Inhumanities of the North Atlantic
Seals before fashion
Melissa Hiebert
“Canada’s department of fisheries and oceans is the most mismanaged and incompetent government department to date.” This statement was made by Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), at a recent lecture given at the University of Winnipeg. Watson appears to be easily justified in his remarks, given the rapidly decreasing supply of cod, salmon and other species of fish over the past two decades due to over fishing. Although some (lenient) restrictions were placed on the numbers of fish that could be caught, they have not been properly enforced. And, according to scientists, these depleting fish species may never be able to repopulate.
As if the near disappearance of several species of fish wasn’t evidence enough of negligence on the part of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the continual allowance of the brutal slaying of 350,000 harp seals per year seems to speak just as loudly. Seals as young as three weeks old, the “official” age for seals to be considered adults, are clubbed to death annually for their pelts. The pelts are then marketed for commercial purposes. According to the SSCS, much of the time the blow to the head is not sufficient to kill the seals and as a result, 42 per cent of them are skinned alive.
Not only does the Canadian government allow this atrocious practice to continue (setting quota limits higher and higher every year), it even indirectly subsidizes the hunt by sending out the coast guard’s icebreaker ships to clear pathways for dozens of sealers, who otherwise could not reach their prey. With an estimated 100 million tax dollars spent every year to operate these icebreaker ships, the cost is six times the revenue generated by the seal hunt. A mere $1,000 goes directly to each seal hunter.
The government claims that the seals are in part responsible for the disappearance of the cod. However, as advocacy groups such as SSCS and Greenpeace stress, a harp seal only relies on cod for three per cent of its diet. In fact, harp seals consume much greater numbers of larger fish, many of which are considered to be natural predators of cod. The rumor that seals are contributing to depleting cod supplies is propagated only to further the justification of the seal hunt. In addition to these rumors, the government has laws in place preventing anyone but sealers from coming within a half-mile of the seals. Consequently, anyone wishing to document the seal hunt is prohibited because of the threat of fines or other legal action.
However, it appears that it is legal for sealers to retaliate with physical violence towards anyone who attempts to approach or photograph the seals. Last spring, the sealers beat the Sea Shepherd crew with clubs after the crew had attempted to film their actions. The crew was instructed by their captain not to fight back in any way. The whole ordeal was caught on tape and handed over to authorities. To this day, the sealers involved have all been identified but no charges have been laid on the grounds that, according to the RCMP, as argued by Watson, the crew’s presence on the ice provoked the sealers’ violent response.
Despite the government’s clear support of the seal hunt, the general Canadian population is against it. A survey conducted by the Environics Research for the International Fund for Animal Welfare found that 69 per cent of Canadians are opposed to the seal hunt. Seventy-seven per cent were reported to oppose certain aspects of the hunt, while 78 per cent opposed government subsidies provided to the sealers. Only a meager four per cent of those polled stated that they would be upset if the hunt was put to an end.
The seal hunt will continue as long as the government can get away with condoning and supporting such atrocities. Millions of dollars each year come unknowingly out of taxpayers’ wallets to support this massacre. To prevent this inhumane practice from continuing, pressure must be put on the government to not only cease their involvement, but to set up and enforce laws to protect the seals from being subjected to these cruel beatings in the name of high fashion.
Melissa Hiebert is a second-year philosophy student.
