Monday, April 13, 2009

Save Baby Harp Seals

Reply to: see below
Date: 2009-04-02, 12:49PM EDT


Once again, the Canadian harp seal hunt has begun – as the world looks on in horror. Hundreds of thousands of baby seals will be bludgeoned on the head, sometimes choking to death on their own blood, impaled on boat hooks and dragged across the ice while still conscious, and many will be skinned alive (up to 42% according to a study by veterinarians). Conducting a “humane” hunt is a myth. The sealers must move quickly to meet their quotas and to try to remain safe in the treacherous environment of the harp seal birthing grounds. Despite Department of Fisheries and Oceans regulations, there is no time to check a seal’s vital signs to see if it is dead before moving on, and so the pups die a slow and agonizing death. Over one million seals have been killed in the last few years. In 2008, four sealers lost their lives as well as their boats became trapped in the icy waters.

There is no good reason for this annual massacre. It is now accepted in the scientific community that over-fishing is responsible for the decline in cod stocks off Canada’s east coast. In fact, ample evidence exists that a decrease in the harp seal population has also contributed to the decline of cod since predators of cod are part of a harp seal’s normal diet. The development of hypoxia (oxygen-depletion) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which can sicken or kill cod, is another suspected effect of the hunt. Canadian citizens, including the sealers, would be better served by having the government buy back the sealers’ licenses to compensate for the fraction of their income derived from the hunt, and to help them initiate an ecotourism industry, rather than spending millions of tax dollars to subsidize the hunt.

Markets for the pelts are drying up around the world. The European Union will soon vote on whether to ban the trade of seal products in their member countries, and a recent parliamentary committee vote indicates a move in that direction. Only days ago, Russia outlawed their own baby harp seal hunt, citing its inevitably inhumane practices. Additionally, the boycott of Canadian seafood, a worldwide campaign to end the hunt by putting economic pressure on the sealers (who are actually fishermen conducting the hunt as an off-season activity), has decreased profits in the industry by $750 million.

Now, for the first time, a senator has introduced a bill to end the commercial seal hunt. Please don’t remain silent as this senseless slaughter continues. Let your legislators know that those who care about a viable future for Canada will not let another year go by without speaking out against the harp seal hunt – the largest slaughter of marine mammals on earth.

Read Senator Harb’s own words on the seal hunt at http://www.embassymag.ca/page/view/harb-3-18-2009

Contact Senator MAC HARB at harbsealbill@sen.parl.gc.ca and tell him you support an end to the commercial harp seal hunt.

HELP KEEP THIS BILL ALIVE! CONTACT THESE OTHER SENATORS AND URGE THEM TO SUPPORT BILL S-229, THE HARB SEAL BILL:

Ann Cools at coolsa@sen.parl.gc.ca

Elaine McCoy at mccoye@sen.parl.gc.ca

Norman Atkins at atkinn@sen.parl.gc.ca

Lowell Murray at murral@sen.parl.gc.ca

Marcel Prud'homme at prudhm@sen.parl.gc.ca

Mira Spivak at spivam@sen.parl.gc.ca

Thank you so much.

Watch SONG FOR CANADA'S HARP SEALS at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGorge8fACA

Watch GRAPHIC footage recorded by Humane Society International at http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=54720398




- This was on craig's list- I just pasted it here.
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Today is a day to celebrate. The European Union has slammed shut the door on trade in the products of the commercial seal slaughter. The Canadian government used every trick in the book to try to derail the ban: massive lobbying, misinformation, and even threats of trade reprisals. But the EU stood its ground and honored its citizens’ opposition to this trade in cruelty. By doing so, the EU has saved millions of seals from a horrible fate. Every year, the ProtectSeals team has endured hazardous conditions to document the seal hunt. We are committed to showing the world that the Canadian government is lying when it claims that the hunt is humane. On our trips to the ice, the ProtectSeals team has brought key opinion shapers such as Paul McCartney and Swedish Member of the European Parliament Carl Schlyter. After their trips, neither has wavered in speaking out against the hunt. Shortly after his trip to the ice, Schlyter drafted the first version of today’s EU ban. Our hunt footage was directly responsible for convincing the rest of the EU to agree to the ban. It gives me enormous satisfaction to know that we haven’t just documented the hunt, we have made history. What Does It Mean? This is the beginning of the end for the Canadian seal hunt. The Canadian government estimates that losing this primary market will cost Canada’s sealing industry $6.6 million (CAD) each year. The hunt brought in less than $7 million last year. It's not hard to do the math. Just the promise of an EU ban was enough to drive the prices for seal fur down to $15 (CAD) per skin -- a decline of 86 percent since 2006. As a result, many sealers stayed home. Out of this year's quota of 280,000 harp seals, fewer than 60,000 have been killed so far. Now that the EU has banned its trade in seal products, countless more seals will live their lives in peace from this year forward. What’s Next? Canadian seal hunt supporters won’t give up just yet. With government subsidies still in hand, the sealing industry will be chasing down new markets. The ProtectSeals campaign is working to convince all targeted nations to follow the EU’s example. We’re keeping the pressure on the Canadian fishing industry and government with the global boycott of Canadian seafood products. Since the boycott began, the Canadian fishing industry has suffered a $750 million (CAD) drop in the value of snow crab exports alone to the United States. Canadian Senator Mac Harb has introduced his nation’s first bill to end the hunt. The ProtectSeals campaign is striving to convince other members of Canada's Parliament to support the bill. Yes, there is still much to do -- and if you'd like to help, please visit humanesociety.org/protectseals to learn how. But for the moment, please join me in celebrating this historic victory. Thank you for fighting alongside me to make this day possible. The seals could not ask for stronger allies. Sincerely, Rebecca Aldworth Director of Canadian Wildlife Issues The Humane Society of the United States

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