Want to Help End the Seal Hunt? Boycott Canadian Seafood.

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http://www.hsus.org/marine_mammals/protect_seals/why_a_boycott_of_canadian_seafood.html

 

Animal

and environment protection organizations have negotiated for years with

the Canadian government to put an end to its seal hunt—the largest commercial

slaughter of marine mammals in the world. But as the kill levels and the

cruelty of the hunt escalate, it is clear Canada

will only take action once the politics and economics surrounding this issue

change.

This is

why the Protect

Seals network, which includes The HSUS, will call for a boycott of

Canadian seafood products as soon as the first baby seal is killed in March

2005. The network believes the Canadian government will quickly realize

the economic impact of a fisheries boycott is too high a price to pay for the

seal hunt.

It is the

connection between commercial fisheries and the seal hunt, and the economics of

both industries, which makes a boycott of Canadian seafood products a logical

next step in ending the annual hunt. And it is American distributors of Canadian

seafood who are the ones—perhaps the only ones—who have the

leverage needed to convince the Canadian government and individual

fishermen to stop the slaughter of seals.

 

 

 

 

 

Help stop

the seal hunt and other forms of animal cruelty.

 

 

 

Sealers are

fishermen. Seal hunting is what they do during the off-season in coastal Newfoundland

and Quebec. Each fisherman/sealer

earns about one twentieth of his annual income from sealing. Out of a

population of more than 30 million people, less than 5,000 Canadians

participate in the commercial seal hunt each year.

Sealing

accounts for a tiny fraction of the value of the fishery. Even in Newfoundland,

where 90% of sealers live, the economic contribution of the seal hunt is

marginal at best. Ninety-eight percent of the landed value of Newfoundland’s

fishery comes from fish, while only 2% comes from seals. It is important to

note that Newfoundland’s

fishery has never been wealthier in its history, and that the growth is due

largely to shellfish.

The bulk

of Canadian seafood—an estimated 75% of it—is exported to the

United States, generating more than $3 billion (CAD) annually for the

Canadian economy. In contrast, the seal hunt provides only a few million

dollars each year to Canada.

The

Importance of Snow Crabs

Since

nine out of ten sealers reside in Newfoundland,

it makes sense to target the fishermen in that region. One way to get them to

listen to the international outrage over the seal hunt is to hit them in the

pocketbook, and that means snow crabs.

More than

80% of the value of Newfoundland’s

fishery is from shellfish such as snow crabs, while sealing accounts for only

2%. Canadian snow crab exports to the United States—the bulk of which

originate in Newfoundland—are valued at more than $370 million (USD) a year.

This dwarfs the few million dollars from the seal hunt in comparison.

Almost

all U.S.

snow crab imports come from Canada.

So simply by eliminating just one product from their menus, American

restaurants can send a direct message to the very industry and individuals

responsible for the seal hunt.

Sign

the Pledge

The

Canadian government, Canada's

fishing industry, and individual sealers face an important economic decision in

the coming weeks. When the first seal pup is clubbed or shot to death this spring,

the ProtectSeals network will call for a U.S.

boycott of Canadian seafood products.

If you

own or run an American restaurant that distributes Canadian seafood, your

choice not to sell snow crabs or other Canadian seafood products can play

a vital role in helping us end the seal hunt. By signing our pledge form, you

will help us demonstrate to the Canadian fishing community that continuing the

seal hunt puts at risk the most lucrative parts of its industry. The pledge

form will be ready soon; in the meantime, you can e-mail protect-seals for more

information.

Fast

Facts about Canada’s Seal Hunt

It’s

a cruel slaughter.

 

Fully 95% of the

harp seals killed over the past five years have been under three months of

age. At the time of slaughter, many of these defenseless pups had not yet

eaten their first solid food or taken their first swim—they

literally had no escape from the " hunters. "

Video

evidence clearly shows sealers routinely dragging conscious pups

across the ice with boathooks, shooting seals and leaving them to suffer

in agony, and even skinning seals alive.

In 2001, an

independent team of veterinary experts studied Canada’s

commercial seal hunt. Their report concluded that in 42% of the cases they

examined, the seal did not show enough evidence of cranial injury to even

guarantee unconsciousness at the time of skinning.

 

It’s

a reckless cull.

 

In 2003, the

Canadian government authorized the

highest quota for harp seals in history, allowing nearly a million to

be slaughtered over three years.

In 2004, more

than 353,000 harp seals were killed for their fur—the largest

slaughter witnessed in half a century.

The last time

sealers killed this many seals—in the 1950s and '60s—close to

two-thirds of the harp seal population was wiped out.

 

The

seal hunt brings in very little money.

 

Even in Newfoundland,

where 90% of sealers live, income from sealing accounts for less than one-tenth

of 1% of the province’s economy.

Sealers are

fishermen who engage in several fisheries throughout the year, and sealing

revenues account for only about one twentieth of their total incomes.

 

Killing

seals may harm fish stocks.

 

About 3 % of a harp seal’s

diet consists of commercially fished cod. However, harp seals also consume

many significant predators of cod, including squid. Removing harp seals

may mean an increase in cod predators.

The Canadian

government clearly states there is no evidence that killing harp seals

will help fish stocks recover, and scientists have expressed concerns that

culling seals may in fact impede the recovery of ground fish stocks.

 

If

you oppose the seal hunt, you’re in good company.

 

Polling shows 71% of

Canadians—including 60% of Atlantic Canadians—support banning

the seal hunt outright, or limiting the hunt to seals over one year of

age. (Ipsos-Reid, 2004).

In European

Union countries where polling has been conducted—the United

Kingdom, France,

Germany,

and the Netherlands—close

to 80% of people who are aware of the Canadian seal hunt oppose it (MORI,

2002).

Polling shows 79% of

American voters oppose the Canadian seal hunt (Penn, Schoen & Berland, 2002).