The Economics of a Bloodbath (Canadian baby seal slaughter)

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The Economics of a Bloodbath

 

Source >

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11659086/site/newsweek/

 

The annual baby-seal hunt is underway in Canada. Could

devaluing these beautiful animals actually save them?

Heather and Paul McCartney visited a seal pup in the

Gulf of St. Lawrence on March 2

Tom Hanson / AP

Heather and Paul McCartney visited a seal pup in the

Gulf of St. Lawrence on March 2

 

By Patti Davis

Newsweek

Updated: 4:53 p.m. ET March 3, 2006

 

March 3, 2006 - Despite mounting pressure to cancel

the yearly seal hunt, in which hundreds of thousands

of baby harp seals are killed simply for their pelts,

the Canadian government is allowing the bloodbath to

continue.

Story continues below & #8595; advertisement

 

Between 2003 and 2005, an estimated 1 million seal

pups were slaughtered according to the Canadian

Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The kill levels

are twice as high as they were in the 1960s when

international outrage succeeded in closing down

several markets for seal pelts. The United States

banned the import of seal products in 1972, and the

European Union agreed to a partial ban. Canada

eventually banned the killing of “whitecoats” (baby

seals) in 1987. But those white coats are replaced by

spotted gray coats in a matter of weeks--at which time

the seals are eligible for the hunt.

 

Last year alone, more than 315,000 seals were killed.

Some environmentalists report that some of the animals

are skinned alive and are left to die in agony.

Canada’s claim that the hunt is regulated and

monitored has been disputed every year by protesters

who show up at the same time the sealers do and have

witnessed what really goes on.

 

The hunt begins in March after females give birth to

pups with soft plush fur. That fur is the reason that

the ice floes turn red with blood. The defenseless

pups, who have no way to escape the sealers’ clubs and

rifles, are prized only for their pelts. Only for

fashion statements.

 

Some people have held out hope that with a new prime

minister, the annual hunt can be stopped. Stephen

Harper has replaced Paul Martin, who was an

uncompromising supporter of the hunt. As yet, though,

a regime change hasn’t helped. There has been no

indication that it will be canceled.

 

 

However, there is some good news. Italy has banned the

import of seal products, and the British government is

strongly considering doing the same. It’s clear that

if compassion will not end this mass slaughter, maybe

economics can. If no one is buying seal pelts, the

pups (less than three months old) will not be clubbed,

shot and skinned. Many might actually fulfill their

life expectancy of 30 years.

 

On Thursday, Paul and Heather McCartney visited the

Gulf of St. Lawrence to bring worldwide attention to

the pups whose fate is in the hands of the Canadian

government. Working with the Humane Society of the

United States, they have stated their commitment to

make this a global issue.

 

Predictably, sealers don’t appreciate the high-profile

attention the McCartneys’ visit will bring to this

issue. The Canadian press quoted Jack Troake, a

70-year-old sealer, who said, “It’s something we’ve

done for 500 years. It’s helped to sustain us. We go

to bed with a full stomach, a tight roof over our

heads. It’s part of our culture, our history.”

 

Are we to actually believe that there is no other way

for thousands of people to make a living? That all

they are equipped to do is kill seal pups and skin

them? And as far as traditions dating back hundreds of

years, there are plenty of old traditions that have

been banished as countries have grown more civilized:

town lynchings, slavery, bleeding people with leeches,

stoning women to death … to name a few.

 

In the end, supporters of the seal hunt may find that

their worst enemy is global warming. Unseasonably warm

temperatures have prevented the formation of many ice

floes, which is where females go to give birth. There

is extremely low ice cover in both the Gulf of St.

Lawrence and waters northeast of Newfoundland, both

primary breeding sites.

 

It would be nice if appealing to the hearts and

compassion of human beings was enough. But some of

earth’s inhabitants sadly only listen to money.

Countries that are banning imports of seal products

will probably make the most difference. Perhaps the

only way to save these beautiful creatures is to

render them economically worthless. It’s a strange

world when the only way to save something valuable is

by devaluing it.