HuntWatch - April 10, 2015
I'm in Newfoundland, getting ready to film the 2015 commercial seal slaughter. I grew up in this province and for many years, it was my home. But more recently, it is the place I come to each spring to document the commercial seal hunt.
Newfoundlanders are generally progressive, compassionate people. So it seems odd that there is such overwhelming support here for a globally condemned, mass kill of baby seals. I spend much of my time out here trying to reconcile the kind and generous spirit of Newfoundlanders with the brutal reality of the slaughter happening just off their shores.
Years ago, it began to occur to me that perhaps Newfoundlanders were able to advocate for this slaughter because they didn't know the whole story. Sealing happens far offshore and most Newfoundlanders have never seen a harp seal, let alone one being killed in the commercial seal hunt.
With this in mind, HSI commissioned a poll. Newfoundlanders were asked if they supported or opposed the commercial seal hunt. Then, they were asked whether they would support a ban on killing baby seals three months of age and less.
The results were telling. While most Newfoundlanders supported the seal hunt, 84 percent believed the seals are at least three months old at the time of killing and 72 percent wanted to prohibit killing seals less than three months old.
Notably, 98 percent of the seals killed in the commercial seal hunt are less than three months of age, and such a prohibition would end the commercial seal hunt as we know it. So there seems to be a strong disconnect between what Newfoundlanders think they are supporting and what is actually happening.
The answer may lie in the misinformation Newfoundlanders receive from trusted sources. For example, a top Canadian government fact sheet on commercial sealing called "Myths and Realities" includes the "myth" that, "the Canadian government allows sealers to harvest seal pups." But this isn't a myth, it is clear fact.
While it is illegal in Canada to hunt whitecoats (newborn harp seals), as soon as those pups begin to shed their white fur - as young as 12 days of age - they can be, and legally are, hunted. Government landings reports confirm that almost all of the seals killed are between 12 days and 12 weeks of age.
Elsewhere, the Canadian government admits that "young seals" are the targets of the hunt because their pelts are most valuable. In truth, the skins of baby seals are the only fur products that have ever fetched any money to speak of in the commercial seal hunt. And that is why, in this slaughter that Canadian government officials call "primarily a fur hunt," baby seals are the focus of the kill.
Another section of the Canadian government fact sheet states, "Canadian harvesting practices are among the best in the world." Yet leading veterinary experts have concluded that both shooting and clubbing, the only viable and legal ways to kill seals, "should be viewed as inherently inhumane." The authors also note that sealing methods "compare extremely unfavourably with the societal and legal expectations for commercial slaughter" and that, "there are unacceptable (and unlawful) things being done to animals for profit in this hunt."
In yet another section, the Canadian government states, "the seal harvest provides direct employment for over six thousand people per year on a part-time basis." But in truth, global markets for seal fur have closed, and the government has confirmed that only a few hundred fishermen have participated in the slaughter in recent years. Moreover, the only reason processors were able to pay those sealers was because of the millions of dollars of government financing they received.
Even more misinformation is disseminated by the Canadian government on the issues of seal populations and seals and fisheries interactions. In its fact sheet, the government claims that the harp seal population is at the highest level seen in 30 years. But it conveniently neglects to mention that by the 1970s, over hunting had caused the harp seal population to plummet to a dangerous low that had senior government scientists warning the population could be lost altogether. The growth in harp seal numbers suggested by our government is in fact a recovery from an all time low.
The fact sheet would also have us believe that grey seals are having a negative impact on cod stocks and that this might somehow be a justification for the commercial seal hunt. The problem is, the seal slaughter primarily targets harp seals, a separate species with a different geographic distribution and diet. Senior Canadian government scientists have clearly stated that harp seals do not have a negative impact on cod stocks, either through direct consumption or competition for prey. Moreover, leading Atlantic Canadian marine scientists have publicly stated that, "There is no credible scientific evidence to suggest a cull of grey seals in Atlantic Canada would help depleted fish stocks recover."
The Canadian government abandoned any pretence of impartiality on the sealing issue long ago. But replacing fact with fiction and misleading its own citizens is a step too far.
Newfoundlanders have every right to support the commercial seal slaughter. But they need to be able to base their decision on the facts. Until our government remembers its responsibility to tell the truth, I worry that can't happen.
