I have been following this for the last few years, only to see which side can make claims for their positions, and, to be honest, aside from rhetoric and bad science of the worst sorts from both sides, really cannot take a firm position on this, but, I know where I tend to lean.
Canadian Seal Hunt
In all fairness, I also offer this link:
Seals and Sealing in Canada
and this link:
Canada Shrugs Off Boycott Threats Over Seal Hunt
So, I would like to ask those here to post your opinions. I will admit that I find the position of the Canadian government puzzling at best, since from what I understand, the major threat of a seal overpopulation would be the already low cod populations, but, since the facts stated by the Canadian official fisheries website seems to leave this in somewhat arguable dispute, I wonder just what the worldwide demand for sealskin and sealflesh exactly is. I also want to know why clubbing is the preferred method of "harvesting" the seals, if such an overpopulation exists. Sort of like shooting chickens in the henhouse, if you ask me. Nothing sportmanlike or humane about it, even with the claims that this is a needed livelihood for those on the Northern Atlantic seaboard, who are in peril of a below subsistance livelihood otherwise.
I am skeptical, and I personally find it barbaric. The seals that are killed are more than likely the whelps, or the newly weaned young who lack the escape skills of their elders. A seal pup changes color from white to dark in less than a month.
Like I have said earlier in other threads, if the people doing the harvesting had anything invested in the seals to begin with, maybe I would feel differently, they would have sheltered the seals, helped raise and nourish them, kept them protected and free from predators. They would have been raised, and the outcome would have been controlled and done most carefully. There would be a needed market for the commodity, it would be in demand, and it would be priced accordingly.
Is this the case here? The persons with these licenses invade the breeding/resting grounds and start the killing. There is nothing even remotely humane or thoughtful about the whole process. This is just wholesale slaughter in my mind.
Maybe the more important thing to focus efforts on is why the cod population has dwindled. It does not seem to be due to seals.
Anyway, thoughts?
edit for atrocious spelling