Canada Annually in March Drowned in Blood

Martin.P@parl.gc.ca, Min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca, tourisminfo@gov.nl.ca, efford.j@parl.gc.ca, bnato@dfait-maeci.gc.ca, poecd@dfait-maeci.gc.ca, perm@dfait-maeci.gc.ca, Keddy.G@Parl.gc.ca, wshdc-prmoas@dfait-maeci.gc.ca, pesco@dfait-maeci.gc.ca, prmny@dfait-maeci.gc.ca, bcm@dfait-maeci.gc.ca, Thibault.R@parl.gc.ca, Hearn.L@parl.gc.ca, ctx_feedback@ctc-cct.ca, efford.j@parl.gc.ca, trevortaylor@gov.nl.ca, rmatthews@gov.nl.ca, craigtaylor@gov.nl.ca, joekennedy@gov.nl.ca, rhigdon@gov.nl.ca, governmenthouse@gov.nl.ca, EByrne@gov.nl.ca, daisyparsons@gov.nl.ca, PercyBarrett@gov.nl.ca, Joanburke@gov.nl.ca, RolandButler@gov.nl.ca, JackByrne@gov.nl.ca, CollinsR@gov.nl.ca, davedenine@gov.nl.ca, Rfitzgerald@gov.nl.ca, judyfoote@gov.nl.ca, Terryfrench@gov.nl.ca, kathygoudie@gov.nl.ca, HarryHarding@gov.nl.ca, jackharris@gov.nl.ca, Thedderson@gov.nl.ca, Jhickey@gov.nl.ca, jimhodder@gov.nl.ca, Rhunter@gov.nl.ca, clydejackman@gov.nl.ca, CharleneJohnson@gov.nl.ca, yvonnejones@gov.nl.ca, eddiejoyce@nf.aibn.com, Olangdon@gov.nl.ca, BethMarshall@gov.nl.ca, tommarshall@gov.nl.ca, Kevinobrien@gov.nl.ca, sosborne@gov.nl.ca, Jottenheimer@gov.nl.ca, GerryReid@gov.nl.ca, hynesa@gov.nl.ca, BobRidgley@gov.nl.ca, Pshelley@gov.nl.ca, ShawnSkinner@gov.nl.ca, lsullivan@gov.nl.ca, Sweeney@gov.nl.ca, annathistle@gov.nl.ca, dianne.whalen@gov.nl.ca, rosswiseman@gov.nl.ca, WallyYoung@gov.nl.ca, canada@canadianembassy.org, jeremy.kinsman@international.gc.ca, sydney@international.gc.ca, pm@pm.gc.ca, cnbra@international.gc.ca, brennan.paula@ctc-cct.ca

Dear Madam or Sir of the Canadian Government,

In March, your country will again proceed with the largest commercial slaughter of marine mammals on the planet. During every year's hunt, a lot more than 300,000 seals were killed. A shocking 98.5% were just two months of age or younger -- many of them were probably skinned while still conscious and able to feel pain.

Many thousands of supporters send a clear message to you as Canadian government every year and we will not tolerate the cruel slaughter of seals every year! This growing number of concerned and outraged individuals worldwide who want this hunt stopped forever. This collective power is already having an impact. Consider what's happened since the hunt in 2005:

- The number of restaurants and seafood businesses who have pledged to limit or eliminate their purchases of Canadian seafood has grown to more than 400. They are joined by more than 140,000 individuals.

- The value of Canadian snow crab exports to the United States has plummeted by more than $160 million - nearly ten times the value of the seal hunt and a 34% drop since the seafood boycott began.

- Since the boycott was announced, some of Canada's largest fishing companies have released financial reports revealing drops in profits. Fisheries Products International, Newfoundland's largest fishing company, is losing so much money that it is considering selling off most of its fishing rights.

- In Europe, where almost all seal skins are shipped for processing and resale, several nations are taking steps to ban those shipments. At the forefront is Belgium, which has already banned the import of all seal products.

- Just 23 hours after HSUS's 2005 seal hunt footage was aired on national TV, Greenland's government announced it would stop imports of Canadian seal skins. Canada has exported more than 90,000 seal skins to Greenland over the past two years.

The Canadian commercial seal kill is the largest slaughter of Marine Mammals in the world. This year over 300,000 seals - mostly pups less than 2 months old - were bludgeoned, shot, and skinned to feed the whims and the greed of the fur fashion and exotic leather industries, and their customers. Canada's commercial seal kill is all about money. The goal of the global Canadian Seafood Boycott is to take the profits out of sealing, i.e. that for every year the seal kill continues it directly costs those who kill the seals 50 to 100 times more than what they earn from the commercial seal kill.

HSUS will be at the next massacre again with cameras, showing the world the ugly truth of what happens on the ice. When will your relatively newly elected Conservative Party government stop the hunt of hundreds of thousands of baby seals?

Yours truly,  

Von: Slmurphy@gov.nl.ca  SM-27414  October 17, 2006

Dear xx:

This is further to your recent correspondence in which you expressed concern over the seal fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador. This fishery has been proven to be humane, sustainable, and well regulated. I ask you to read the following before making your final judgement on the Newfoundland and Labrador seal fishery.

The sealing industry has historically been a major contributing factor to the Province's economy, employing thousands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in the harvest and processing of seal products at a time of year that offers few other fisheries-related opportunities.  A large vessel hunt was carried out for many decades, into the early 1980's, until increasing pressure from animal rights activists resulted in a halt of the annual whitecoat hunt off coastal Labrador and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  The sealing industry, up to 1982, was sustained by whitecoat pelts and seal oil products destined for international markets.

Other products, such as flippers and meat, were sold for local consumption, and oil products were utilized for medicinal and industrial uses. This scenario has completely changed since 1982, since then, only land-based sealers, called landsmen, are permitted to harvest mature seals with the annual quota levels being set by the Government of Canada. The well-funded campaign mounted by the animal rights groups has seriously undermined the sealing industry in this Province.  We continue to rebuild our industry through a maximum utilization policy based on sustainable management of the resource. 

Animal rights activists continue to focus on the visual appeal of the whitecoat harp seal, which negatively influences millions of people, even though this harvest is no longer permitted. The important issues pertaining to the sealing industry in the new millennium are:  (1) the economic role of the sealing industry in these times of extreme constraints to other fisheries; (2) the contribution of seals to the ecological imbalance with regard to other components of the Newfoundland fishery; and (3) the urgency to base future decisions on management of the seal resource on sound scientific evidence, rather than emotionally charged issues.

The seal herds off Canada's east coast are the largest in the world with recent estimates of the population over 6.0 million animals.  The harp seal herd is by far the largest, at 5.2 million animals, with more than 700,000 pups born annually.  The hood seal population is in excess of 900,000 animals with an estimated 80,000 pups born each year.  The grey seal herd stands at 143,000 animals.  Obviously, these vast herds have a significant impact on marine resources and researchers estimated that the seals consumed about 3.5 million metric tonnes of marine species in Atlantic Canada in 1996, of which 82 percent is attributed to harp seals. These estimates of consumption by seals in Newfoundland waters include 250,000 mt. of  turbot, 800,000 mt. of capelin and 142,000 mt. of Atlantic cod (roughly 1.5 billion small ones, and two year old codfish).  All these concerns are echoed by the Federal Minister’s Fisheries Resource Conservation Council. 

The Council is fully supportive of efforts to fully harvest the seal resource to its economic potential, as well as to lessen pressure on slowly recovering groundfish stocks.  We must also be concerned about other species such as salmon, which are also in serious decline.  This type of imbalance in the ecosystem calls for new approaches to fisheries management. Lately, reports continue to come from our fishermen, relating to changes in migratory patterns of seals as they seek alternate food sources.  They are actually herding schools of herring, cod and capelin on shore and near wharves where they feed aggressively, often selecting only the gut area of the fish, leaving the remains to decompose on the ocean floor. A great deal of scientific work has been undertaken on seal product development, the goal being maximum utilization of the entire harvest. 

A variety of food products have been developed and are being marketed successfully. These include sausages, canned products, pepperoni, salami and prime tenderloin cuts.  As well, Omega-3 oil, derived from blubber, is marketed worldwide as a health  supplement. As you may be aware, Omega-3 seal oil has been linked to health benefits, with positive results in the prevention of cardiovascular disease.  Other products include leather and fur for newly developing garment industries in Russia, Asia and other world markets. In the current year, the seal fishery will provide a significant portion of the income for more than 4,000 fishermen and plant workers, and the industry is now worth over $45.0 million to the local economy.

In addition, several hundred Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are involved in producing craft items from seal.  The seal fishery continues to be highly regulated and is being closely monitored to ensure that it is conducted in accordance with established practices. Please consider that other areas of Canada also rely heavily on the sealing industry, particularly the Province of Quebec, and Nunavut, which have seal harvests that are vital to their coastal community economies.  Migrating seal populations have become problematic worldwide.  Increasing numbers of seals are evident in British Columbia, the California Coast, Prince Edward Island, and other areas on the East Coast. I trust the above information is satisfactory; should you require further clarification on any other sealing issues, please contact Mr. Mark Rumboldt, Product Development Specialist at (709) 729-3714.

Sincerely yours, Thomas G. Rideout, M.H.A. Lewisporte District
Minister

Dear Prime Minister Harper,
Dear Politicians of Canada, including Newfoundland and Labrador,

I write with restored hope for an immediate end to the world's most unsustainable slaughter of marine wildlife. As Canada's elected Prime Minister, you play a vital role in stopping the massacre of 325,000 seals each year. There is no credible rationale to convince an informed public the Canadian seal hunt is humane. In photographic images from 2005, the world viewed white coat pups gunned down, pounded in the skull, kicked in the face, and thrashed with hakapiks. In just three years, the hunt has claimed almost one million seals.

Up to 95% of harp seals slaughtered during the last five years were less than three months old. These vulnerable pups cannot even eat or swim on their own. Video footage depicts sealers routinely hauling them over the ice with boathooks. In 2001, a team of impartial veterinarians determined that 42% of examined seals did not suffer sufficient cranial injury to render them unconscious. They concluded the seals were likely cognizant when skinned alive. Scientists worldwide have renounced Canada's management policy for harp seals as reckless and unsustainable.

The economic basis for the hunt is flimsy as well. In Newfoundland, where 90% of sealers live, seal-related income makes up less than one-tenth of 1% of the province's economy. In addition, there is no conclusive evidence linking harp seals to depleted fish stocks. The greatest predators of young cod are other fish species. Seals actually consume the very fish that prey on cod! Eliminating harp seals could signify a rise in cod predators. "Certainly, no Department of Fisheries scientist thinks the seal had anything to do with the fishery's collapse," Dr. Jeffrey Hatchlings, a fishery biologist and former DO consultant, has stated.

In fact, scientists are concerned that killing seals may hinder the recovery of ground fish stocks. Convulsing animals amid rivers of blood disgrace your nation. Polls indicate nearly 80% of Americans and Europeans disapprove of the seal hunt, with many prepared to boycott Canadian seafood until it ends. I respectfully ask you to make a viable commitment to halting this scientifically, economically, and ethically indefensible hunt. Thank you for your time and consideration in this very important matter.

Yours sincerely,