Ottawa Fails to Support Atlantic Canada
When will Ottawa finally stand up for Atlantic Canada and simply stop allowing activist groups to use the seal hunt as their annual fund raiser?
Yesterday Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn said that DFO intended to continue granting permits to animal rights groups, allowing them to visit the ice and film the hunt. His arguement was that we are conducting a legal hunt in a humane manner and keeping people from seeing the process would make it look like we had something to hide. In my opinion Mr. Hearn's statement is nothing more than a cop out.
When was the last time anyone can recall activist groups being given free reign to video tape the inner workings of a slaughter house? When was the last time they offered public tours of the killing floors in a meat processing plant? The beef, poultry and pork industries do not allow activists to wander around their place of business and for a good reason. What happens isn't very pretty.
Does the public take this ban on general entry as a sign that something wrong is going on inside? No, becuase the industry is monitored and the factories visited by various agencies to ensure that humane treatment and health guidelines are followed. The same should be done in the sealing industry.
Permits to view the hunt should be issued to unbiased, perhaps even international observers, who are willing to report the truth, good or bad, but not to slant it in a way that meets a predefined agenda. Yes, if this were done activist groups would no doubt shout and stamp their feet for a while. They'd probably claim Canada was trying to hide atrocities and they'd lobby to be given access. Let them.
With independent authorities monitoring the hunt and giving the public all the information it needs to make an honest appraisal these groups can yell into the wind all they want but what ammunition would they really be able to use?
When a country is accused of human rights violations the international community will often send independent observers and investigators. They don't allow activist groups who've already made up their minds to appraise the situation. When a country is thought to be dealing with nuclear weapons the international community will have independent inspectors review the situation, not uninformed movie stars or aging musicians.
We've all heard the misinformation some of these activist groups spread. An example of this is the recently published list of restaraunts that are supposedly boycotting Canadian seafood. According to one activist group the boycott is going great and gaining momentum. A consumer group recently contacted over a third of the restaraunts named and found that many were still serving Canadian seafood. Those particular restaraunts did not even know they were on the list. Others contacted were vegetarian restaruaunts that never did serve seafood and many others never served Canadian seafood in the first place. According to the report only about 13% of those listed were actually supporting the anti-seal movement in their boycott.
Can we trust organizations who spread this type of mis-information to honestly appraise the methods and standards employed at the hunt? Mr. Hearn's comment about letting them continue to monitor the hunt is just the latest in a series of sell outs by governments over the years. Can these people not see beyond the ends of their noses.
Yes, we should absolutely allow the hunt to be monitored. In that way we can all ensure that humane and safe practices are employed. Having said that, I believe it's time our government stood up for Atlantic Canada and stopped passing out permits to activist groups, like so much candy. I mean come on folks, are activist groups, who stand to make millions from protesting the hunt, really the ones who should be monitoring it?
106 comments:
The Public Face of Rick Berman
Rick Berman’s History
Quotes by Rick Berman and the Center for Consumer Freedom
Quotes Regarding Rick Berman: Negative, Positive, and Incriminating
Media Shreds Deceptive Nonprofit Group
Appendices
I Individuals Who Have Been Associated with Berman
II Businesses That Have Been Associated With Berman
III Contributions to Berman - Dollar Amounts by Company and Year
IV Organizations That Have Been Attacked by Berman
V Documented Donations of $2,950,000 from Philip Morris to Rick Berman/CCF
What Is the Center for Consumer Freedom,
and Why Is It Attacking PETA?
The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit corporation run by lobbyist Richard Berman through his Washington, D.C.-based for-profit public relations company, Berman & Co. The Center for Consumer Freedom, formerly known as the Guest Choice Network, was set up by Berman with a $600,000 “donation” from tobacco company Philip Morris.
Berman arranges for large sums of corporate money to find its way into nonprofit societies of which he is the executive director. He then hires his own company as a consultant to these nonprofit groups. Of the millions of dollars “donated” by Philip Morris between the years 1995 and 1998, 49 percent to 79 percent went directly to Berman or Berman & Co.
Richard Berman is an influence peddler. He has worked out a scheme to funnel charitable donations from wealthy corporations into his own pocket. In exchange, he provides a flurry of disinformation, flawed studies, op-ed pieces, letters to the editor, and trade-industry articles, as well as access to his high-level government contacts, who are servants of the industries he represents.
Berman’s name might sound familiar. In 1995, Berman and Norm Brinker, his former boss at Steak and Ale Restaurants, were identified as the special-interest lobbyists who donated the $25,000 that disgraced then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who was hauled before the House Ethics Committee for influence-peddling over the money. Berman and Brinker were lobbying against raising the minimum wage.
Richard Berman is a spin doctor. For example, he has argued against a Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) initiative to lower the blood alcohol content (BAC) limit for drivers by claiming that the stricter limits would punish responsible social drinkers. He has claimed that U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warnings about salmonella-related food poisoning are just “whipping up fear over food.”
Here’s how an internal Philip Morris memo described Berman’s spin: “His proposed solution would broaden the focus of the ‘smoking issue,’ and expand into the bigger picture of over-regulation.” Smoking won’t kill you; over-regulation will.
Berman is “a one-man wrecking crew on important issues.” His approach has been described as “misleading” and “despicable.” Berman has been called “a tobacco company whore,” but he’s branched out since then.
Using “freedom of choice” as his battle cry, Berman has now taken on PETA and a number of other groups and organizations whose points of view could have an impact on the profits of his clients by waking consumers up. Berman’s Guest Choice Network has an “advisory panel” whose members in 1998 included officials representing companies ranging from Cargill Processed Meat Products and Outback Steakhouse to Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association and Sutter Home Winery. Berman’s clients are companies with vested interests in low employee wages; cheap, unhealthy restaurant-chain food, particularly meat; and tobacco, soft drink, and alcohol consumption—companies like Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, Armour Swift, and Philip Morris, whose product line includes Kraft Foods and everything from Marlboro cigarettes to Oscar Meyer wieners and which is a major shareholder in its former subsidiary Miller Brewing, now known as SABMiller.
PETA’s recent successes in gaining fast-food industry concessions for more humane conditions for farm animals have sent ripples of fear through the food and beverage service industry. About the same time that McDonald’s buckled to PETA’s demands, Richard Berman changed his front group’s name and stepped up his attacks.
The key to Berman’s aggressive strategy is, in his own words, “to shoot the messenger ... we’ve got to attack their credibility as spokespersons,”—an interesting remark from someone whose background and funding so severely challenge his own credibility.
Why don't you ask Hearn and Williams to release some footage of the humane killing? That should help.
Here's the clip by Global
http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=34ef328c-371b-4a7a-bd57-f9e0f4194efa#
Go to Troy Reeb reports for the video
CR
"Why don't you ask Hearn and Williams to release some footage of the humane killing? That should help."
Always go back to the emotional issue - when no logical argument can be made, when deceit is revealed for what it is as per the farse that is the restaurant boycott... when all else fails - run that clip again...
Heather and Paul McCartney Issue Statement on Start of 2006 Canadian Seal Slaughter
March 24, 2006
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I – Heather and Paul McCartney have issued a video statement today through The Humane Society of the United States to mark the start of the annual Canadian seal hunt tomorrow morning. Earlier this month, the McCartneys visited the harp seal nursery on the ice floes to observe the newborn pups.
"We're devastated to learn that 325,000 of these harp seals—almost all of them defenseless babies—will be clubbed and shot to death," said Heather McCartney. "Compassionate people from all around the world are opposed to this seal hunt, including the majority of Canadians, and we urge them to contact their Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and ask him to ban the hunt."
"Heather and I chose to come out to the ice floes before the hunt began because it would break our hearts to have to see the cruelty of the hunt," said Paul McCartney. "But we are absolutely committed to making sure this is the last slaughter of baby seals in Canada anyone will ever have to witness."
The McCartneys pointed out that an important strategy to ending the hunt is closing down the global markets for seal products and that countries such as Greenland, Mexico, and Italy have taken steps to ban the import of sealskins. "When countries stop buying sealskins, there will be no reason for sealers to kill the seals," said Heather McCartney. "We are asking every single country to please, please stop buying seal products so this hunt will stop."
Paul McCartney offered an alternative to the hunt—"We're proposing a fair solution to all of this—a sealing license buy-back plan. This is a win-win solution: fishermen would be compensated for any lost revenue when the hunt is closed, and Canada would have a graceful way to put an end to a cruel and needless practice that should have been stopped many years ago."
"Heather and Paul McCartney noted in their statement that a global boycott of Canadian seafood products has already cost Canada many times the value of the seal hunt," said Rebecca Aldworth, director of Canadian wildlife issues for The HSUS. "Clearly, the Canadian government and fishing industry have an economic choice to make."
A copy of the McCartney video is available for viewing at:
Windows Media: http://stream.realimpact.net/?file=realimpact/hsus/2006-seal-hunt/mccartneys-06-seal-statement.wmv&type=wmv
Real Media: http://stream.realimpact.net/?file=realimpact/hsus/2006-seal-hunt/mccartneys-06-seal-statement.rm
Broadcast quality footage is available on request.
The Humane Society of the United States is documenting the seal hunt and will have high-resolution photographs and video b-roll available.
--30--
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with more than 9.5 million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals, disaster preparedness and response, wildlife and habitat protection, marine mammals, animals in research, equine protection, and farm animal welfare. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy and field work. The nonprofit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives and offices across the country. On the web at www.hsus.org.
First off - at least in America, slaughterhouses are staffed with observers and health officials to prevent imhumane treatment and slaughter as well as mishandling of meat that could be contaminated - which is WHY they're not open to the public - its a HEALTH issue.
Which isn't present on open ice when slaughtering baby seals for their fur. Which is what you do.
Now, that said, I can agree that Non-Canadians can and maybe should be prohibited from the ice.
But how can you argue denying a Canadian citizen of any political ilk access to public land they own as a taxpayer?
By the way, here's a word for you -
AUDIT.
IFAW. HSUS. SSCS. They all get audited every year. They all have to make the records public by law.
Advocating for a viewpoint isn't a crime, and neither is raising money.
If nobody thought they were right, nobody would give them money. The fact that they do, and they spend so much exposing this slaughter for the cruelty that it is and the sealers for the barbarians that they are ought to tell you something.
On the other hand - if I was a useless ignorant Newfie with a club in my hand, I wouldn't want my face on CNN either.
There's a difference between monitoring and observing.
Activists Observe. The DFO monitors.
Maybe if your boys actually did their jobs rather than sucking on Newfie Cock all day, Rebecca Aldworth wouldn't have to be out there to show you useless faggots what a woman looks like?
Pleasant sealing. Hope you all drown and your bodies preserved with frozen smiles.
Saving Seals for the Money
Commentary by Paul Watson
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
There seems to be common theme running through the propaganda efforts of seal slaughter defenders. The accusation is that we defenders of the seals are defending seals for the money.
The perception from Newfoundland is that all of us who are opposing the slaughter of seals are making vast sums of money and that we are stockpiling incredible wealth in offshore bank accounts.
Last year, in a radio debate with former Canadian Natural Resources Minister John Efford, he openly accused me of having a secret offshore bank account where I’ve deposited “millions of dollars” obtained from members of the gullible public.
Of course, being a member of the Liberal cabinet he was quite familiar with offshore bank accounts, slush funds, and easy money. In fact, Efford collected a hefty paycheck on a very extended sick leave until forced to resign for dereliction of his duties.
And this year, we have a new cast of Newfoundland politicians like Premier Danny Williams and Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn screaming about vast sums of money being made by the people working to end the slaughter of seals.
It is interesting that all three of these men hail from Newfoundland, because pretty much all of the hate mail that I get is from Newfoundland and says the same thing. These people are obsessed with the fantasy that we have all become millionaires from saving seals.
One of the reasons for this is that they can’t imagine doing anything without making money from it. The very idea of spending time without profit to stop the killing of seals is extremely alien to these critics.
I also love how they keep changing the subject. Today one such critic asked me what we were doing to help bears in China. The answer is that we support Animals Asia and their efforts to save bears. [www.animalsasia.org]
They also ask what we are doing to stop the slaughter of cows, pigs, and chickens. The answer is simple – we don’t eat them. Of course, when you say that, they label you a fanatic. You can’t win, a hypocrite if you eat meat and a fanatic if you don’t.
It is constantly a game of distraction with them. Heather Mills McCartney scolded Premier Danny Williams quite properly on the Larry King show when she accused him of being a typical politician, constantly changing the subject and trying to distract from the issue.
But really, that is all that Danny and his fellow seal killers can do. How else can they defend the grossly inhumane and viciously cruel mass slaughter of baby seals? How else can they even attempt to overcome the images of steaming scarlet blood on pristine ice floes or the awful image of grown men swinging clubs to smash and shatter the tiny, thin skulls of little seal pups?
The fact is that sealers are barbarians engaged in an industry that belongs in the dark ages. This kind of torturous trade in pain and carnage has no place in the modern world. It is archaic barbarism plain and simple.
But if Williams, Loyola, and Efford really believe that we are in it for the money, then I have some advice for them: End it! Cut off the supposed source of our wealth. Take away the reason you believe we are making tons of money. Stop killing seals.
I really wish we were raising the great sums of money that these foul defenders of slaughter say we are. It would give us more resources with which to battle their horrendous obscene little industry.
The fact is that every dollar, every pound, euro, and peso we collect to oppose the slaughter of the seals is spent on opposing the slaughter of the seals.
We are public a charity. Our books are open. If we were abusing our funding, we would go to jail. And because we are controversial, we have been audited.
And guess what Williams, Loyola, and Efford? We passed the audit by the Internal Revenue Service without any penalties. Why? Because your propaganda is just that – nothing more than lies created for the sole purpose of attempting to discredit people who are passionately compassionate.
Do you think we like being attacked by your thugs on the ice? Do you think I enjoyed being beaten severely by drunken, violent sealers in the Madgalen Islands? Do you think we like being arrested and jailed – humiliated by Fisheries officers who are nothing more than hired goons for the sealers? Would we endure this for money?
No guys, we do it because we honestly, truly, and sincerely care about these victims of your insane cruelty.
I first opposed your bloody slaughter as a boy of ten in New Brunswick. Do you think I was motivated then by some idea that I would get wealthy from saving seals? Do you really think we are wealthy now? You’re in government, you have access. Check our tax records and offer up some evidence. Oh yes, I forgot, we’re secretly hording funds in offshore accounts. I’m sure, however, you can find a paper trail to back up your bogus allegations.
But, you don’t need to. Do you? Why? Because you have people willing to believe your lies and you provide them with these lies so they will vote for you. The truth would not get you re-elected.
One of the funniest accusations came a few years ago from former Canadian Fisheries Minister John Crosbie. He accused us of having a Swiss bank account. He said he had proof that we had a Swiss bank account. And he was right, he did. The account was in the name of Sea Shepherd Switzerland. Where do you think they would have a bank account – in Germany perhaps? It had 112 Swiss francs in it at the time. The balance of that account never exceeded 2,000 francs. Minor details, but that did not stop Crosbie from crying “Eureka” like he just got the goods on Al Capone.
Meanwhile, his boss Brian Mulroney was sending his wife off to New York on shopping junkets with mysterious cash taken directly from a safe in the Prime Minister’s office.
Oh, what tangled webs you politicians weave when you practice to deceive.
Since Paul Watson is being quoted, I have a few questions for himself...1)why do you repeatedly claim that it is illegal to photograph the killing of seals? (when in fact its perfectly legal as long as you have an observer permit, and stay 10m (?) away from active sealers...),2) why do you repeatedly claim that your crew were charged/convicted of the crime of observing seals being killed? (when you know full well that their 'crime' was being on the ice, too close to the sealers, without observer permits)...3) why do you keep going on about how your crew were brutalised by a (smaller) bunch of sealers and yet you show only heavily edited footage of events that even in its edited form, shows your crew pushing back at the sealers? (at worst its 50/50 by what I see in your video)...4) why do you quote Farley Mowat (fiction author) on your website as some kind of expert on 'struck and lost seals'....you say 'according to Farley Mowat', as if he did some kind of formal survey...5) Why do you claim that DFO's survey of seal population is invalid/inaccurate and reference your own 'eyeball' estimation from the deck of your boat as evidence that there are fewer seals than they claim...is your 'eyeball' somehow scientific and reliable?? 6) why is your rhetoric so full of hate and slander against a whole people (Newfoundlanders) and an entire nation (Canada)...and then you expect these people to listen to you?
just a few questions that I came up with after reading your weblogs and stuff since last year. ,,.
South Florida Boycotts Canadian seafood. Story with video.
http://cbs4.com/local/local_story_081163334.html
A betrayal of the facts
Those who have witnessed the slaughter of seal pups know the truth of this unacceptable activity, says Rebecca Aldworth
Mar. 14, 2006. 01:00 AM
When the Department of Fisheries and Oceans polled the Canadian public in 2000, it found seven in 10 Canadians were unfamiliar with the facts of the seal hunt. Having seen some of the recent Canadian media stories on the topic, I can't say I'm surprised.
Earlier this month, I escorted Paul and Heather McCartney to the ice floes to witness the spectacular harp seal nursery and draw attention to the seal hunt, set to begin just a few weeks later. Unfortunately, many of the media stories that appeared subsequently were slanted, and at times even absurd.
One national TV station reported that the seals hunted today are adults, and included an accusation that the McCartneys were misleading the public by being photographed with seal pups. They were utterly wrong.
Canadian government kill reports prove 99 per cent of the seals slaughtered last year were just two months of age or less. Over the past five years, the majority of the seals killed have been younger than 1 month old. At the time of slaughter, many of these pups had yet to eat their first solid meal or take their first swim — hardly "adult" seals by anyone's standards.
Then there was a national editorial accusing animal protection groups of trying to "slaughter the incomes of Newfoundlanders."
But even the Newfoundland government says there are only about 4,000 active sealers each year and if you do the math, they earn less than 5 per cent of their incomes from killing seals.
McCartney proposed a fair licence buy-back plan that would fairly compensate fishermen should the seal hunt close.
This is hardly an attempt to take money away from Newfoundlanders.
And it's not a bad solution when you consider that ongoing boycotts of Canadian seafood and tourism will continue until the seal hunt is ended for good, and those boycotts are costing this country far more than a buy-back plan could ever cost to implement.
Other media outlets sunk to new lows, comparing animal protection groups to terrorists, criticizing McCartney's musical abilities, and trying to insinuate (without basis) that the McCartneys were uninformed on the issues. The Telegram actually saw fit to print a comment from one reader who suggested the "little woman" (Heather McCartney) should just stay home.
Many stories regurgitated that tired old sealing industry line that animal protection groups campaign to end the seal hunt to raise funds. Of course, given the groups involved are non-profit, this is about as logical as saying the Canadian Cancer Society uses cancer as a fundraising tool.
The CBC chose not to document the McCartneys trip to the ice floes because "the hunt has not started yet so it's not news."
Incredibly, just days later, CBC decided it would be news to try to follow activists at work to get the inside story on their tactics to stop the hunt.
There were the inevitable citings of a report used by the fisheries department, which supposedly suggests up to 98 per cent of the seals are killed in an "acceptably humane way."
Of course, media outlets chose not to explain this "study" was performed on board sealing vessels in the presence of enforcement officers, when sealers knew they were being watched. As much as you would not speed while driving past a police car, sealers are unlikely to violate regulations in front of enforcement officers.
And there was no reference to another study conducted by a team of independent veterinarians in the same year .
It concluded in 42 per cent of cases studied, the seals had likely been skinned alive while conscious and that the hunt causes "considerable and unacceptable suffering."
There were the usual claims that the harp seal population has "tripled" over the past three decades. But reporters left out an important qualification: The population has simply been recovering from an all-time low in the 1970s (caused by over-hunting in the 1950s and '60s).
They also failed to report that today's kill levels actually exceed those of a half century ago, when the sealing industry almost wiped out the harp seal population.
In the end, the debate rages on. And what may be overlooked by much of the Canadian media is the 300,000 seal pups that will be clubbed and shot and maybe even skinned alive for fur coats in the next few weeks.
So I have a message for Canadian editors who think this hunt should go on. Portraying the assault and battery of 3-week-old seal pups as an acceptable Canadian activity is a betrayal of the facts and the overwhelming majority of Canadians who oppose this cruel and needless slaughter.
You don't have to witness the hunt yourselves; consider yourselves lucky. But I do, and this will be my eighth year observing this slaughter first-hand.
In those years, I've been forced by law not to intervene as seal pups are literally skinned alive in front of me, as wounded seals are left for more than an hour to choke on their own blood, as injured baby seals wake up in piles of dead pups, covered in blood, bewildered and in pain. These are images I'll never get out of my mind.
For the record, I grew up in Newfoundland, I know sealers, and I've spent 10 years researching the sealing industry. Something most people fail to understand is what this job actually means for the people involved.
Even sealers will tell you it's brutal, dehumanizing, and miserable work. It's why many fishermen never return after their first year at the hunt, and 99 per cent of Newfoundlanders are not involved in any aspect of the industry.
I'm leaving to witness yet another seal hunt and it's my hope Canadian media will try to provide a more balanced overview of the issues this year.
Because as McCartney said in his quiet and measured way, "When you consider all the facts of this issue, you can arrive at only one conclusion — it just has to stop."
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Rebecca Aldworth is director, Canadian Wildlife Issues, for the Humane Society of the United States
Lots of brave anonymous posters. Hard to show your face when you are proven to be:
Racists:
eg: ("useless faggots", "Newfie's are a blight and a curse", "Asking us to respect Newfoundlanders is like asking us to have respect for the soldiers of the Third Reich.”) etc.
Hypocrites: Protesting the Seal Hunt from Nebraska, California, Michigan while ignoring your own atrocities.
Liars: There has not been a loss of commerce in Canada due to the farse of a boycott and there will not be.
Let me be specific here. Someone always quotes the Good Shepherd Paul Watson, your modern day David Koresh. Let me add to your quotes. He says he receives hate mail from Newfoundlanders - here is his view of Newfoundlanders:
“blight and a curse... they debased Canada when they joined Canada in 1949..."
“a place where priests rape orphans and residents kill seabirds for fun"
“…60 million people saw Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams humiliate himself with his rambling fabrications defending the seal hunt, [some] have actually compared his so called “oratory skills” to Winston Churchill…Can you see this speech going down in the annals of history? B’yes, we will fight these seal defenders on the ocean. We will fight them on land. We will fight them in the air... We will continue to bash in their little heads, skin them alive and give ‘em the boot. We were born to kill seals because we are Newfies, and by God our very identity depends on being cruel seal-killing bastards. Yes sir b’ye…, more like the anus of history.”
“Too bad Danny. They did dominate the debate and they made the Premier of Newfoundland look silly and unprepared. Danny Williams, Newfoundland, and Labrador are not deserving of respect. As a Canadian, I have absolutely no respect for Newfoundlanders.”
“Asking us to respect Newfoundlanders is like asking us to have respect for the soldiers of the Third Reich.”
“’Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth’. One thing for sure, Jesus Christ was not referring to the sealers of Newfoundland when he made that statement.”
Is this Hateful?
On hypocrisy this is what Paul Watson-Koresh had to say about making money from the Seal Hunt when GreenPeace kicked his ass out the door:
"I think that of all the animals in the world or any environmental problem in the world the harp seal is the easiest issue to raise funds on... it's easier to make money and because it's easier to make a profit because there are over a thousand animals on the endangered species list, and the harp seal isn't one of them... the seal is very easy to exploit as an image. We have posters, we have buttons, we have shirts, all of which portray the head of a baby seal with the tears coming out of its eyes. Baby seals are always crying because the salt tears keep their eyes from freezing. But they have this image - they're baby animals, they're beautiful, and because of that, coupled with the horror of a sealer hitting them over the head with a club, it's an image that just goes right to the heart of animal lovers all over North America.”
Is this Hypocrisy?
Too bad Paul is not really a big deal this year anyway since he missed the big story when he was "one-upped" by the Humane Society when they managed to get a Beatle as their poster boy.
Johny come lately - there's a new Paul in town
Sealers are saying the boycott is having an effect. You're crazy bitch of a Senator is saying the boycott is hurting the fishery. And you're so desperate for good news you jump in bed with tobacco whores to create some by saying the hostesses, waitresses and bartenders say the boycott is not effective.
94cents a lb for crab. McCurdy says most fishermen won't even bother catching it.
Yeah. No effect.
OH WAIT, ITS THE DOLLAR, its fungus and menstrual cramps and penile disfunction and higher gas prices.
Yeah.
Whatever helps you sleep at night.
Hunters begin clubbing, shooting baby seals
Canadian hunt is target of tech-savvy protest by animal rights activists
Paul Darrow / Reuters
A Humane Society of the United States boat moves toward a seal carcass left on an ice pan by sealers after its pelt was removed during the first day of the seal hunt Saturday in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada.
View related photos
Updated: 2:36 p.m. ET March 25, 2006
OFF CANADA’S EAST COAST - Canadian hunters started shooting and clubbing harp seal pups Saturday at the start of an annual hunt that is the focus of a tech-savvy protest by animal rights groups.
This year, 325,000 young seals will be killed on the ice floes off the East Coast where the animals gather.
Hunters in boats shot the seals Saturday as they lay on small ice floes and then dashed over to the bodies in hopes of retrieving them before they sank.
Story continues below ↓
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At one point a hunter, frustrated at the activists’ presence, picked up the bloody carcass of a skinned seal and threw it at a boat full of protesters and journalists. It hit the boat and sank.
The hunt started slowly because unusually warm weather means the ice is breaking up, scattering the seals over a larger area than usual.
“The ice is not full of seals all over the place. They are very spread out,” said Roger Simon of Canada’s federal fisheries ministry, which oversees the hunt.
No confrontations reported
There were no reports of clashes between the hunters and activists, who say the hunt is inhumane and should be banned. A small group of activists has chartered a boat that is following the hunt, and has put film of the killings on their Web sites.
Celebrities such as former French film star Brigitte Bardot and ex-Beatle Paul McCartney called on Ottawa this week to stop the hunt.
Once the animals are killed, they are skinned and taken into the hunter’s boats. The pelt is used to make coats while the rest of the carcass is usually left behind.
Rebecca Aldworth of the Humane Society of the United States said the poor quality of the ice meant her team had found far fewer seals than usual.
“The few surviving baby seals we’ve watched for the last several days are being killed as Canada’s gruesome seal hunt begins again,” she said.
“Harp seals now face a double threat to their survival—the impacts of climate change and historic high levels of commercial hunting.”
Canada says the hunt gives the local economy a crucial boost and helps keep a harp seal population of almost six million animals in check.
Jonathan Hayward / AP
A young harp seal sits on an ice floe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Tuesday.
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Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada was behaving responsibly and would enforce rules ensuring that the seals were killed humanely.
Cruelty? Propaganda?
“Unfortunately here we’re to some degree the victim of a bit of an international propaganda campaign,” he said Friday.
Aldworth repeated calls for an international boycott of Canadian seafood to protest what she said was “incredible cruelty at the hunt, including dragging conscious seals across the ice with boathooks, shooting seals and leaving them to suffer in agony and skinning seals alive.”
The first part of the hunt, which takes place near the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, usually takes about 10 to 12 days to complete and this year will account for just over 90,000 seals.
The second and larger stage, off the coast of Newfoundland, starts April 4.
“We are absolutely committed to making sure this is the last slaughter of baby seals in Canada anyone will ever have to witness,” McCartney said in a statement Friday.
Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
I missed my name on this one earlier...maybe Mt. Hood/Harry Boland/angry stupid anon can answer in abstentia...
Since Paul Watson is being quoted, I have a few questions for himself...1)why do you repeatedly claim that it is illegal to photograph the killing of seals? (when in fact its perfectly legal as long as you have an observer permit, and stay 10m (?) away from active sealers...),2) why do you repeatedly claim that your crew were charged/convicted of the crime of observing seals being killed? (when you know full well that their 'crime' was being on the ice, too close to the sealers, without observer permits)...3) why do you keep going on about how your crew were brutalised by a (smaller) bunch of sealers and yet you show only heavily edited footage of events that even in its edited form, shows your crew pushing back at the sealers? (at worst its 50/50 by what I see in your video)...4) why do you quote Farley Mowat (fiction author) on your website as some kind of expert on 'struck and lost seals'....you say 'according to Farley Mowat', as if he did some kind of formal survey...5) Why do you claim that DFO's survey of seal population is invalid/inaccurate and reference your own 'eyeball' estimation from the deck of your boat as evidence that there are fewer seals than they claim...is your 'eyeball' somehow scientific and reliable?? 6) why is your rhetoric so full of hate and slander against a whole people (Newfoundlanders) and an entire nation (Canada)...and then you expect these people to listen to you?
just a few questions that I came up with after reading your weblogs and stuff since last year. ,,.
Isadaby, must have missed the carcass hurling news yesterday. Get with the program.
Tempers flare during seal hunt
Canadian Press
Charlottetown — The opening days of Canada's East Coast seal hunt were fraught with frustration, bad tempers and violent acts on the rapidly thinning ice of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Hunt protesters with the Humane Society of the United States said they were shaken up on Sunday when a sealing boat rammed their small, inflatable Zodiac, damaging the vessel's propeller.
"We're in Canadian waters and Canadian laws still apply here," said humane society spokeswoman Rebecca Aldworth, who was on the Zodiac when it was rammed.
"The hunters may be frustrated and I know they don't want us documenting their activities, but that doesn't give them the right to risk peoples' lives."
http://www.pagophilus.org/harp diet.html
The Diet
Clearly, harp seals eat a wide range of species. Their diet also varies with age, season, location and year.
In the North: Harp seals summering in West Greenland and northern Canadian waters (north of Nain, Labrador) feed on pelagic crustaceans, such as euphausiids, and small fishes, such as Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida), polar cod (Arctogadus glacialis) and capelin (Mallotus villosus).
In the South: During the southern (fall) migration, harp seals forage along the coast of Labrador (south of Nain) and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (the Gulf) on a variety of fishes and invertebrates. In the St. Lawrence River they eat capelin from December to February, prior to the pupping season. Lactating females and moulting harp seals feed infrequently, although mothers forage intensively on capelin in the St. Lawrence River after weaning their pups.
Harp seals collected from nearshore waters of Newfoundland and Labrador prey upon a broad array of fish and invertebrate species, although Arctic cod is by far the most important. In Northeast Newfoundland there was a notable shift in the diet of seals aged one and older from capelin in 1982 to Arctic cod in 1986 and beyond, while Atlantic cod remained relatively unimportant throughout this period. Offshore, capelin predominate, followed by sand lance (Ammodytes sp.), Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) and other flounders.
During the northern (spring) migration, harp seals feed along the Labrador coast on a variety of species, including euphausiids, various codfishes, capelin and shrimp, while in the Gulf migrating seals feed less frequently, primarily on capelin and herring.
Atlantic cod, including the northern cod stock [Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization Divisions 2J3KL (see map)], is a minor component of the annual harp seal diet.
Source
Wallace, S.D and J.W. Lawson. 1997. A review of stomach contents of harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) from the Northwest Atlantic: an update. IMMA Technincal Report 97-01. 99pp.
The climate is crashing, and global warming is to blame
Sunday, March 26, 2006; Posted: 11:27 a.m. EST (16:27 GMT) Sunday, March 26, 2006; Posted: 11:27 a.m. EST (16:27 GMT)
Editor's note: The following is a summary of this week's Time magNo one can say exactly what it looks like when a planet takes ill, but it probably looks a lot like Earth.
Never mind what you've heard about global warming as a slow-motion emergency that would take decades to play out. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the crisis is upon us.
From heat waves to storms to floods to fires to massive glacial melts, the global climate seems to be crashing around us.
The problem -- as scientists suspected but few others appreciated -- is that global climate systems are booby-trapped with tipping points and feedback loops, thresholds past which the slow creep of environmental decay gives way to sudden and self-perpetuating collapse. That's just what's happening now.
It's at the north and south poles -- where ice cover is crumbling to slush -- that the crisis is being felt the most acutely.
Late last year, for example, researchers analyzed data from Canadian and European satellites and found that the Greenland ice sheet is not only melting, but doing so faster and faster, with 53 cubic miles draining away into the sea last year alone, compared to 23 cubic miles in 1996.
One of the reasons the loss of the planet's ice cover is accelerating is that as the poles' bright white surface disappears it changes the relationship of the Earth and the sun. Polar ice is so reflective that 90 percent of the sunlight that strikes it simply bounces back into space, taking its energy with it. Ocean water does just the opposite, absorbing 90 percent of the light and heat it receives, meaning that each mile of ice that melts vanishes faster than the mile that preceded it.
This is what scientists call a feedback loop, and a similar one is also melting the frozen land called permafrost, much of which has been frozen -- since the end of last ice age in fact, or at least 8,000 years ago.
Sealed inside that cryonic time capsule are layers of decaying organic matter, thick with carbon, which itself can transform into CO2. In places like the southern boundary of Alaska the soil is now melting and softening.
As fast as global warming is changing the oceans and ice caps, it's having an even more immediate effect on land. Droughts are increasingly common as higher temperatures also bake moisture out of soil faster, causing dry regions that live at the margins to tip into full-blown crisis.
Wildfires in such sensitive regions as Indonesia, the western U.S. and even inland Alaska have been occurring with increased frequency as timberlands grow more parched. Those forests that don't succumb to fire can simply die from thirst.
With habitats crashing, the animals that call them home are succumbing too. In Alaska, salmon populations are faltering as melting permafrost pours mud into rivers, burying the gravel the fish need for spawning. Small animals such as bushy tailed rats, chipmunks and pinion mice are being chased upslope by rising temperatures, until they at last have no place to run.
And with sea ice vanishing, polar bears are starting to turn up drowned. "There will be no polar ice by 2060," says Larry Schweiger, president of the National Wildlife Federation. "Somewhere along that path, the polar bear drops out."
So much environmental collapse has at last awakened much of the world, particularly the 141 nations that have ratified the Kyoto treaty to reduce emissions. The Bush administration, however, has shown no willingness to address the warming crisis in a serious way and Congress has not been much more encouraging.
Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman have twice been unable to get even mild measures to limit carbon emissions through a recalcitrant Senate.
A 10-member House delegation did recently travel to Antarctica, Australia and New Zealand to meet with scientists studying climate change. "Of the 10 of us, only three were believers to begin with," says Rep. Sherman Boehlert of New York. "Every one of the others said this opened their eyes."
But lawmakers who still applaud themselves for recognizing global warming are hardly the same as lawmakers with the courage to reverse it, and increasingly, state and local governments are stepping forward.
The mayors of more than 200 cities have signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, pledging, among other things, that they will meet the Kyoto goal of reducing greenhouse emissions in their own cities to 1990 levels by 2012. Nine northeastern states have established the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative for the purpose of developing a program to cap greenhouse gasses.
azine cover story
HSUS Statement on Ramming of Boat Carrying HSUS Employees and Media Documenting Canadian Seal Hunt
March 26, 2006
Statement from Dr. John Grandy, senior vice president of wildlife and habitat protection for The Humane Society of the United States, on ramming of boat carrying HSUS employees and media documenting the Canadian seal hunt.
"Today, a Canadian sealing vessel rammed an inflatable boat carrying employees of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and a member of the media in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The HSUS team and its boat -- present not to disrupt the hunt or obstruct it, but only to document the injuring and killing of seals -- was pushed atop an ice floe. A second sealing boat backed off after seeing our larger boat approaching to assist.
This deliberate attack on our boat was reckless and irresponsible and it posed a tangible threat to the lives of our people and a member of the press. Rebecca Aldworth and other HSUS crew members would only be able to survive for a few minutes if they had been tossed from their boat into the icy waters. As required by law, our boat was staying the required distance from sealers actively engaged in the hunt. Footage from the attack will be turned over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and we expect authorities to prosecute those responsible for this calculated act of violence."
BOO FUCKING HOO!!!
Myles, you're a fucking coward.
If sealing is such a humane, justifiable economic industry, why do you want to hide it?
If this is such an integral part of your culture, why don't you want to share it?
Because animal rights groups "distort" it?
How? By taping what you do? Yeah, we videotape Indians and Afghans, too. I don't see them running for cover.
Oh, yeah. The videos are manipulated. ALERT OLIVER STONE - the seals were killed by the Windsorian on the grassy knoll.
People around the world see what you do on the ice and they're sickened and they want to stop it.
Unlike an abattoir, which people DO see (thanks to PETA and the FDA), which sickens them and makes them want to eat steak.
You're just a coward and a pussy unwilling to stand up and face the judgment of the world, like a man proud of his background and his beliefs would do.
Like Bobby Sands did. Like John McCain did. Like Cesar Chavez and Paul Watson and Rebecca Aldworth do.
If only you had their balls.
The world is watching. Quick, call Mike Duffy. Put Senator Baker on!
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&tab=nn&ie=UTF-8&ncl=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060326.wseal0625/BNStory/National/home
I love it when I'm called a coward and told I'm afraid to stand up. Especially when it comes from someone who does so Anonymously. Now that really takes a lot of courage.
On the topic of the boat ramming I only have one question. These people claim they were not interfering with the hunt. Since a zodiac is a far more maneuverable craft than a fishing boat and is a lot faster, I would love to know how they could possibly have been rammed if they were obeying the law and staying the proper distance from the fishing vessel.
It seems the activists always fall back on screaming, cursing, sensationalism and emotion. I guess that's all you have when the facts don't line up for you.
CHARLOTTETOWN (CP) - Seal hunt protesters with the Humane Society of the United States are disputing the circumstances surrounding their arrest on the ice floes of the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the weekend.
Spokeswoman Rebecca Aldworth says she was arrested along with five other society workers and a member of the media after police and fishery officers accused them of violating the conditions of their observation permits.
Observers of Canada's annual East Coast seal hunt are required to maintain a distance of at least 10 metres from a sealer engaged in hunting.
Roger Simon of the federal Fisheries Department says authorities have reason to believe Aldworth and her group, who were filming the hunt from a small inflatable boat, did not respect the rules.
Aldworth says she believes the observers were deliberately set up after a sealing boat abruptly changed direction, cutting off their small inflatable.
Aldworth says her group's recordings of the hunt were confiscated, including those apparently showing sealing boats charging and, in one case, ramming observer vessels.
© The Canadian Press 2006
I'll wait to see the 'unedited' footage of the ramming. I saw a bit of it on CTV earlier, hard to tell from that. Its being handed over to RCMP...if it is unedited, there are specific 'rules of the road' on the ocean that can be assessed for the circumstance...
Patriot, the courageous "anonymous' is Mt. Hood also found on other forums, and also previously calling himself Harry B. I think its also the Gregg Pruitt....easily identifieble by the exact same whines all the time.
http://www.hsus.org/
Go watch for yourselves. You people amaze me.
I watched the footage and it would appear that te ARA's were blocking the path of the sealing boats in hopes to disrupt their legally sanctioned work and jobs.
As for Aldworths claims that they would only survive 5 minutes in the water what dos she think she is wearing a survial suit for fashion? Those survival suits are supposed to allow you to surive in the water for 24 hours or more.
If anything the ARA should be charged for interferring in a legally sanctioned fishery that has been studied observed and monitored to death.
Love the comentary on the video it says it all about what they were up to, and what their true motives are for being there.
"This is an old, favourite jackboot tactic, and one that shames Canada. The real goal of the cops was to get their hands on the film, while trying to prevent the observers from being on the ice.
It is sort of like me handing money to you, and then having you arrested for robbery. Rebecca et al know enough to keep the prescribed distance from the sealers, but it is not easy to make quick maneuvers in boats on water amid ice and clearly if a sealing boat makes an abrupt change of direction it is not the fault of the observers.
I suppose the Canadians think this is all very clever, but it is just the sort of thing we need to publicize internationally…my own country, normally a champion of freedom, tolerance and democratic principles, becomes pathetically dictatorial over the seal hunt issue. I believe it is a function of defensiveness deriving from shame."
More lies by the Human Society.
http://www.cbc.ca/nl/story/nf-seafood-boycott-20060327.html
Go watch for yourselves. You people amaze me.
I want my 90 seconds back!
How can you call that being rammed? Did I miss something, it seems like nothing even happened? The boat came close, but the website promotes it like it was some sort of a major collision.
Have you people actually even been in a boat before? A Zodiac is a pretty quick vessel and can maneuver very fast, if anything it looks like you they were in the way of someone doing their job.
Get a life
"Sir Paul McCartney said that he had heard that the seal population was declining and there was a conservation issue,"
If this is any indication as to how informed you ARA's are then it's no wonder the world dismisses you as extremists and lump you in with terrorists.
You think man is god and not apart of the food chain. Were not worthy.
Same thing is apparent with the boycott when the listed participants were questioned alot never even heard of the Hypocritical society of the United States.
Go Michael! See http://cbs4.com/local/local_story_081163334.html
for story on boycott in South Florida. Jones Stone Crab just joined as well in Miami.
Morrissey vs. Canada
By Trent McMartin Mar 27, 2006, 22:18 GMT
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Morrissey will not be playing in Canada any time soon reportedly because the singer is furious with the country’s annual seal hunt.
It is expected that up to 325,000 young harp seal pups could be killed in the coming weeks, despite pleas from international bodies for the practice to stop.
The ex-Smiths singer issued a statement on his official website that he won't be visiting the country to promote his forthcoming album Ringleader Of The Tormentors in protest over the hunt.
“I fully realise that the absence of any Morrissey concerts in Canada is unlikely to bring the Canadian economy to its knees, but it is our small protest against this horrific slaughter - which is the largest slaughter of marine animal species found anywhere on the planet,” the singer said.
“The Canadian Prime Minister says the so-called 'cull' is economically and environmentally justified, but this is untrue.”
Morrissey claims that the motivation behind the “barbaric and cruel” hunt is “making money,” and in doing so will aid the fashion industry.
“The Canadian Prime Minister (Steven Harper) also states that the slaughter is necessary because it provides jobs for local communities, but this is an ignorant reason for allowing such barbaric and cruel slaughter of beings that are denied life simply because somebody somewhere might want to wear their skin. Construction of German gas chambers also provided work for someone - this is not a moral or sound reason for allowing suffering,” Morrisey continued.
Along with Morrisey, former Beatle Paul McCartney has been an outspoken supporter of ending the seal hunt.
Shame on Canada
by Michael Stickings
I am generally quite proud of my country, and I will usually defend it against its critics, but our seal hunt leaves me disgusted and ashamed.
Whatever the excuses for it -- its supposed economic benefits, the alleged need to control the seal population -- there is simply no good reason for it. We're talking about the killing, the brutal killing, of 325,000 seals, most of them babies.
Shame on Canada for allowing this to take place year after year. And shame on Prime Minister Harper for defending the hunt with the ridiculously stupid statement that Canada is the "victim of a bit of an international propaganda campaign". The mass slaughter of seals is reality, not propagandistic fantasy. We need the leadership in Ottawa to end it for good.
Myles, ever been in a boat? Ever been a boat in ice, not me, but based on what I saw and employing common sense, the bigger the boat, the bigger the propeller, right?
The bigger the propeller, the faster you cut throught ice and move, right?
Incredible logic you Newfies spew.
Watch it again and again and it might just sink in. And go to the Harpseals.org home page. Pic at the top of the no-longer-whitecoat looking still alive judging from the trail of blood on the ice.
The world now sees you as the barbarians you are. The gloves are off because you can sit at the table of reason.
"Can not," sorry.
Your wrong on your understanding of the bigger the boat the faster it can move in this case start.
Were not talking about open water here anyway not that it would make any difference. The boats all follow the same open channels which a zodiac couldn't make if it wanted to.
Moving through ice is kinda like going through sand you need momentum to push the ice aside. That is why the ARA's tried to make the sealers slow down and stop because if they can make the sealers slow down or stop the way they see it they have saved a seal. If you watch the video you can see they were perpendiculal in the cleared ice path trying to block the way of the seal boat and only moved once they saw the seal boat wasn't going to stop or slow down for them. Rightly so they put themselves in front of the path of the seal boat on purpose for one reason only good footage to stop the seal fishery. If you need an analogy think of a picket line that is in essence what the ARA's were trying to do and as such seeing as this is a legal and sanctioned work place should be arrested for trying to impede traffic illegally.
Is there any way it could be arranged for Heather McCartney to be bludgeoned and then skinned? I guess that might be the only way of shutting her dreadfully boring drone of a voice off.
Well the pictures I saw clearly shows that bigger boat making a u-turn into the sealers, video footage before that shows the protesters continuously at correct distance.
Also is anyone aware we are not still in the 1700's? It did not do any good to take the film it was being broadcasted it back to the US and UK, I guess the courts in Geneva will hear this case again, and the verdict will again be guilty. Let us be honest here, this is more logical. People always say we against it use the cute factor, I commented earlier to someone earlier and honestly, for me this is about the mass slaughter of warm blooded marine wildlife, mostly for pelt.
Cows and chickens are raised and contained for human consumption and can be properly regulated. Yes, slaughter is the word, you keep referring to them (seals) as being like cows and chickens raised in captivity, that are also slaughtered. I do believe the terminology is correct then. When people stop trying to put them in the same category with domestically raised livestock, that, yes, are also slaughtered, I will not use the word slaughter again....deal? However this is not the same, did you purchase the birds on your land that your house is on? Remember you do not have the right to go out and kill birds just for their feathers. Through this practice we have saw the greatest extinction ever, including the time of the dinosaurs.
If sealers want to first purchase the seals, raise them and then breed them for the purpose of slaughter for fur and meat, so be it. All warm blooded animals slaughtered in such mass numbers by any other country today are domesticated animals raised for this purpose, because proper regulation and breeding to maintain constant preservation. In the wild you can not truly count the seals and be correct. You can not for see environmental changes as quick as over night that might change this number drastically, as with many other mass culled extinct species of our fathers past. So the seals have to either be left alone or raised for consumption so they can be maintained viable. We have learned this from our past.
Now chickens...since this seems to be the route we always go which is away from the true issue I suppose. Bird flu...we have managed to contain it because of these safe practices. Animals that are wild pose little effect from illness to humans when left alone. It is constant contact with humans through breeding species through many reasons we get our illnesses and they get theirs. The seal will not sub come to being raised in captivity for fur and meat consumption, so what is left is extinction if we continue to cull them in this manner. Culling one species to protect another, judging from history has only worsened things. Where the seal is concerned only a small percentage of the meat is actually used, stating that they are mainly culled for pelt.
The seal stocks are not as viable as one may think; we will lose some to drowning and loss of food supply, due to over fishing from everyone. What if 325,000 is a wrong figure because we didn't realize 250,000 would be killed in some other manner we as humans never foresee. The truth is we have no right. Wild animals need now more than ever to be protected so we can protect ourselves from the awful damage we have already caused because once again we miss calculated. The fact still remains the mass culling of wild animals under the age of 10 months is absurd..........so now we cause one animal to go almost to extinction through over fishing, now we will deliberately cause it of another. I ask, "what if this doesn't help the cod?" Judging from the past it won't, how many wild animals will have become extinct causing great environmental impacts, because we ignored the real truth. Regardless of how much money anyone is making here, for whatever it is they are doing, we that are making zilch have the most to gain.
Based on the evidence of the witnesses and examination of the evidence, the International Court of Justice for Animal Rights, represented by 9 members of the jury and three judges, (in Geneva) declared that the Canadian Authorities were guilty of all the counts and that it their cruelty excluded Canada from socially accepted realms due to a ‘sadistically orientated minority’.
The Court then appealed to the Canadian Government to put an immediate stop to ‘this immoral and dishonourable hunt’ and to the European Union ‘to implement an import ban on all products stemming from the Canadian seal hunt’
And here we are today...and Morrissey has said it great...."The Canadian Prime Minister also states that the slaughter is necessary because it provides jobs for local communities, but this is an ignorant reason for allowing such barbaric and cruel slaughter of beings that are denied life simply because somebody somewhere might want to wear their skin. Construction of German gas chambers also provided work for someone - this is not a moral or sound reason for allowing suffering."
So here we are in the worlds spotlight for the very worst of reasons, people believe if we are not killing em' we allowin it. I just want people to know I don't seem to have a say so by myself. I guess here are our true colours. I suppose China gets away with it due to communism, the question is, how will we, when we signed in agreement and ratified? Somehow it is really weird the seals are only hunted when their pelt is perfect for sale, babies, which are not ever practiced in correct maintenance of wild animal procedures. Coincidence? I think not.
Paul Watson is a racist hyprocrite. Uses derogatory terms against all Newfoundlanders regardless to if they are supporters or sealers. And makes money from the seal hunt while condeeming Greenpeace for doing the same when they kicked him out.
Anonymous calls Myles a coward but refuses to post his name.
Jerry Vlasak is a terrorist who believes it is OK to kill humans for his cause.
Harry Boland et al spews racial hatred with every post.
Marie from Huskerville admits to spending her full time on the seal hunt while ignoring all other animal and human issues in her own back yard. Turns out she is a member of Paul Watson's group but refused to admit it.
cowards, liars, hypocrites and racists ...and this is just a representative few that claim a moral high ground. Unbelievable, do you people even read your own posts?
(There are other posters that show info from other sources, that at least contributes. Although I wish he/she would post the link instead of the whole damn article. That's annoying, but I'll take annoying over the four virtues above any day.)
Geeze Harry, Only an ARA could see a recommendation to allow unbiased experts access to the hunt as a cover up. Typical obtuse logic.
I suppose fish drowning in nets is humane. Come on seals don't eat just Cod they anything and everything. Even the Lobster are starting to show signs of stress from the over populaton of seals.
Morrissey???
If I knew this would stop him from coming, I would have been out huntining seals myself a long time ago.
Michael, I'll side with your mamma on this one; I could care less about either of them too. Talk to me when AQUA is against the seal hunt - then I'll listen.
I do like your armchair Biology though. You've managed to sum up the ecology of the North Atlantic in just a few paragraphes. What was that quote from Watson about "when you don't know the facts"??
In any case thanks for at least keeping it civil. That's more than I can say for your posse.
Until such a time as Man who is a Mamal and as such apart of the food chain stops eating animals period he has an obligation to take equally from all species to try and ensure a balance in nature.
Seals do eat crustacians they eat shrimp and I'm sure they eat young lobster also.
The fact is the Cod are on the endangered species list and something needs to be done. I don't think people are going to protest fishing because they aren't cute and cuddly and don't pose for photo ops.
I'm pretty sure a seal is going to eat whatever is available if he is hungry. The facts are staring to mount that they are getting hungrier and hungrier. They are taking longer and longer to become productively mature normally 4 years they are now only becoming productie at around 6 years. Seals are being seen in inland water ways eating trout and salmon where they have never been seen before.
We should all stop eating meat and take animal supplements from meat in the form of B12.
http://www.katu.com/stories/76832.html
http://www.cosewic.gc.ca/eng/sct1/SearchResult_e.cfm?commonName=cod&scienceName=&Submit=Submit&boxStatus=All&boxTaxonomic=All&location=All&Board=All&change=All
Mrchills, with a right to your opinion. Many others would have loved to have seen him or just love to hear him and respect him
If I lived in Canada and was a fan of him, after this stunt I would not be a fan anymore. The guy obviously does not care about the fans of his music as he used this as a great PR stunt and to shove his beliefs down someone else’s throat. Based on his logic the entire country of Canada is out hunting Seals this Spring.
I did a quick view on Morrissey’s website and noticed that he was doing an extensive tour of the UK after his canceled Canadian tour. I guess he has no plans to cancel this leg of the tour, because the UK is doing nothing wrong in the world. They are only illegally occupying another country and killing innocent PEOPLE. Not a bunch of Swiles, but actual human beings.
My guess is that he is more concerned about the loss of money from a larger tour and fan base, after all the Canadian dollar is worth less than half that of the British Pound and he only planned on planning a handful of dates here.
What a joke
michael, I noted your armchair biology. You oversimplify a very complex issue. The Pro-Sealer side does not suggest a cull to exterminate the seals. If there is a segment of the population that believes this they are wrong. At times the word Cull is used in reference to the seal hunt as a justification for it. Again this is an oversimplification.
Basically the principle behind any managed hunt is that it is quite possible and indeed healthy for the population to maintain it at a level that is in keeping with the ecology it occupies. Given that there is a greatly reduced and commerially endangered cod population in the north Atlantic it is reasonable to look to other parts of the food change. To one degree or another this involves Seals. But lets take Cod out of the picture all together, if Seals ate seaweed it still would be reasonable to maintain the population at a healthy level with a healthy monitored hunt.
An animal that does not have a lot of natural enemies will grow in population size until starvation or disease etc. keeps the population in check. A managed hunt is part of a healthy population of moose, caribou or seals.
Take an example of a population where there is a true cull. African elephants are often culled because their ecology is isolated to relatively small areas of parklands in Africa. If the Elephants are left alone they will strip the trees of leaves and bark until there is no food to sustain them. For this reason there is often an Elephant cull to maintain a healthy population. A true cull is simply a management issue. In the case of the elephants there is a world-wide ban on the ivory so the ivory is in fact simply burned and therefore has not economic value.
The seal population could potentially reach the levels where it would be culled naturally through disease/starvation or with human intervention through a cull.
When we speak of a cull we speak in terms of a managed hunt to maintain healthy population size and individual animal health.
The last I checked the soldiers were not clubbing people unable to move or run away to death just for their skin
No, they save that for the bombs they drop from the air. So, based on your logic it would be OK if a plane flew overhead and dropped a bomb on the ice flows.
On another note, I am SO sick of hearing people bitch about the fur aspect of the hunt. Are you trying to tell me that you would be OK with the hunt if all the meat was used?
Reviewer Rank: 148433 Page: 1
Over the Side, Mickey: A Sealer's First Hand Account of the Newfoundland Seal Hunt by Michael Dwyer
Edition: Paperback
Price: $14.95
Availability: Special Order
By Paul Watson on Amazon
An honest look at the sealing industry, October 27, 2002
As a person who has led campaigns against the Canadian Sealing industry for 25 years, I can vouch for the accuracy of the events portrayed in this book. Mickey Dwyer is a sealer and no friend of mine but what he writes in this book speaks more to the issues of cruelty and waste than anything that I or any other opponent could write. We would be called liars for stating what Dwyer proudly confesses to in this book. It is a worthwhile book and deserves a place in the history of the bloody Canadian seal hunt.
Mr. Chills,
Are you having a tantrum?
The meat is not used because there is no market. Dah.
bnb,
what are your credentials? You arguement is so weak, it begs the question.
Your arguement that envirormental changes are having an impact on the seal heard which is at 6 000 000 is totally unfounded.
Seals aren't stupid they aren't going to give birth at sea as has been seen this year on the isles de la Magdalen they go ashore and give birth. Now while they may not want to give birth on land they know that if they don't predators man included will have a much easier time accessing their young.
The main reason seals give birth on the ice floes is from years of evolution and experience that it is the safest place for them to do so.
As for your asertions that the seal fishery is a cull it is totally false. These quotas have been in place for years since the 1970's and the numbers haven't had any impact on the population of the seals. In fact their numbers have tripled since that time and continue to grow at the present TAC quotas. These numbers represent a sustainable enviormentally friendly catch limit.
I agree with you on the point that this is a Commercial fishery and as such should have certain stipulations associated with it. Liek all of the seal be utilized even if human food markets can't be found due mainly because of the ARA's protests then the entire seal carcass should have to be utilized to make fish or animal food for agriculture and aquaculture or pet food.
bnb, what are your credentials? You arguement is so weak, it begs the question.
You first, you hide behind a vail of anonymity and take pot shots. I have no problem telling my credentials - you first.
michael, some good stuff in these last few posts. Much of it I'm certainly in agreement with. I agree with the misuse of the word cull in many cases, the seal hunt is one of them. I agree that the interference of man has in many cases proven to be negative or ineffective. I also agree that greed and commercialization of hunts are prone to disasterous consequences for the animals involved. But we are talking specifically about the harp seal herd. A large and growing population. If your concern is ecological why is the seal hunt your cause? Can I name you a couple hundred animal welfare causes which are more deserving of your attention?
Some very good points but then you drift. When we destroy a natural food chain we destroy a perfect eco system that was not man made and one in which we can not understand. Not sure what you mean by "perfect ecosystem" but the fact that we can not understand the complexities are true. After this is where you drift. Here is were your Ecology fails "Truth: the effects of the loss, of extinct cold blooded animals have shown little effect on the system, because mammals that live on cold blooded animals eat various types. The effects on mammals how ever is detramental because warm blooded wild animals that only eat warm blooded animals have a very limited diet. Killing the seal will effect the whale....so on and so forth." What you are trying to argue here is a Generalist vs a Specialist Species. Humans, Rats and Crows are some of the great Generalists. There are Rats living off grains in grasslands and garbage in dump sites - rats and humans will always survive to some degree. Specialist species are like the Crane and Koala. These species have a strict diet, a demanding mating environment, and season, and they are especially prone to interference by man. Back to the seals:
We have already said that seals will eat just about anything it will find in the ocean in the way of fish. This is a fairly Generalist species and therefore its survival is strong.
Back to the original point I was hoping to get across - a reasonable managed seal hunt is not going to endanger the herd and in fact can be healthy for the seal population and the ecology of the North Atlantic in general.
That's it. Remember anon - you show me yours I'll show you mine :)
Just an addenum to my last about the seal population. When I said there are 6 000 000 seals I was referring to the harp seal specifically. There are also 2 000 000 hood seals and supposedly 1 000 000 other seals of which there are somewhere in the range of 20 species of the east coast of Canada.
So I guess the taking of these quotas for 30 years and the ever increasing population isn't good enough science for you.
Just popped on here again before logging out. Thanks for the response michael - can't say I have any great argument with that.
Cheers.
Just because you're all a bunch of seal clubbing barbarians and pansy assed pacifists, don't go spouting your crap about Iraq. While you're all screwing around with seals, Americans and our British allies are bring peace and democracy to 25 million people while our "friends" up north keep looking for new ways to stick the knife in our back.
Just because you lack the gnads, don't shit on those of us who do.
Ok I can live with that this is a Commercial hunt and as such is easily regulated because it takes place at one time in one place.
I too take exception to the leaving of the carcasses and think something should be mandated to be done with them. Since the ARA's have shut down every market ever found for the seal meat markets we should think about utilizing the carcasses to make fish and animal food to further our own Aquaculture and fur farming enterprises.
But stoppping the hunt because it is inhumane or because there is a threat of endangering the species isn't one I have a problem with.
As for someones earlier post about Norways hunt changing from a commercial one to a sustinance one maybe you should read the press release. The only reason they changed the name is because of the propaganda. The main reason for the hunt is still the pelts only now it is going to take place on an individual basis but the result will be the same only now it will be less regulated and more wide spread.
The fisheries minister from Great Greenland pelt company stated recently that if enough pelts are not supplied using this method they will revert back to the old practice.
It is a shell game.
http://www.dep.no/fkd/english/news/news/047041-990012/dok-bn.html
So according to you it would be better to let them die of starvation and disease as happened in 1988 when 70,000 seals died of phocine distemper virus and again in 2002 when the numbers reached a saturation level such that disease spread rampant amongst the herd and animals were dying from disease.
Biologists have stated that the reason for the two outbreaks is because of over population once a saturation level is reached.
Here in Canada we haven't had this outbreak of PDV in our seal populations as of yet but the threshold of saturation is fast approaching with Walruses showing up with the PDV in the north so unless the herd is maintained at it's present level or lower an outbreak is imminent in the very near future.
http://www.ecoenquirer.com/baby-seal-man.htm
I watched teh footage on teh HSUS site, re: sealers ramming the protestors.
I agree with several here who said that it looks like teh zodiac is placed directly in the path (the only path) of open water and intentionally stayed until it was obvious that the sealer wasn't slowing down/stopping. It was clear that the second zodiac was donig the exact same thing (Note each had its own footage of the sealer, as well as of each other...observe the aspects of the boats movemetns ,etc), as well, the sealers on the boat were pretty laid back for someone 'trying to ram' someone...no shouting, armwaving, gestures of any sort, not 'gut tossing', etc.
Further to the other anon above saying that 'its apparent from the video that the sealer was doing a U turn to come back at the zodiac'...look again. The zodiac with the camera was doing the moving. Its all in the presentation.
HSUS was there for tastey footage of a confrontation , probably even wanted to get arrested, but its backfired because they got themselves booted out. Why? is it third world cop stuff? I don't thik so. Conditions of obtaining an observer permit includes the caveat that teh Minister can deny a permit to anyone who they believe intends to disrupt the seal hunt (which is why SSCS crew and Captain PAul can not get permits). Why should someone get a permit to disrupt the hunt. Observe adn record all ya want, just don't be an asshole and disrupt it.
Just because you're all a bunch of seal clubbing barbarians and pansy assed pacifists, don't go spouting your crap about Iraq. While you're all screwing around with seals, Americans and our British allies are bring peace and democracy to 25 million people while our "friends" up north keep looking for new ways to stick the knife in our back.
Just because you lack the gnads, don't shit on those of us who do.
In making statements like that, I won’t begin to tell you about how much you have been brainwashed by your government. You can bomb the world to pieces, but you can’t bomb the world to peace. The Middle East has never been in more turmoil since the latest occupation that started three years ago.
Please enlighten us all on how your “friends” in the North are sticking knives in your back, I am all ears.
It may also surprise you that Canada has nearly 3000 soldiers actively deployed in Afghanistan. Our country is risking the lives of their sons and daughters just like the US and British, the only different though, is that we are in the country that actually NEEDS the change. The Yankees and the Brits had Osama on the run in Afghanistan and then left the country!!! The entire world agreed that there was a major problem in Afghanistan; the same can not be said about Iraq.
Before you run your mouth about stabbing people in the back and lacking the “gnads’ to do something, try getting your facts from another source other than Fox news
Are you having a tantrum?
The meat is not used because there is no market. Dah.
Try actually reading something and understanding the content before responding.
I am not asking why all the meat is not taken, I am aware that the market is not currently available.
I am more interested in how people would feel if all the meat was used? Would the people who scream ‘till they turn blue in face about how wrong it is to kill an animal for its fur change their opinion. Personally I do not think it would make a difference to protestors either way.
I just saw a post on a comment
"Mr. Speaker, I would like to see the 6 million seals, or whatever number is out there, killed and sold, or destroyed and burned. I do not care what happens to them... the more they kill the better I will love it."
John Efford, Canadian Minister of Natural Resources
This is terrible.
Who the hell is Morrisey anyway? I have to admit I never heard of the guy until he decided to boycott Canada. I suspect his boycott won't mean much to most Canadians like myself who don't even recognize him.
I guess the publicity he's getting from the boycott will help his upcoming world tour though. Everyone has an angle I guess.
You just saw that comment from John Efford Anon? Come on get up to date and understand what you are reading.
First, John Efford hasn't been the Minister of Natural Resources since retiring prior to the last election.
Second, he retired because he had let his home province down and sold it down the river on several occassions so he knew he would never be re-elected.
Third, the statement was made years ago when he was Newfoundland's Fisheries Minister, not the Federal Natural Resources Minister.
Fourth, even at the time the statement was made Mr. Efford was chastized and seen by the public (including sealers) as being a hot head and blowing wind out of his ass.
Come on, if you are going to try to make Canadian's look bad you can do better than quoting a disgraced former politician like John Efford.
Get with the program. I hope your sources of information on other aspects of this debate are a bit more current and accurate than was evidenced by those comments.
No, I did not say that I had just heard that. I said that I saw it on a post and never gave the date. READ before you jump on someone ok? It does not matter when it was said, it was still said. Some people might care even if you do not. But the number is still 6 million seal correct? And say it isn't so. How can they determine the exact same number of seal? So we are still saying there are 6 million seal right? And we are still talking about the same seal hunt correct? So, what is the big deal? If he was talking about this same, it is all about cod seal hunt. (and he was). It doesn't matter who said it or when. These people were at one time even if not now, still connected to this seal hunt in Canada. I have a right to post what I find if it was legimately said. I do not see anything that says I must keep my facts on this seal hunt discussion, the same seal hunt, to 2006 information. Many people have posted statements and figures from other years. Go jump on them. How rude you are! That was a sure way to get people to continue to read your post!
You are correct Anon, you do have the right to post what you want and some people may indeed be interested.
However I do have a problem with what you posted and I'll tell you why (like you don't already know.)
First, you say that you did not say you just heard it ( or read it or whatever) yet your comment starts out with the line:
"Just saw a post on a comment"
That would sure lead one to believe you "just saw it".
That's one thing, but what I really have a problem with is your tactic of providing the comment without providing any context.
By posting that comment and stating that it came from the Minister of Natural Resources for Canada you leave the impression with those who don't know any better (and believe me there are plenty of them in your ranks) wiht the impression that this is a current situation and perhaps the official stand of Canada's government. This is evidenced by your curt comment at the end of the post which simply says:
This is terrible.
Once again, say what ever you feel you need to say but I for one feel that you would be better served pointing out facts rather than using misleading tactics like so many ARA's do.
Remember, every time you folks are shown to be mis-leading the public with that tactic by exagerating the restaraunt boycott, lying about white coats being hunted, etc. the public becomes more and more numb to your statements and will eventually begin to tune you out altogether.
On second thought, I take back everything I said. Go ahead with your "master plan". I really think you should.
Lying about whitecoats and boycott? Wake up, Patriot, get on the page the rest of the world is. Or actually, it works better for those of us working day and night to end this barbaric practice to have the likes of you and yours keeping your head way in the sand.
Google search on seal hunt for a reality check.
YOU said to me....First, you say that you did not say you just heard it ( or read it or whatever) yet your comment starts out with the line:
"Just saw a post on a comment"
Answer:
yes just saw a post on another site like this one, on a comment made by a Canadian important enough to know better, I did not say when that comment was made because it didn't say! Thank you very much!
And again you attack me: That would sure lead one to believe you "just saw it".
I wanted people to believe I just saw it BECAUSE I did. When I was looking up stuff on the hunt. Sheeeesh. What do you think you can't find articles from ten years ago still? Plus it doesn't matter AGAIN when he said it, he was still commenting on the same hunt and 6 million seal! And I did just see it.
I was reading some post all over, I was looking up the hunt. Trying to form an opinion on my own. In a house hold where everyone is against it thank you very much! You can not live anywhere today and not read it.
And because you are so worried about it making the hunt look bad! (It already does look bad, it needs not my help)
That post was a response to...........FYI
Just an addenum to my last about the seal population. When I said there are 6 000 000 seals I was referring to the harp seal specifically. There are also 2 000 000 hood seals and supposedly 1 000 000 other seals of which there are somewhere in the range of 20 species of the east coast of Canada.
March 28, 2006 8:55 PM
And the questions posed by many here on the true reason for the hunt. Which does make one ask, does everyone just want them dead, for whatever reason money mostly?
Oh my! Someone else might be a little more lost than me. It is terrible for someone responsible for the job he was responsible for, saying such a thing or anyone else saying it for that matter. And I doubt anyone, protesters or hunters would disagree with me, it is TERRIBLE!
So please go bother someone else, unless you can be nice.
TO PATRIOT.....you said...Remember, every time you folks are shown to be mis-leading the public with that tactic by exagerating the restaraunt boycott, lying about white coats being hunted, etc. the public becomes more and more numb to your statements and will eventually begin to tune you out altogether.
Who are you folks? I saw the post as I typed it. And in fact have now found it the same way in several places. One is by the government of Ontario. WHATEVER! I was not trying to mislead anyone I was trying to simply state what I saw. You get with this program, in todays world information is everywhere, you can find the facts or not, I am no idiot, I know this. The statement was made and I do not care what department he was in, HE was still in a job where he could run his FAT TRAP. And no one else cares who are when either, I do not believe. If I elect A man into a position or hire him, I have to take the consequences for his actions and sometimes I might have to pay for years. So with that said, I still say it was terrible and it is still terrible over and over. And that there are alot of people who agree with this hunt that feel the same way he does, that is becoming evident more and more as this goes on. The more I read the worse this becomes and the more I see the personalities of the people who fight for this hunt. No wonder the protesters get so darn mad. There is no rationale here at all. Ask a question or present something that makes no sense to me and I have to pick myself up off of the floor. And that is terrible too.
Sea Shepherd News
News Releases
03/29/2006
Croatia Bans the Import of Seal Pelts
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society applauds the efforts of Animal Friends Croatia for the announcement that the Ministry of Culture for Croatia has joined Mexico, the United States, Greenland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Luxembourg, which have banned or are in a process of introducing a ban on import of pelts and other products derived from seals.
March 15, 2006: Zagreb - citizens protest against the slaughter of seals in Canada
News Release from Animal Friends Croatia: Zagreb, Croatia, March 29, 2006:
While the world is fighting a battle for seals in Canada
At the height of protests on six continents and with the opposition of the whole world, while Paul McCartney and Brigitte Bardot are repeatedly appealing to the Canadian Government to stop the slaughter of seal pups and the world renown musician Morrissey cancels his Canadian tour in protest against this crime, Croatian Nature Protection Division - Biodiversity and Landscape Conservation Department with the Ministry of Culture bans the import of seal pelts and other products derived from seals!
According to the Directive of the Council of Europe No. 83/129/EEC of March 28, 1983 about the import of pelts and products derived from some newborn seals in member states (SL L 091 09.04.1983 page 30), Article 20 of the Rule Book of Transboundary Transport and Trade of Protected Species which is being implemented by the Nature Protection Law (Article 101, item 6) and which came into force by being published in Official Gazette No. 34/2006 on March 27, 2006, Croatia banned the commercial import of skin and other products derived from skin and seals from Appendix X! In this case, the word is about the Cystophora cristata - hooded seals and Phoca groenlandica - harp seals, the very species of seals that are now commercially being hunted on the east coast of Canada!
‘By taking this extremely important step, Croatia contributed a lot to endeavours of the Coalition to Protect Seals which at the moment has 47 member organizations from all over the world, but also to more than 70% of world and Canadian public which is opposing to this pointless and shameless slaughter', says Luka Oman, chairman of Animal Friends Croatia. 'We would like that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Croatia follows the bright example of the Ministry of Culture and implements the ban on breeding animals for fur in Croatia in their Animal Protection Bill Proposal. '
Bernard Vjeran Franolic
Int. Campaigns Coordinator
Animal Friends Croatia
www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr
www.vegekit.com
6 000 000 Harp
2 000 000 Hood
---------------
8 000 000 total
Divided by 325 000 seals total
=0.04% of the total population
Does that sound like a cull to you .04% of one percent of the total population?
Show one place where the Canadian government used the word cull. The use of this term by the ARA is just another example of misinformation and mincing of words to further their real agenda turn everyone into vegetarians.
How is killing one animal any different than any other. Oh I forgot cuteness factor for fund raising for the sake of fund raising with no real agenda other than spreading vegetarianism.
If this is a cull it is the longest on going cull in history since the 1500's with no disastrous effects to date.
Call it what it is a harvesting of a natural renewable resource that is managed and monitored properly but is being exploited by the ARA's for fund raising purposes with no real appreciable concern for the welfare of wildlife and the balance of nature of which man is apart of the food chain and needs to utilize his powers as the top of the food chain to ensure it is kept.
Now Animal Welfare agencies like the WWF are addressing the real pressing issues which are the raping and pillaging of the Nose Tail and Flemish cap by dragging non stop the floor of the sea with factory trawlers and freezer ships with total disregard to the state of the resource all the while engaging in propaganda campaigns to save the cute seals by idiots in these same countries.
Just a few random thoughts today:
Stats on Animals trapped for fur world wide according to World Animal Net:
Trapped world-wide - 8,559,303
Trapped US 2,500,000
Trapped Canada 1,059,303
Trapped Russia 4,000,000
Trapped elsewhere 1,000,000
Comment: The fact that 2.5 million animals are hunted for fur in the U.S. makes me wonder why 300K seals hunted in Canada is the biggest problem many Americans seem to have to protest against. Maybe they should clean their own house before trying to clean someone elses.
COMMERCIAL KANGAROO HARVEST QUOTAS IN 2000 (most of the meat from these harvests is destined for the European market)
Comment: I know Sir Paul only eats veggies, but I wonder if people like Bardot and McCartney are willing to eat a carrot in the same restaurants that serve kangaroo. Maybe they should start a boycott over there.
New South Wales* 1,550,285
Queensland 2,805,000
South Australia** 675,940
Western Australia 464,000
Flinders Island
Tasmania 21,000
Total 5,516,225
Comment: Funny too that so many of our neighbors in Australia would be offended by our seal hunt when that country kills over 15 times as many kangaroos each year.
Just thought I'd put the protest in perspective. I guess the U.S., Europe and Australia aren't as innocent as some activist commentors would like to believe.
Great article if your writing for the www.Ecoenquirer.com armchair junk science Michael.
According to Senator George Baker there is a high ranking DFO official who is on the board of directors of one of the ARA's. Actually I,m not surprised to hear that because from reading some of the pages at DFO it seems like the seal hunt is being sabotaged from within. That and the changing of the restrictions on observer/protestor permits down to 10 metres when it should have increased to 10 miles for their own safety and the safety and working conditions of the sealers.
As for the assertion that "If we take the seals, we remove the last natural predators from a once robust web." That is exectly the problem in that there are no or very few natural predators (shark, Whales, polar bears)left who prey on the 10 000 000 seals hence the population explosion.
Mans taking of 0.04% like someone quoted here earlier doesn't seem like much when you consider that is the same number that has been taken for the last 30 years and the seal population has continued to grow.
Opinions are like ass holes everyone has one.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COSTCO DECIDES TO HELP THE SEALS WITH URGING FROM SEA SHEPHERD
FRIDAY HARBOR, WA, March 30, 2006 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- After discussions with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Costco has decided to remove seal oil capsules from the shelves of all of their Canadian stores. By removing this despicable product, Costco has sent a message that they will not participate in the promotion of products obtained through the world's largest slaughter of marine wildlife: the annual Canadian harp seal hunt, where more than 325,000 seal pups between the ages of 2 weeks to 3 months are killed each year.
Canada has spent millions of dollars searching for and creating new products and markets for seals. Some of these products have been perverse and ridiculous, such as the dried seal penises sold to Asian markets to be used as aphrodisiacs during the mid to late 1990's. With seal products banned in the United States due to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the Omega-3 seal oil capsule product was developed for the Canadian market to sell as some sort of health benefit.
Still acting like snake oil salesmen, Canadian government civil servants working as seal product promotional salesmen began pushing Omega-3 as a cure for everything from warts to a remedy to prevent heart attacks. They conveniently failed to inform consumers of the mercury content of their product or how the seals are killed. And so, bottles of seal oil capsules began to be produced and marketed.
Costco inadvertently provided some credibility to this product by stocking the shelves of their Eastern Canadian outlets with Omega-3 baby seal oil capsules. But, thanks to the efforts of Sea Shepherd volunteer Stephen Thompson of Vancouver, who has been tirelessly tracking and opposing the baby seal oil capsule market in Canada, they have removed this product and will not offer it again.
In an e-mail message which was printed and mailed to Captain Paul Watson (Founder and President of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society), Richard F. Duffy, the Vice President of Costco Eastern U.S. and Canadian division wrote, "Costco has made a decision today, March 1st, at the highest levels of Costco management, that it will no longer carry any seal oil capsules in St. John's, Newfoundland or any other Costco location in Canada." Sea Shepherd is very pleased with this decision.
Captain Watson responded by saying, "I have been an executive member of Costco for over fifteen years and Sea Shepherd has utilized Costco to supply our ships on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts. We are pleased that we can continue to do business with Costco, and we are very happy that this vile product has been removed from Costco shelves. It is a product from an industry that has brought Canada nothing but shame and disgrace. Costco has made a decision that will benefit the seals and that will ultimately benefit Canada."
Costco is one of a growing list of companies that has publicly declared that they want no part of this "tradition" and will not support it through the sale of products obtained through ruthless cruelty and slaughter.
For pictures and more information, please visit: http://media-seals.seashepherd2.org/
About Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an International non-profit conservation organization whose mission is to defend, conserve, and protect the world's marine wildlife and ecosystems. Their website, www.seashepherd.org, documents SSCS research, direct action, public education and outreach programs, and illustrates how SSCS has continuously worked for decades to eradicate pirate whaling, poaching, shark finning, sealing, unlawful habitat destruction, and other violations of established laws intended to protect the world's oceans. Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd's founder and President, also co-founder of Greenpeace Foundation, is a Director of Sierra Club USA, and is a renowned, respected leader in environmental issues.
Old news.
It was only removed from the shelves if you ask the phamacist he stocks it behind the counter.
Another clear cut case of Watson trying to make more of something than it really is. The article makes it look like Costco will no longer sell seal oil capsules but of course that isn't true.
Just another case of ARA groups twisting the truth.
You do not seem to get it, judging from history where extermination of species is concerned, through hunting culling etc. It has caused irreversable damage to the ecosystem. As I said we need the large predators to strengthen the prey we eat. We have destroyed almost all large predators but this seal, the amount of seal today, do not account for the loss of all large predators, these seal are needed to replace those other large predators with the same diet. It is not rocket science. By hunting the seal in this number the cod that do replenish, if they even do there are questions even from the DFO, they will be weak. Explaination. I have a cod without one fin who survives because there are not enough predators, through constant breeding the species will be weakened because natural cull factors are not there. On any note, the argument is that Canada has mimanaged many species to extinction or near extinction, the seal population in northern Canada right now are the most important because of the importance of the ecosystem collapse mainly in the Northern Atlantic. In a note: we are trying to save the world, fighting global warming and ecosystem damage where we can. The scientist who have in the past and not attributed to Canada, who have thought this was the way have woke up to realise it was the wrong way of dealing with our collapsing eco system and we need to change. This is the same Canadian "culling" system that has always been used, even when large prey other than the seal were vital. Now they have to take into effect not only the amount of cod they eat, but other fish that need to be depleted through this natural process, in a jot, the seal need to replace the other large predators who have been removed in mass numbers from the Northern Atlantic. So when we take 6 million seal, if there are this many, some say no and estimate how many other large predators shark....etc...have been eliminated and add them to the equasion. Simply put the seal replaces the shark..cod...etc. And helps to balance the system. So the number 6 million is a very small number when you calculate how many large predators we do need. So culling the seal to help the cod. Seal eat more than cod and would replace many, many cod. Therefors helping the system, but maybe not the cod. As I said there is still questions from the DFO if this will work or not. The what if it don't work, is where we should be looking. We can't say what if it does. Because we know for a fact replacing cod, shark...large predators etc with seal WILL work and will straighten out the ecosystem at such a greater rate and limit species extinction.
Patriot this reference to you last post....
Farmed world-wide 27,790,000
Farmed Mink 24,100,000
Farmed Fox 3,400,000
Farmed Polecat 100,000
Farmed Raccoon Dog 90,000
Other: Chinchilla, Coypu, Sable, Lynx etc. 100,000 (est.)
Trapped world-wide 8,559,303
Trapped US 2,500,000
Trapped Canada 1,059,303
Trapped Russia 4,000,000
Trapped elsewhere 1,000,000 (est.)
These are small mostly prey (or food) they procreate in mass numbers, by the way chinchilla is illegal to kill now. So they need to fix that. and have not had their larger predators culled mostly to extinction, by over fishing, polution etc...Rememer it says trapped. Add more to Canada for bear hunting, the US has finally allowed one hunt for the first time in a long time, also add numbers for the seal, caribou (but not 325,00 at one time or even a period of time). I can tell you about trapping. Raccoon, sable, polecat, fox are all eaten in the deep south. And they have such a low number per trapper. My grandfather was a trapper. Believe it or not, in southern Georgia. To go on, no one traps 2,500,00 or even 325,000 wild mammals over a period of 1 month except for Canada. Mass culls are harmful.
This is not an environmental issue, as decided by the world, (unlike the seal hunt, which has been viewed by the world as irresponsible management of wildlife, like the fisheries) these are prey and most species are eaten. Also the US traps many species not on the list. And Russia also. The fact is most of these eat small rodents. (thus a greater need for RAT traps) When they are trapped, traps are checked by the trapper, traps MUST be checked daily, if the animal is under sexual maturity it must be released. In America, Russia etc... you will lose everything you have ever worked for if you break the laws where hunting or trapping are concerned, if you have even messed with a game warden from America you know it, there are plenty of them. The point is it bears no argument for or against the seal hunt, except to say it has been rendered humane and has been done in this way for longer than your seal hunt...and HAS had NO adverse effects whatsoever on their survival, or the survival of other species in removing them. The argument is environment factors in mass culling of large predators, expecially a large predator that is the only species hardy enough to make up for the loss of the other predator species in this same area. Again pointing fingers at other wrongs does not make this right, but this one is truly a great environmental disaster, culls in this way have become ancient practice everywhere else, because data proves them to be detramental to a healthy ecosystem and environment. Even our past efforts using this method have failed and in this same area, the Northern Atlantic East Coast.
seal oil capsules are illegal in most countries already.
So who really cares. Last I heard Costco was going under in America, walmart was putting them out of business.
Talk about propaganda and a way to get seal kill advocates to shop there.
There is not a large market for them anyway. (seal oil pills) too frank costly.
I guess we will have to wait and see who shops more those stars and protesters (with all that cash) or the advocates with their supposed poverty.
I can hear it now "Costco sold out to walmart one year after the decision to back what most shoppers call a horrendous practice," OMG!
In response to micheltraynor who said among other things in his last comment with relation to my post identifying the millions of animals killed for fur around the world:
"These are small mostly prey (or food) they procreate in mass numbers, by the way chinchilla is illegal to kill now...."
"...Rememer it says trapped."
"...I can tell you about trapping. Raccoon, sable, polecat, fox are all eaten in the deep south. And they have such a low number per trapper..."
"...To go on, no one traps 2,500,00 or even 325,000 wild mammals over a period of 1 month except for Canada."
Well Michael, do you classify animals such as the following as "mostly prey (or food) they procreate in mass numbers:
Bear, Bobcat, Coyote, Gray Fox, Red Fox, Kit & Swift Fox, Silver Fox, Lynx, Ocelot, Wolf, Timber Wolf and Wolverine?
Because these are some of the animals listed on the World Animal Net web site (an animal protection site by the way). I know I don't see these animals as typical prey.
As for fox being eaten in the south I respond by saying that seal is eaten here. Yes, the current situation sees us only using about 35,000 animals a year for food but that is simply because it is currently cost prohibitive to bring the rest to market.
As for your comment: "...To go on, no one traps 2,500,00 or even 325,000 wild mammals over a period of 1 month except for Canada."
You see this as a single month but in reality it is a year's quota. They have to be taken in a month because as cold as it gets up here March - April is when the ice floes permit hunting in any feasible way. I guess you fine folks down south don't have that problem with foxes.
Bye the way, I forgot to mention in my last comment to Michael,
Your explanation of how letting the seal population expand will help stabalize the ecosystem is a simplistic joke.
When you talk about it being needed to replace other predators you ignore the fact that even though the number of predators such as sharks has fallen so too have the fish stocks they prey upon.
You will not balance anything by allowing an over abundance of any predator to prey upon an under abundance of prey. All that will accomplish is a further depletion of the prey and an eventual mass starvation of the predator.
Bye allowing a limited number of predators to feed on the limited number of prey a balance is more sustainable.
FYI
http://www.gfwadvertiser.ca/index.cfm?iid=1193&sid=8288
Ever wonder how many animals it takes to make a fur coat. Here are a few numbers from an animal protection site:
Seal 6-10
Kangaroo 20-30
Rabbit 30-40
Marten 50-60
Sable 60-70
Chinchilla 30-200
In this light I will use some of the obtuse sort of logic used by others who remain nameless and say to the fur buying public at large:
Purchase a seal skin coat (which takes only 10 animals) because doing so means you don't have to buy some other sort of fur thus saving the lives of up to 30 kangaroos or 70 sable or even 200 chinchillas.
See, Canada is worried about protecting the world's animals. Bye hunting seals we are saving many more animals of other species that will no longer be in demand for fur.
(Hey, if AMA's can twist things to reflect their view of the world then why can't anyone else?)
Sorry, should have read ARA's, not AMA's. My bad.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/tabor033006.htm
Do people here take notice? We are addressing one million seal to be taken in three years? Canada alone will take this many.
Other countries all together only take about ten to thirty five thousand a year. Greenland is second to Canada at about eighteen
thousand give or take. They use a different hunting method. Norway uses Canada's method and kills far less, not even in the same ball park.
That is crazy! We are crazy!
bye
About the Costco War Mart rivalry. I'm assuming you meant Sams club which is a subsidiary of War Mart.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/07/25/rivalry_between_wal_mart_costco_also_extends_to_national_politics/
Support the WaR in Iraq shop at War Mart. Buy American!
Either way walmart employs Canadians too, unless of course
they drive from America to get here to work and then go back.
Yes walmart owns sams club. So they been fighting. Why not use
the seal hunt if you are about to lose your business? That's why
I say who cares about Costco.
And that is propaganda Mr. Harper...;)
http://www.harpseals.org/
Go to the picture at the bottom of the page.
Do you think she knows her baby is dead?
Did she watch as they skinned him? And left him lying there.
No wonder the world hates Canada right now.
The more we see the more we understand
exactly what kind of people do these things
and don't care.
Stop with the Hypocracy death is death and lots of blood is involved. Unless you are a vegan than your comments are those of a hypocrit. Even Vegans need to take B12 animal protein pills to maintain their health.
What you better than the rest of us keep forgetting is man is still an animal Mammal Omnivore who eats meat we are not above the laws of nature and as such are an intregal part of the worlds eco systems and have a responsibility to harvest natural resources in a sustainable and responsible manner.
http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=meet_your_meat&Player=wm&speed=_med
Hypocrits
Dead seals on N.S. shores not related to seal hunt, Fisheries official says
March 31, 2006....well here is one of those natural disasters again just like last year that killed 2000
after that hunt. Do they count these numbers in the cull?
And Newfoundlanders think it is because they aren't taking them fast enough. Oh please hurry and kill so
we get the pelt! Don't want anymore to die before we get our quota. They are gonna die anyway. yadda...How do
you know how many will die in the coming weeks? Add this number to the quota so the PLAN will work to save the cod.
Ridiculous.
See, now what will Canada do when most of the babies drown and die, because of poor ice conditions.
WAKE UP! You can't kill the seal to save them. And the ecosystem is a disaster, global warming etc.
How do you know how many you can safely kill when stuff like this happens? Another species marked up
for Canada hunted or fished to extinction.
Way to go!
Vancouver, British Columbia — Newfoundland native Nadine Saunders is so disgusted by the annual slaughter of hundreds of thousands of harp seals in her native province that she wishes that she hadn’t been born there. That’s why she will be returning her birth certificate to the Newfoundland government today in protest of the seal hunt that takes place every spring on Canada’s East Coast.
"Thousands of helpless baby seals are bludgeoned to death in the province where I grew up. It makes me ashamed to be a Newfoundlander," says Nadine.
The facts: the economical motivation here is not the seals, it is the cod and other fisheries. The seals are just in the way. They use the fact that there are 6 million of them as an argument, but when you put them in the category with all large marine predators v/s prey, the prey are winning, instead of being about 65 to 100 or more times that of the large predators, there are something like 1000 times more prey or more. And this causes weakness and illnesses because they are not naturally culled. The DFO and Ottawa are only taking the seal and cod numbers. They are not taking the need for large marine predators as a whole. And using the high seal number as an excuse to kill them so that they can make billions off of the fishery surplus. So we don't eat cod, or seafood, We say let the seals have it, We can eat something else.
Funny that this argument was presented by one John Efford, in saving the cod a few years back...
“Mr. Speaker, I would like to see the 6 million seals, or whatever number is out there, killed and sold, or destroyed and burned. I do not care what happens to them… the more they kill the better I will love it.”
John Efford, Canadian Minister of Natural Resources
Seals implicated in ‘killing fields’ of Newfoundland cod
As Efford put it, “if we continue to remain silent on the harp seal issue and by our silence let Ottawa decide on the best course of action, we might as well roll over and die. Ottawa played a role in the decline of our ground fish fishery. Are we going to remain silent and let Ottawa deciding on the ways and means of its complete destruction?”
Response....
Dr. Jeff Hutchings
PROFESSOR
BSc (Toronto), MSc (Memorial)
PhD (Memorial)
As Dr. Jeff Hutchings, a fish biologist at Dalhousie University and an expert on cod states, “[Efford] has documentation of an episode in which seals have apparently consumed parts of cod and we see the bodies of cods lying on the bottom.” But Hutchings says the video is of more political significance than scientific importance. “It’s not a particularly unusual thing to see,” remarks Hutchings.
Unbelievable.
www.boycott-canada.com/news/geneva.htm It is not for the boycott
Read this for the Geneva court findings.
Also a man in power from here once said, Seals are smart you won't have to kill too many of them before they will just all leave. Looks like he meant will have to kill TOO MANY.
The fact is he is a moron, they will not leave until their food supply is deleted, it is instinct.
We say, Mr. out fish the seals then, beat them to it, then we say oh yeah that's right seals are smart so we just kill em for it, huh?
That is the truth about this whole thing. There are so many ugly things about this, lies and deceit and a lot of innocent marine warm blooded, blood.
A long with global warming they break the ice to allow hunters access. This year they have already started washing up, they call it a natural event, last year 2000 or more washed ashore the day after the hunt. Coincidence? We think not, they are drowning because of the small ice pans from warming and help from the DFO when breaking the ice, this only happens around this time in these numbers every year. And they don't add these numbers to their hunt.
There are so many facts I could write forever. In response to the shortage of cod and compliments (I believe) of Paul McCartney, Britain has removed all cod from the shelves.
Kill the fisheries, if Ottawa and the DFO want to kill the seal to fish the waters to extinction for billions, the world won't eat the fish, seafood etc. Costco has removed omega 3 oil, which is abundant in at least 7 species of abundant cold water fish and doesn't have to come from seal. In fact it is very expensive from seal. And cheap in fish.
The truth behind this is a lot of Canadians (not us) and sealers trust Ottawa and the DFO, the same ones who mismanaged the fisheries to collapse. When their only motivation is to fish the waters, again the seal are in the way.
In the end we guess we can thank those behind this for a few more extinct species. Where they have already contributed enough. Remember these are not Inuit’s, they are English, Scott, Irish, French etc... The Inuit’s only hunt for food survival and never kill for commercial reasons, there kill quota is 10,000, Quebec’s, 91,000 and Newfoundlanders 235,000, which will start in April, and where the fishing industry for Ottawa makes billions.
Kill the seal and allow the corpses to rot, causing carbon dioxide in already oxygen depleted waters. The rot causing the fish that eats from it to get fungal infections. Dead seals are worse for the environment than live ones. But the live ones are worse for the pocket book. The world does have a clue.
Killing 335,000 warm blooded marine animals leaving their corpses to rot causing carbon dioxide in already oxygen depleted waters, allowing the fish to eat from the rot causing fungus in those that eat from it.
We have to say this is as deplorable as China and the cats and dogs for fur, for economic gain. Worse actually because this has very adverse effect on the worlds environment and affects us all, in our ability to survive. It doesn't just tug at the heart and stomach.....but also the very essence of our life as we know it.
In fact the sealers are just the assassin’s for the Government, for access to economic gain.
They attack the ARA's and say they just want money, it's an annual fund raiser, they have been trying for longer than we have seen in view to stop this, but the question is, how much would you pay, if you were wealthy, to Paul Watson, if he was an attorney, to protect someone or something you love from the death penalty, as an innocent person or thing? Fact they have been audited and passed with flying colors.
The senator that claimed he had the goods on the Sea Shepherd Conservative Society because they had an account in Switzerland. (In fact they did have an account in Switzerland, with limited funds, but it was for the Sea Shepherd Conservative Society Switzerland. Where else would the account be? ) He was later fired for misappropriating funds, or stepped down we can't remember. See how they get people to believe their bull while they profit from blood? I say it takes a true dummy to believe their crap.
They say they care about culture and saving it, once again these are not Inuit’s. When the whole time they are saying this, they are Ignoring the Canadian aboriginals deplorable water supplies that are not fit for a rat to drink, and many, mostly children are sick from it.
The premier from Newfoundland states he is upset Costco made this decision without hearing their views.
What he is not remembering is, we have heard his views, on CNN, Larry King. The, we don't club baby seals anymore, most are shot, this is an oxy moron most meaning you do still club some? In the mean time pictures are showing seals being clubbed.
Also we have seen the pictures of seal pelts and penis's an exact match in numbers, what happened to the 50% female pelts, Danny? Were they white....maybe, but the fact is you can not sex these seals until they are dead, So you kill many and only take the pelts and penis's from the males and females with perfect pelt. You do not eat it, fins for fin pie, but not 300,000 plus seal fin pies. Fact only 8% of restaurants sell it, there is no market for it, you blame the ARA's again, no Danny there has never been a market for it outside Northern Canada. And never 300,000 seals worth of it, not even close. Low income families can not consume that much seal, a million in three years? Again you kill the seal to fish the waters. You don't like the seal because they eat your precious money.
Ok Danny, if you want the world to hear your views, talk about it, don't hide, why did you cancel the meeting with Paul Watson? Why does our "Christian" Prime Minister ignore everyone and give no explanation? Why does the only other party with a leader right now, sit quiet? The man who hides has something to hide. The truth is Ottawa, you let the world hate the sealers when you motivate them and use them as a front...DISGUSTING!
And Danny step into the year 2006, your argument that the omega 3 oils are healthy are the only factual ones we have heard, however they are found in at least 7 species of abundant cold blooded fish, at rock bottom prices.
The fact is you all hide, because you are scared, not for your safety, but for your pocketbooks, you have no sound argument, it is all based on lies and blood, for profit. There are some of us Danny who do have a brain, that your government has not brain washed into hate the world sentiments, love Canada. Always posting what's wrong with the world and never looking at Canada, keeping the media under control, communism plain and simple.
If the world has to kill us economically, to stop this, they will this time, this year is different we see the effects of over hunting, global warming and environment effects, it doesn't take scientist. If they make us stop we will never live it down, we have to choose to stop before the world will see Canada for who she really is.
http://www.nemsplace.co.uk/?p=394 these aren't those white babies, but I don't mind telling you, I am even more ticked now!
1 in 5 is an awfully large percentage to be "harvesting." Unjustified reasons to disturb a key species in the artic food web.
I have to laugh. To the previous anon. How is 300,000 out of 6 million 1 in 5? Good math.
On another note I just came across a comment from Paul Watson that I've heard before but it always makes me laugh when I read it again so I thought I'd share it with our less enlightened readers.
Here is the comment:
"Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has endeavored to create alternative employment for sealers. In 1995, Captain Paul Watson developed the idea of a cruelty-free non-lethal form of sealing. This would have involved the collecting of the naturally-molted hairs from whitecoated baby seals. These hairs, which are transparent and hollow, have qualities similar to eiderdown. Sea Shepherd was able to convince a German bedding and fabric company to market the hairs for the production of bed comforters."
I always wonder exactly how much time a sealer would need to be on the frozen ice combing seals and looking for enough loose transparent follicles to fill just one mattress. I do know one thing, you would likely need all of Watson's annual donations just to afford the cost of a matteress like that.
Once again, great logic Paul.
I think Anon was right Patriot.
The plan is for 1,000,000 seal in three years. The total is 5.8 mill.
You can not take births into account before they happen, not with wild life.
You can take kill statistics for three years into account. The decision has
already been made.
It is called, culturing of Dermal papilla cells. They have done it with human hair for years.
The only thing you have to do is grow them in a synthetic invironment. It is the past, present and future.
It is usually for male patterned baldness. It will work for animals too, I suppose.
Do you believe the narrow vision of some of these animal rights activists?
We now hear about a woman who has offered to raise 16 million to give to sealers if they agree to stop the hunt. She sees this as a solution.
Her narrow view does not consider what would happen after this year. Does she intend to provide 16 million every year going forward?
She does not consider the population of seals that is now coming up into fresh water salmon and trout rivers searching for food and impacting that habitat (where they are not a normal part of the eco-system), or what will happen there if the population continues to grow.
She also references giving this to NL fishermen. It seems like its always NL fishermen. What about the rest of Atlantic canada or Quebec which also take part in the hunt?
I tell you, some of these folks have no sense of reality.
Sorry, I also forgot to mention the native sealers. It's funny how nobody ever mentions them. Could it be becuase they don't want to be accused of racism. I guess the fact that NL'ers are so vocal about the subject and not afraid to stand up like other provinces makes us the prime target but again, that stems back to the narrow view.
I believe in the inuit hunt, I have seen their hunt, they are not the issue. No one, even Paul McCartneys wife said, "We are not talking about the Inuits." Their hunt is a seperate issue and very well should be. No one was saying end the hunt period. End the commercial hunt. Not one for personal consumption. It might not matter anyway, I don't know.
Do you not understand that every scientist and reputable marine person from one end to the other disagree with your save the fish philosophy?
The only people that back you are hired by Canada, WWF veterinarians and political figures, sealers...
No you have no sense of reality and you are so narrow minded. Get this, all arguments have been won, your Government accepts that, the only one left was the monetary issues. You can not make a positive influence in the world and become a "great" leader with this going on. Wake up please. You can not preach save the environment to everyone else, while continuing to ignore it in Canada. Green house emissions are increasing higher here than the "America, you won't listen to us," Paul Martins of Canada. And then statistics came out. You can not get the world to listen if you do not practice safe science for a better future yourselves. GET IT YET? I doubt it. KYOTO??? Who will follow a country with records like yours? WAKE up, the world is showing commercials on this hunt now. You can not go preach peace, love and environment for a better future to any one but the few Canadians who don not hang their head when it is mentioned now, due to statistical reports in green house emissions, after Paul Martin yelled at the Americans. Now the colour of this "hunt". Where most see it as a direct threat to our rights as humans. They are not your natural resources. They are living breathing mammals, that the world says belongs to everyone. You do not have the right to kill for profit wild warm blooded marine mammals. YOU will never get it will you? Would you get it if you had a heart, does it bother you peole that you ruin this part of the year for everyone with the cruelty of this? No, since the time I have been on this site, I have realized the answer is no. What about our children who don't think this is "normal"? Big Deal.
She gave the answer after the 16 million for the future, but you did not get it did you? Or you just did not want to. I am through here. Everything I have said has been true, but you always want to make us anti-sealers out to be liars! You never listen, your right right right, go be right. And because of this attitude you are going to lose the hunt all together eventually. You say the finacial numbers aren't adding up. Get this after the 2005 hunt, your country did to lose 1,223,000 for the fiscal year on all sorts of things down to the last cucumber. 2006 will hit harder. But go be right and don't listen to anyone even if they truly might be trying to help you. Someone coming into this whom was un-bias. PICTURES OF CUTE seals DO NOT carry weight with me! But every other issue did! Including your attitude here. If you can not see what is happening when your told three weeks in advance by one sea shepherd article. Then you will never believe me when I say what happens next! It didn't have to be this hard on everyone. I have tried to tell you. See ya.
sorry that was one billion two hundred and twenty three thousand dollars. I am in a hurry. Too mush to do. See ya.
even though you were not talking to me!
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