conversation.”
The Canadian Press
The pilot project, which ran last spring, could lead to more cases in which bureaucrats rebut government critics on websites big and small.
“The project was successful in that we tested, refined our processes and executed rapid response during the pilot,” Claude Rochon, spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, wrote in an e-mail.
“Discussions about pilot findings and next steps are taking place within DFAIT and across government.”
Documents obtained under the Access to Information Act by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, long-time critics of the seal hunt, show government employees posted on website forums and small personal blogs, and also responded to Twitter messages.
A Toronto-based company called Social Media Group was hired for $75,000 to monitor online chatter about the seal hunt and help the government correct what it perceived as misinformation – suggestions that seals are an endangered species, for example, or that sealers are allowed to kill newborn white-coat pups.
When one of the authors on Vegansaurus!, a San-Francisco-based food website, called the seal hunt a genocide that threatened to decimate the herd, the government wrote back.
“Hi. My name is Martha and I'm an employee of the Government of Canada working on the seal file. While some may not agree with the harvest itself, it is worth noting that the seal population is healthy and abundant. The Northwest Atlantic harp seal population is currently estimated at 6.9 million animals – more than triple the size of the herd in the 1970s.”
Martha McLean is deputy director of e-communications in the Foreign Affairs Department. She also posted links to a government fact sheet about the seal hunt, but was met with a cool response.
“Great idea, Canada! Send an employee to try to justify seal slaughter – oh pardon me, ‘harvest' – to a bunch of vegans on a vegan website,” wrote a poster named theolivia.
When a teenage girl in West Virginia wrote on her blog, gogreenveggiegirl.blogspot.com, that baby seals are killed for their white coats, another department employee named Elisa Kaltcheva responded by pointing out that the killing of white-coat seals has been illegal since 1987.
And when a Twitter user named Bernoid alluded to a “kill quota for baby seals,” an official in the Department of Fisheries and Oceans suggested the government respond by pointing out the ban on killing white coats.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare was pleased to see that government officials have been upfront about their identities when they posted comments. But the group feels the government is in spin mode by posting links to government fact sheets instead of to independent scientific studies.
“They're not using the best available information. They're just sticking to their talking points, so I think it is just another propaganda machine,” said Sheryl Fink, director of the fund's seal-hunt campaign.
The documents obtained by the fund show that bureaucrats considered some online chatter too inflammatory to respond to. At one online news site in the United States, people for and against the hunt were in a lengthy argument over whether seals were being skinned alive. The government decided to stay out of the debate, deeming the conversation “already heated and unreceptive.”
So far, the government's movement into the world of online debate has been somewhat tentative. Representatives have been posting single replies using a form-letter style of writing – almost like a letter to the editor of a newspaper.
But because online commentary can quickly become a back-and-forth argument, the government has to consider how far down the debate path it wants to go.
“I'm interested to discover how this pilot can help us articulate this [seal hunt] issue and to suggest ways for the (government of Canada) to move toward more of a dialogue-like engagement – some time down the road,” Barry Nesbitt, another department e-communications employee, wrote in an April 1 e-mail to colleagues.
“My sense from today is that we have to find ways to identify individuals who want to discover content that exists outside their particular point of view/echo chamber of comfort. Then both parties have to determine to what extent we can have a real discussion with the hope that others will be drawn to the conversation.”
The Canadian Press
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Harper denounced the European Union
Prime Minister Stephen Harper denounced the European Union for imposing an import ban on seal products, saying the legislation – to be implemented Friday –is a “disgrace” because it is based on “no rational facts.”
Mr. Harper, in New Brunswick for a funding announcement, said Thursday the ban discriminates against Canadian sealers, who are hard-working people of modest means.
“This is flagrant discrimination against the Canadian seal industry, against Canadian sealers ... people who are doing animal husbandry, no differently than many other industries,” he said after the announcement.
“It is a disgrace that they're treated this way in some countries based on no rational facts or information whatsoever. We strongly object to the decision. We will continue to defend our sealers.”
The Prime Minister's blunt comments came minutes after federal officials held a technical briefing in Ottawa to announce the government's next move in its battle against the ban.
The senior officials confirmed Ottawa will ask the World Trade Organization this fall to establish a dispute settlement panel that would consider whether the EU ban complies with WTO rules.
The bureaucrats, who spoke on background, said even if Canada succeeded in persuading a panel that the ban breaks the rules, it could take more than three years for the WTO to take action.
Canada's East Coast sealing industry has steadily dwindled in recent years amid a global recession, vocal animal rights protests and the looming European ban.
Mr. Harper, in New Brunswick for a funding announcement, said Thursday the ban discriminates against Canadian sealers, who are hard-working people of modest means.
“This is flagrant discrimination against the Canadian seal industry, against Canadian sealers ... people who are doing animal husbandry, no differently than many other industries,” he said after the announcement.
“It is a disgrace that they're treated this way in some countries based on no rational facts or information whatsoever. We strongly object to the decision. We will continue to defend our sealers.”
The Prime Minister's blunt comments came minutes after federal officials held a technical briefing in Ottawa to announce the government's next move in its battle against the ban.
The senior officials confirmed Ottawa will ask the World Trade Organization this fall to establish a dispute settlement panel that would consider whether the EU ban complies with WTO rules.
The bureaucrats, who spoke on background, said even if Canada succeeded in persuading a panel that the ban breaks the rules, it could take more than three years for the WTO to take action.
Canada's East Coast sealing industry has steadily dwindled in recent years amid a global recession, vocal animal rights protests and the looming European ban.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Canadians Strongly Support Inuit Seal Hunt, Poll Shows
Department of the Environment
June 18, 2010 - A recent public opinion poll developed and funded by the Governments of Nunavut, Newfoundland, Quebec and Nova Scotia in partnership with the Fur Institute of Canada shows strong support among Canadians for seal hunting by both Inuit and non-Inuit hunters. The results of the omnibus poll, conducted by TNS Canadian Facts, clearly contradict the claims of anti-sealing activist groups who assert that the majority of Canadians are against seal hunting.
Some of the notable results include:
•82% of Canadians support a sustainable, humane Inuit seal harvest
•75% of Canadians were aware that income earned from seal hunting is significant to the livelihoods of Inuit hunters
•85% of Canadians believe that seals need to be managed to maintain or restore the abundance of important fish stocks
•75% of Canadians believe that animal welfare is either somewhat or completely respected by Canadian seal hunters, both Inuit and non-Inuit.
•Only 34% of Canadians knew that despite the Inuit exemption to the EU ban, the trade in Inuit-harvested seal products has decreased.
•Only 6% of Canadians are aware that the current harp seal population is estimated at 6.9 million animals, when given a choice of four options
Minister of Environment Daniel Shewchuk was encouraged by the results. “The results of this study clearly demonstrate that Canadians are distinguishing enough to see beyond the sensationalist propaganda of anti-sealing lobby groups” said Minister Shewchuk. “The Government of Nunavut will not tire in its efforts to promote and support the sustainable, humane use of seals as an abundant and vital natural resource in Nunavut. I’m happy to see that we have the support of the vast majority of Canadians in this effort.”
The Government of Nunavut recently provided financial support to Inuit organizations pursuing a legal challenge against the European Union ban on seal products. The Seal Ban Regulation, which will come into effect August 20, 2010, is directly responsible for plummeting sealskin prices over the past two years.
Complete survey results can be viewed at:
###
For More Information Contact:
Sharina Dodsworth
A/Manager, Communications
Department of Environment
Phone: (867) 975-7749 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (867) 975-7749 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
E-Mail: sdodsworth@gov.nu.ca
June 18, 2010 - A recent public opinion poll developed and funded by the Governments of Nunavut, Newfoundland, Quebec and Nova Scotia in partnership with the Fur Institute of Canada shows strong support among Canadians for seal hunting by both Inuit and non-Inuit hunters. The results of the omnibus poll, conducted by TNS Canadian Facts, clearly contradict the claims of anti-sealing activist groups who assert that the majority of Canadians are against seal hunting.
Some of the notable results include:
•82% of Canadians support a sustainable, humane Inuit seal harvest
•75% of Canadians were aware that income earned from seal hunting is significant to the livelihoods of Inuit hunters
•85% of Canadians believe that seals need to be managed to maintain or restore the abundance of important fish stocks
•75% of Canadians believe that animal welfare is either somewhat or completely respected by Canadian seal hunters, both Inuit and non-Inuit.
•Only 34% of Canadians knew that despite the Inuit exemption to the EU ban, the trade in Inuit-harvested seal products has decreased.
•Only 6% of Canadians are aware that the current harp seal population is estimated at 6.9 million animals, when given a choice of four options
Minister of Environment Daniel Shewchuk was encouraged by the results. “The results of this study clearly demonstrate that Canadians are distinguishing enough to see beyond the sensationalist propaganda of anti-sealing lobby groups” said Minister Shewchuk. “The Government of Nunavut will not tire in its efforts to promote and support the sustainable, humane use of seals as an abundant and vital natural resource in Nunavut. I’m happy to see that we have the support of the vast majority of Canadians in this effort.”
The Government of Nunavut recently provided financial support to Inuit organizations pursuing a legal challenge against the European Union ban on seal products. The Seal Ban Regulation, which will come into effect August 20, 2010, is directly responsible for plummeting sealskin prices over the past two years.
Complete survey results can be viewed at:
###
For More Information Contact:
Sharina Dodsworth
A/Manager, Communications
Department of Environment
Phone: (867) 975-7749 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (867) 975-7749 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
E-Mail: sdodsworth@gov.nu.ca
Inuit sue EU over seal ban
LEIGH PHILLIPS
15.01.2010 @ 07:53 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Canadian and Greenlandic Inuit groups are suing the European Union over its ban on seal products, and are very confident they will win.
Canada's Tapiriit Kanatami, the country's national Inuit organisation, the Inuit Circumpolar council and a number of Inuit individuals filed the lawsuit with the European General Court, until this year known as the Court of First Instance, on Wednesday.
The legislation was one of the most non-partisan bills to pass through the European Parliament (Photo: Animaldefense)
In 2009, the EU banned the import of seal products. The legislation was one of the most non-partisan bills to pass through the European Parliament. Believing the issue to be massively popular amongst EU citizens ahead of elections to the chamber in June, some 550 deputies voted in favour of the ban, with just 49 opposed.
The groups will aim to prove that the seal hunt is, contrary to the European legislation's justification, humane. The suit will also maintain that the hunt is environmentally sustainable and that seals are not endangered.
Calling the EU ban the product of a "shrill campaign" by animal rights "extremists", Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said: "Inuit have been hunting seals and sustaining themselves for food, clothing, and trade for many generations."
"No objective and fair minded person can conclude that seals are under genuine conservation threat or that Inuit hunting activities are less humane than those practiced by hunting communities all over the world, including hunters in Europe."
The EU ban includes an exemption for aboriginal hunts, but the Inuit argue that this makes little difference as the ban results in a collapse of their biggest market. Canada currently is trying to develop a Chinese market for seal products in the wake of the ban.
Ms Simon said the ban was hypocritical, given the industrialisation of European farming in recent decades and the effect that has had on food animal living and slaughterhouse conditions.
"It is bitterly ironic that the EU, which seems entirely at home with promoting massive levels of agri-business and the raising and slaughtering of animals in highly industrialized conditions, seeks to preach some kind of selective elevated morality to Inuit."
The groups are highly confident they will win the suit, suggesting that European legal experts warned against adopting the legislation.
"Despite advance warning by their own lawyers, its EU lawmakers registered no inhibitions about adopting laws that are legally defective," said Ms Simon.
The Canadian government is also currently challenging the EU seal products trade ban at the World Trade Organisation.
15.01.2010 @ 07:53 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Canadian and Greenlandic Inuit groups are suing the European Union over its ban on seal products, and are very confident they will win.
Canada's Tapiriit Kanatami, the country's national Inuit organisation, the Inuit Circumpolar council and a number of Inuit individuals filed the lawsuit with the European General Court, until this year known as the Court of First Instance, on Wednesday.
The legislation was one of the most non-partisan bills to pass through the European Parliament (Photo: Animaldefense)
In 2009, the EU banned the import of seal products. The legislation was one of the most non-partisan bills to pass through the European Parliament. Believing the issue to be massively popular amongst EU citizens ahead of elections to the chamber in June, some 550 deputies voted in favour of the ban, with just 49 opposed.
The groups will aim to prove that the seal hunt is, contrary to the European legislation's justification, humane. The suit will also maintain that the hunt is environmentally sustainable and that seals are not endangered.
Calling the EU ban the product of a "shrill campaign" by animal rights "extremists", Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said: "Inuit have been hunting seals and sustaining themselves for food, clothing, and trade for many generations."
"No objective and fair minded person can conclude that seals are under genuine conservation threat or that Inuit hunting activities are less humane than those practiced by hunting communities all over the world, including hunters in Europe."
The EU ban includes an exemption for aboriginal hunts, but the Inuit argue that this makes little difference as the ban results in a collapse of their biggest market. Canada currently is trying to develop a Chinese market for seal products in the wake of the ban.
Ms Simon said the ban was hypocritical, given the industrialisation of European farming in recent decades and the effect that has had on food animal living and slaughterhouse conditions.
"It is bitterly ironic that the EU, which seems entirely at home with promoting massive levels of agri-business and the raising and slaughtering of animals in highly industrialized conditions, seeks to preach some kind of selective elevated morality to Inuit."
The groups are highly confident they will win the suit, suggesting that European legal experts warned against adopting the legislation.
"Despite advance warning by their own lawyers, its EU lawmakers registered no inhibitions about adopting laws that are legally defective," said Ms Simon.
The Canadian government is also currently challenging the EU seal products trade ban at the World Trade Organisation.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Nova Scotia offers subsidy to cut coyote population
Responding to public concerns about aggressive coyotes, Nova Scotia
will offer trappers a subsidy that could reduce the province's population of the animal by as much as 50 per cent.
Minister of Natural Resources John MacDonell announced the measure Thursday as part of a broader plan to reduce the risk of coyote attacks
He insisted the subsidy was not a bounty “in the classic sense” but conceded that most dictionary definitions would see it that way.
“It is a way to change coyote behaviour,” Mr MacDonell told reporters. “What we're trying to do is remove possibly dangerous animals out of the population.”
The Minister said that research showed that eliminating some coyotes would make the remainder more wary of humans. If all goes according to plan, he said, the subsidy could induce trappers to kill as much as half of the province's estimated 8,000 coyotes.
The subsidy will start with trapping season in the fall. More immediate measures include using experts to target coyotes that seem to pose an immediate danger, enhanced public education and the hiring of a biologist to focus on human wildlife conflict.
The province has been under increasing pressure since a visiting singer was killed by coyotes last fall in Cape Breton. Several run-ins since have received wide attention and sparked calls for government action.
Minister of Natural Resources John MacDonell announced the measure Thursday as part of a broader plan to reduce the risk of coyote attacks
He insisted the subsidy was not a bounty “in the classic sense” but conceded that most dictionary definitions would see it that way.
“It is a way to change coyote behaviour,” Mr MacDonell told reporters. “What we're trying to do is remove possibly dangerous animals out of the population.”
The Minister said that research showed that eliminating some coyotes would make the remainder more wary of humans. If all goes according to plan, he said, the subsidy could induce trappers to kill as much as half of the province's estimated 8,000 coyotes.
The subsidy will start with trapping season in the fall. More immediate measures include using experts to target coyotes that seem to pose an immediate danger, enhanced public education and the hiring of a biologist to focus on human wildlife conflict.
The province has been under increasing pressure since a visiting singer was killed by coyotes last fall in Cape Breton. Several run-ins since have received wide attention and sparked calls for government action.
Seal hunt deadline extended to end of May
The annual East Coast seal hunt has been extended until the end of the month to allow hunters more time to meet their quota and find markets for their pelts.
The hunt opened April 8 but has struggled this year with weak market demand and only one buyer.
Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea said in a release today that extending the end of the hunt from May 15 until May 31 will ensure sealers “make the best of their opportunities in difficult economic times.”
Hunters have killed an estimated 60,000 seals so far out of a total allowable quota of 330,000 animals.
Pelts are selling this year from about $15 to $21 each.
The hunt opened April 8 but has struggled this year with weak market demand and only one buyer.
Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea said in a release today that extending the end of the hunt from May 15 until May 31 will ensure sealers “make the best of their opportunities in difficult economic times.”
Hunters have killed an estimated 60,000 seals so far out of a total allowable quota of 330,000 animals.
Pelts are selling this year from about $15 to $21 each.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Why Pick on the Poor Fisherman?
Of all the people in the world killing animals with impunity why pick on the maritime fisherman?.
Killing of any kind is a messy business. I cannot see the difference between killing a seal and a veal calf, a spring lamb, a suckling pig, a capon etc. etc.
The seals need to be culled. Nobody is trying to wipe out the seals but right now they are eating more than their fair share and their Natural Predators Polar Bears, Sharks and Killer Whales have all greatly reduced populations.
It is time for Fair Play For Sealers.
Killing of any kind is a messy business. I cannot see the difference between killing a seal and a veal calf, a spring lamb, a suckling pig, a capon etc. etc.
The seals need to be culled. Nobody is trying to wipe out the seals but right now they are eating more than their fair share and their Natural Predators Polar Bears, Sharks and Killer Whales have all greatly reduced populations.
It is time for Fair Play For Sealers.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Canada's annual seal hunt off to slow start
28 MARCH 2010 - 22H45
Canada's annual seal hunt off to slow start
Seal hunters kill a seal near their boat in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in 2008. Canada's annual seal hunt was off to a slow start Sunday, with most fishing boats still moored in their harbors, as missing ice floes in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence kept their prey hundreds of miles to the north.
AFP - Canada's annual seal hunt was off to a slow start Sunday, with most fishing boats still moored in their harbors, as missing ice floes in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence kept their prey hundreds of miles to the north.
"I know one boat set sail tonight, at around 4:00 am in the morning," Magdalen Island seal hunters' association president Denis Longuepee told AFP.
"In past years, there were 10 to 40 boats weighing anchor"
"I know one boat set sail tonight, at around 4:00 am in the morning," Magdalen Island seal hunters' association president Denis Longuepee told AFP.
"In past years, there were 10 to 40 boats weighing anchor"
Minister Shea Increases Quota for Atlantic Seal Harvest
March 15, 2010
OTTAWA – The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, today announced an increase in the total allowable catch (TAC) for harp seals for the 2010 Atlantic seal harvest.
“Our government recognizes the importance of the sealing industry to the people and the economies of Canadian coastal communities,” said Minister Shea. “Ongoing efforts are made to ensure our management decisions include the perspective of our scientists, as well as the input of Canadians in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and the North who work and depend on the industry for their livelihood.”
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