FW: Action Alert - Canada's other seal hunt

February 11, 2008

Sat, 9 Feb 2008 14:39:25 -0500Action Alert - Canada's other seal huntactionTo: action

WHAT WHINING NOVA SCOTIA FISHERMEN WANT,WHINING NOVA SCOTIA FISHERMEN GETTHOUSANDS OF PROTECTED SEALS BETRAYEDBY PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT AND DFOThe Beginning of the Exterminationof Yet Another Species

ALERT DATE: February 8 , 2008

ALERT DEADLINE: ONGOING

Nova Scotia fishermen today proved that if you whine and scream like a baby to your government for long enough, you really can get what you want.

The Nova Scotia government and DFO have announced that thousands of baby and adult grey seals will be slaughtered on Hay Island, a protected wilderness area under the "care and protection" of the Nova Scotia provincial government.

No wonder DFO has been avoiding my phone calls and emails requesting start dates and locations for the planned slaughter of grey seals in Cape Breton this month in an attempt to secure an observer's permit. The last thing the folks at DFO want is someone witnessing the ultimate betrayal by the provincial and federal governments - thousands of baby and adult grey seals who live in a provincially-owned protected wilderness area being savagely bludgeoned to death with clubs and hakapiks by a crowd of furious, untrained fishermen who bitterly blame the seals for the sad state of the groundfish stocks.

Ron Chisholm claims the slaughter of up to 2,500 seals is necessary "to protect fish species". There is absolutely no scientific proof that seals are responsible for the decline in fish stocks or the failure of those fish stocks to rebound in recent years. And DFO knows this. This is simply the same old refrain we've been hearing from the federal government to justify the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of harp and hooded seal pups each year in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and The Front.

Chisholm goes on to say, "And we do know that there has been a population explosion of grey seals in that area." What Mr. Chisholm fails to add is that grey seals have been hunted nearly to extinction in the past and are in the process of recovering. Again, the same old government rhetoric and misinformation.

Chisholm wants to assure everyone that this is a one-year slaughter and will not be an annual occurrence. Don't believe it. This is just the beginning. Fishermen long ago declared war on the grey seal and now the government has given its blessing for the extermination of the species. Next it will be Sable Island where the majority of grey seals breed and live, enjoying the protection of the government. Nova Scotia fishermen have been requesting permission to slaughter grey seals on Sable Island since 1999. Sable Island's remote location, unpredictable weather and rough waters make it difficult for fishermen to slaughter seals there, but you can be assured that once they find a way to get there, they will do it and bludgeon and shoot every last seal they find. All with the consent and blessing of a government tasked with protecting these animals.

Gus Van Helvoort, spokesman for the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans says, "It's very much a commercial harvest that has a long history and the fact that the population has increased as much as it has over the past 20 plus years provides an opportunity to re-evaluate that harvest."

Let's look at the commercial aspect first. So what exactly are the products of this commercial hunt? Grey seal skins have always been less desirable in quality and lower in value than the skins of harp and hooded seals. Demand for seal products has decreased as a growing list of countries around the world have banned the importation and sale of all seal products. The European Commission is currently considering implementing a European Union-wide ban on all seal products. This would of course include products from grey seals. What's left? The flesh from slaughtered seals? Laden with Brucellosis, an infectious disease caused by the bacteria of the genus Brucella and transmittable to humans who come in contact with contaminated animal products. Or maybe seal oil, that bottle of grease of mythical proportions touted by Newfoundlanders as being the cure-all for everything? I somehow doubt that bottles of grease loaded with mercury, PCBs, Brucellosis and possibly Tuberculosis will sell like hotcakes in Nova Scotia.

Now let's examine the "traditional" aspect. It is true that Nova Scotians have been killing grey seals for decades, from government-run annual culls from 1967 to 1983 involving the killing of all adult and nursing pups, to bounty programs from 1976 to 1992 wherein fishermen were paid by the government for killing grey seals and presenting their jawbone as proof of death, to the hundreds of licenses issued by DFO each year to fishermen to kill seals they believe are "interfering" with their fishing gear, resulting in hundreds of bloated rotting corpses being left in our waters and on our shores for shocked tourists to find. However, this commercial "seal fishery" is not a tradition, nor is it part of the "cultural fabric" of this province. An experimental commercial "seal fishery" was established in 2004. Hardly the "long history" Van Helvoort claims.

It's time Nova Scotians took action to hold the government accountable for its actions and to prevent further atrocities from going unnoticed. Silence and inaction indicates support of the slaughter. No compassionate person can condone this slaughter. Now is the time to act.

I urge everyone - whether Nova Scotian, Canadian or from the International Community to write to the following government officials, voicing your opposition to this latest atrocity.

Nova Scotian and Canadian citizens - let these government officials know that whining and wailing fishermen are not the only ones in this province and country who have voting power. The majority of Canadians who oppose the slaughter of seals in this country intend to begin flexing their voting power, making this a voting issue and the policy of "What the Fishermen Want, the Fishermen Get" will very shortly cost them elections. Tell them that the Atlantic Canadian Anti-Sealing Coalition sent you.

The Honourable Rodney MacDonaldPremier of Nova ScotiaOffice of the PremierP.O. Box 726Halifax, NS B3J 2T3Tel: 902-424-6600premier

The Honourable Ron ChisholmMinister of Fisheries and Aquaculture1741 Brunswick St. 3rd FloorP.O. Box 2223 Halifax, NS B3J 3C4 Tel: 902-424-8953Fax: 902-424-0699/0698MIN_DFA

The Honourable David MorseMinister of Natural Resources1701 Hollis Street P.O. Box 698 Halifax, NS B3J 2T9Tel: 902-424-4037 Fax: 902-424-0594 MIN_DNR

For more information visit: http://www.antisealingcoalition.ca/GreySeals