Canadian Fisheries Declares War on Seal Defenders

[Guest guest]

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

 

Canadian Fisheries Minister Declares War on Seal

Defenders

 

 

If you are concerned about protecting baby harp seals,

opposed to the savage brutality of the annual Canadian

seal slaughter and concerned about the irreparable

damage that the Canadian Department of Fisheries and

Oceans has done to the oceanic eco-systems off the

Eastern coast of Canada then the Canadian Minister of

Fisheries has declared that you are an enemy of

Canada.

 

 

Canadian Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn said today

that he is promising a war with animal rights and

conservation organizations over the slaughter. Hearn

said that he is prepared to “wage a war” to protect

the Atlantic seal hunt.

 

These words go down well with Newfoundlanders, the

people who elected Hearn but to the rest of Canada ,

they are the words of an extremist who is prepared to

violate the rights of the citizens of Canada to defend

the savage annual slaughter of seal pups.

 

“Hearn is declaring war on all Canadian citizens who

are opposed to the killing. He is declaring war

against the European Parliament and against

international organizations opposed to the killing of

seals.” Said Captain Paul Watson. “This seems like

bizarre language for a Conservative Canadian cabinet

minister.”

 

 

Hearn is incensed that the European Parliament has

adopted a proposal calling for a ban on seal pelts

into Europe . The proposal was signed by 386 European

lawmakers.

 

 

Hearn insists that European politicians have been

misinformed by animal rights activists, yet some of

these members of the European Parliament have seen the

slaughter with their own eyes.

 

“The Minister is demonstrating a gross disrespect for

European leaders by accusing them of acting without

the facts and without verification of the facts.” Said

Captain Watson. “The facts are clear, only the

Canadian government is in denial of the facts.”

 

The fact is that the annual seal hunt is inhumane. It

is a threat not only to the survival of the harp seal

species but also to the survival of the eco-system

that the seals are an important part of. It is a fact

that harp seals are a benefit to cod and not the cause

of their diminishment. The cause of the collapse of

the cod fishery was gross incompetence and

mismanagement of the fishery by the Canadian

Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The fact is that

the majority of Canadian oppose the slaughter of seals

and the fact is that the rest of the world abhors the

slaughter of seals in Canada , Norway , Russia and

Namibia .

 

According to the Canadian media Hearn said, " What

happens when they stop the seal hunt? What's next? Is

it the slaughter of lambs? " said Hearn, who represents

a St. John's, Newfoundland riding.

 

" They're already after chicken. Lobster is becoming a

target. So where does it stop? As far as we're

concerned, it stops right here, and if they want a war

over this, they bloody well got one. "

 

 

Captain Paul Watson who wrote the book Seal Wars!

about the Canadian slaughter of seals said, “We’ve

been at war with the government of Canada on this

issue since the 60’s. It’s nice that Loyola Hearn has

finally noticed.”

 

 

Captain Watson is confident that conservationists will

win this war eventually. “We have demonstrated that we

are persistent, that we are not going away and that we

will never surrender to this perversity. We will shut

down this bloody obscenity and we will win. The

Canadian slaughter of seals has no place in the 21st

Century. It’s time for Canada to join the modern world

and to put the bloody clubs away forever.”

 

 

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society greets the

declaration from Loyola Hearn very enthusiastically.

 

 

First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then

they fight you, then you win.

 

Finally the Ministry of Fisheries has recognized the

seriousness of the international protest and now

recognizes that the protests are having an economic

impact, especially on the sales of Canadian seafood

products. He's not ignoring us anymore. Now he wants

to fight.

 

Hearn also implied that concerns about the inhumane

slaughter are communist. " In many of the European

countries, as you know, the governments are much more

left wing than our own, and it's not very hard to find

sympathizers to such causes, " Hearn said.

 

In fact it is not hard to find sympathizers against

the slaughter from most of the civilized world.

Opposition to the seal hunt comes from all over the

world from across the political spectrum.

 

Last week Hearn stated that European support for a ban

on seal pelts was disrespectful to the Canadian

soldiers who died liberating Europe .

 

Sea Shepherd International Chair Farley Mowat

responded to this by saying, “Speaking as a veteran

who participated in the liberation of Holland ,

Belgium and Europe I can state categorically that the

best way for Europeans to show their appreciation for

the role of Canadians in the liberation of Europe is

to ban the sale of seal pelts in Europe .”

 

“Hearn is not very media savvy and tends to shoot from

the lip” said Captain Watson. “This guy is the best

mouthpiece for the sealers we have had since John

Efford.”

 

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has actively

opposed the slaughter of seals since 1979. Prior to

that Captain Paul Watson led two Greenpeace campaigns

against the seal hunt in 1976 and 1977.

 

Seal products have been banned in the United States

since 1972.

 

The European declaration, if approved, would not apply

to the aboriginal hunt of seals.

 

 

 

 

Captain Paul Watson

Founder and President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation

Society (1977-

Co-Founder - The Greenpeace Foundation (1972)

Co-Founder - Greenpeace International (1979) of the Sierra Club USA (2003-2006) - The Farley Mowat Institute - www.harpseals.org

 

 

" Sail forth - steer for the deep waters only,

Reckless O soul, exploring, I with thee and thou with

me, For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared

to go, And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all. "

- Walt

Whitman

 

 

www.Seashepherd.org

Tel: 360-370-5650

Fax: 360-370-5651

 

Address: P.O. Box 2616

Friday Harbor, Wa 98250 USA