The Hunt is Coming

Groups prepare for contested seal hunt
Brigitte Bardot to lobby in Ottawa for end regulated slaughter

TORONTO - Protesters, celebrities and fishermen were gearing up for Canada's hotly debated seal hunt, set to get under way later this week in the gulf off the Atlantic Ocean.

Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn has given a cold shoulder to French film legend Brigitte Bardot, who intends to visit Ottawa on Wednesday to implore the federal government to end the regulated slaughter of some 325,000 harp seals.

Hearn told the St. John's Telegram in Newfoundland, where the largest leg of the hunt takes place, that he turned down a request by Bardot to meet during her visit.

"It just furthers their cause," Hearn said, referring to the attention such a meeting would generate for the hunt's opponents.

Bardot made waves in the 1970s when she first came to Canada to protest the annual hunt by posing with the adorable doe-eyed pups. Many celebrities, including Paul McCartney, have their pictures taken with the fluffy white newborns, though Canada years ago banned the killing of the pups until after they molt and lose their white fur.

Bardot, making her first trip back to Canada in nearly 30 years — said she would be joined at a news conference in the federal capital by American actress Persia White, of the TV show "Girlfriends," and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Founder Captain Paul Watson.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper also turned down a meeting with the former sex symbol.

"My responsibilities are about the ... needs of Canadians," he said. "I don't intend to participate in the actions of famous people for publicity."

Former Beatle McCartney and his wife, Heather Mills McCartney, took to the ice floes off the Atlantic Ocean two weeks ago to frolic with seal pups and highlight the work of anti-seal hunt efforts by the Humane Society and other animal protection groups.

The McCartneys made a passionate appeal against the hunt, saying officials should consider developing eco-tourism in place of the hunt, which he described as brutal and "a stain on the character of the Canadian people."

Fisheries officials and sealers say the annual hunt provides badly needed income for the isolated fishing communities in Atlantic Canada, as well as food and shelter for the aboriginal Inuits in the Arctic North.

About 320,000 seals pups were killed during the hunt last year, bringing the local fishermen $14.5 million (U.S.) in supplemental income during the winter off-season. Federal officials say fishing communities of Quebec and Newfoundland, whose livelihoods were devastated when the Atlantic cod stocks dried up in the 1990s, earn 25 percent to 40 percent of their annual income by selling the seal pelts and blubber for about $70 each.

The dates for the spring leg of the hunt have yet to be announced as the unseasonably mild temperatures in Atlantic Canada have made the ice thin. But sealers and federal fisheries officials believe it will get under way by Friday or Saturday. It can last from three to 10 days, depending on hunting conditions.

The quota for the hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is 91,000 harp seals.

The bulk of the seal hunt takes place in April, when it moves the north coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, where sealers can take 224,000 animals this year.

The United States banned Canadian seals products in 1972, and a ban on importing the white pelts of seal pups was implemented by the European Community in 1983.

'Prime Minister Stephen Harper also turned down a meeting with the former sex symbol."

Perhaps no one has told dear Brigitte Bardot that there was an election and the Liberals lost. Sorry Brigitte, principled conservatives don't have public appearances with harlots and ****s....

The following article was first published Sept. 23, 2005 by the Atlantic & East Coast Report, Canada Free Press, and is reproduced with the author's permission.
What motivates seal hunt protest groups?

By Myles Higgins

In an effort to stop Atlantic Canada's annual seal hunt, sealing protest groups are using the tactic of pressuring restaurants in the U.S. into boycotting Canadian seafood products. We all hear sporadic news reports on the efforts of seal protests but how much do we really understand about what these groups are doing, and what is the truth behind the hunt itself?

If you visit the web sites of the multitude of protest groups out there such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Paul Watson's Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, or for that matter even the American SPCA, the first thing you will notice is that these groups are blatantly misleading the public on the topic of the Atlantic seal hunt.

They insist on displaying pictures of baby white coat seals, they talk about hunters skinning animals alive and some refer to seal hunters as barbarians. This may play well in areas around the world where people do not know the truth, but not in many parts of Atlantic Canada and most assuredly not in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The truth is that white coat baby seals have not been hunted for decades and sealers are not savages who enjoy torturing animals. Granted, there may be an isolated number of "idiots" out there who couldn't care less about the cruelty they inflict, but this is true of any place in the world and in any industry. It is not the norm. The average sealer is just like you and me, with one exception. They are trying to make a living in a much tougher and much more dangerous line of work than many of us could even dream of.

One only has to visit the web sites of these groups to see a possible motive for dispensing with reality and spreading hatred. Money. All of these sites, without exception, have links where the gullible can donate. One site I visited actually had over 15 such links on its front page.

The fact is that these groups are actually making more from the annual Atlantic seal hunt than the sealers themselves. Take for example the $77.5 million U.S. the International Fund For Animal Welfare raised last year and it's easy to see the benefits seal hunting actually bring to protest groups. Fund raising, not protection of species, is often their prime objective. It might be very enlightening if groups who use the March seal hunt as their annual fundraiser were placed under microscopic investigation to see how much money they really make from it and exactly how that money is spent.

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Hehe ****s....hehe

You know what the protests are really about? Misguided sentimentality. Those seal pups are cute (gawd I hate that word) in a Disney-esque manner. If they were ugly, nobody'd give a damn.

Consider fish for instance, which many nations pull out of the water in vast numbers to die in agony flopping in asphyxiation on the decks or in the holds of big fishing vessels and nobody says anything about that. Is getting clubbed in the head somehow worse than suffocating slowly? Nope. But fish aren't cute and cuddly looking.

Awww...how cute! Murderers! :P

I think a better analogy would be Japanese fishing vessels, catching sharks, cutting off their fins and throwing back in the water to drown.

Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Society:
A Financial Expose
By Myles Higgins
Friday, October 7, 2005

It appears that one of my recent articles on seal hunt protest groups sparked a strongly worded response / rebuttal from Mr. Paul Watson, President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

In his comments Mr. Watson took it upon himself to question my research and belittle both my intelligence and character. In fairness to Mr. Watson, I must admit that referencing the SPCA in that article was indeed a mistake on my part. I had intended to refer to the Human Society of the U.S., but rather than HSUS I referenced the SPCA. For that, I sincerely apologize.

With regard to Mr. Watson’s other comments, I stand by the piece.

Since I have written several articles on sealing in the past, without comment from Watson, I can only assume that broaching the subject of finances is what spurred his venomous and childlike response.

Watson stated that the Society’s financial dealings are a matter of public record and available for anyone who wants t o view them. As we all know financial records are what you make of them and can sometimes create more questions than they answer.

With this in mind, the following information has been gathered by myself and other interested parties including members of an U.S. based lobby group. All information, as Watson has stated, is a matter of public record. Various sources have been used including IRS returns.

This list is by no means all-inclusive.

The Public Record:

1 - In 2000 Sea Shepherd reported income of $129,749 from consulting fees however there was no indication what sort of consulting this was, or for whom it was performed. Coincidentally, in the tax year immediately following, Paul Watson, who has long prided himself in not taking any salary from the society, began doing just that.

2 - In 2002 the Sea Shepherd Society passed out $35,000 in grants. Despite IRS requirements to do so, the Society did not divulge the recipients of those grants.

3 - In 2003 Sea Shepherd made a grant of $8,000 to OrcaForce International, a group supposedly started by Watson’s ex-wife. Even though the Sea Shepherd Society’s tax return shows this $8,000 amount as a contribution, at the time, the OrcaForce address was listed on the society’s web site as a Sea Shepherd International address.

Over the years several instances have been identified where assets have been moved between Sea Shepherd and OrcaForce and although OrcaForce appears to have a Canadian address, investigation did not uncover any registration or structural information on this group in either the U.S. or Canada.

4 - The liabilities of the Sea Shepherd Society jumped from $2,122, which was about normal for this group, to $222,889 in 1999. Most of this amount was related to a Mortgage at Washington Federal Savings and Loan however as far as could be determined, no details of what this loan is related to is available.

5 — Although the Sea Shepherd Society does not have a large number of donors those who contribute do so in a very big way and many of these gifts are one time donations. This would appear to be a little out of the ordinary for an organization of this type since most non-profits rely on large numbers of smaller gifts to operate.

Often, rather than hard cash, gifts to Sea Shepherd take the form of stock in major corporations. Contributions to the society have been made in everything from Harley Davidson stock ($122,000 from guitarist Mike Galesi) to Exxon-Mobile stock valued at nearly 100,000 gifted by a Ms. Whilhelmina Angel of Florida.

The donation of Exxon-Mobile stock may have been purely legitimate, however it appears to be an odd gift for Mr. Watson to accept when one considers his comments at a speaking engagement just last month.

"I won't give one penny for Katrina relief. Ill give for the animals but not for relief efforts until the oil companies pony up millions for the destruction caused by global warming."

Although many of the Society’s contributors are from the U.S, there have been some Canadian donors as well, including one whom made her donation by way of Wappel Law in Toronto. This law firm works with non-profit organizations and boasts Tom Wappel the Liberal Party member for Scarborough Southwest, who recently voted in Parliament on a bill related to non-profit organizations, as a Senior Partner.

6 — The following is a rather lengthy and complex set of circumstances. Most of the items listed below might not appear interesting on their own, however when viewed together they are rather disconcerting.

- One of Sea Shepherd’s biggest financial supporters is Ms. Ann Johnston, wife of Florida land developer Mr. Pritam Singh (not his original name). Mr. Singh, (original name Paul LaBombard) was banned from banking for life in 1995 and ordered to pay $1.2 million dollars by federal bank regulators for his financing activities on a Key West business. According to the Key News Journal, Singh has also been investigated by the FBI for his questionable business practices and a Key West attorney has filed a lawsuit against him, alleging almost 20 years of criminal activity -- including racketeering and fraud.

- Both Singh and his wife are very closely connected with both the Sea Shepherd Society and the Watson family.

- The relationship between Johnston, Singh and Watson goes back a number of years. In September of 2003 Ms. Johnston’s signature appears, along with Watson’s and his wife’s, on a loan for property listed at the same address in Washington State as the Society’s headquarters. A Deed of Trust was filed in September of that year stating that a property in "Friday Harbor" Washington was used to secure this loan valued at about $221,000.

According to a recent St. John’s Telegram article, the same day this transaction took place, in fact just 5 hours afterward, Ms. Johnston gave a 66% interest in the land to the Watson’s for $10 dollars. This gift was not to the Society itself, but rather to the Watson’s directly. Also at that time, Johnston granted the Watsons another option on property. The Watson’s secured additional mortgages of $50,000 and $30,000 on April 15, 2004. Within two months all debts were paid off in full.

IRS returns for the Society in that year reported that Sea Shepherd had sold a property listed as "Friday Harbor land and buildings" for $165,938, reporting a loss on the transaction of $184,862. Is this the same property that was used just a couple of months before to secure a $221,000 loan?

Although a search of San Juan County records did not reveal the "Friday Harbor" transaction having taken place, they do show a flurry of transactions involving both Paul Watson and Ann Johnston.

- In addition to her involvement in a property loan, Ms. Johnston cemented herself as a premier contributor by making a donation to the Society claimed to have been valued at nearly 2.7 million dollars. This gift consisted of a company called "Northern Development Associates", a for-profit business with holdings in Alaska.

- Both Johnston and her husband Singh have not only shown great financial generosity to the Sea Shepherd Society, Mr. Singh has also been listed as a member of the financial and management advisory board for the Society, despite his less than spotless financial history.

- When Paul Watson was elected as director of the Sierra club in 2003 he listed his home as "Misty Fjords Lodge", even though he has admitted that he never actually lived there. This lodge, which was a part of the 2.7 million dollar "Northern Development Associates" gift, has been identified by Watson as a research facility however the lodge is registered with the US forestry service as having a permit as a fishing lodge. It appears to qualify as the only licensed fishing lodge inside Misty Fjords National Monument in Alaska.

- A corporate search shows two relevant entities named "Northern Development Associates". One of these is in Alaska (where the lodge is located), the other is in Florida (where Ann Johnston and her husband, developer Pritam Singh, live). Records show major overlap between both the names and addresses of many board members of the Sea Shepherd society, "Northern Development Associates" and various companies owned by Singh / Johnston.

For example, records show that in 1999 Watson’s ex-wife Lisa Distefano, who has been connected with the mysterious OrcaForce organization, was a board member of "Northern Development Associates". At the time her address of record was listed as that of Mr. Singh’s golf course development in Key West. In addition to Ms. Distefano, several other members of the Sea Shepherd Society board have shown multiple addresses and many of these can be traced directly back to Singh properties.

- IRS documents also show that the non-profit, donation run, Sea Shepherd society made a series of loans to its wholly-owned affiliate, the for-profit "Northern Development Associates", between 1998 and 2003.

- Tax returns for "Northern Development Associates" show losses of $222,611 in 2000, $201,180 in 2001 and $127,633 in 2002. All the while, "Northern Development Associates" was receiving loans from the tax exempt Sea Shepherd Society to the tune of nearly $900,000.

- In 2002, for the first time in history, Sea Shepherd's tax return showed the Society had incorporated the losses of "Northern Developments Associates" into its own bottom line even though it was gifted to the Society years before.

- On November 8, 2004, the Misty Fjords Lodge (the primary asset of "Northern Development Associates"), was sold to a newly-formed company, Misty Fjords, LLC, located at 6805 Overseas Highway, Marathon, Florida. Online records at the Florida Department of State’s Corporations Division name the President/Director of Misty Fjords, LLC as none other than Pritam Singh, the husband of the original donor Ms. Johnston.

At the time of sale the property was identified by the realtor as being listed for $1 million dollars under the appraised value.

- In April of 1999 the Sea Shepherd Society received a donation of a "Key West Home and Land" in Florida which the Society claimed was valued at $329,500. They re-sold this property less than 2 months later for $850,000 yet claimed an overall loss on the transaction of more than $265,000 due to related costs.

According to sources, a search of Monroe County, Florida (Marathon, Key West) records show that Sea Shepherd sold a "Single Family Home" at 5 Crane Blvd., Sugarloaf Key, FL for $850,000 on June 2, 1999. A mapquest and 1999 satellite photo search find no structures at this location.

Sea Shepherd reported $64,070 in expenses for maintenance at the Key West property as "Program Service Expenses," indicating the money was spent to further the organization’s tax-exempt purpose.

It is not known if Singh or Johnston were involved in this transaction since the name of the donor was not found in available documents however this information may be contained in Statement 1 of Sea Shepherd’s Form 990 tax return for fiscal 1998 submitted to the IRS.

What does it all mean?

Consider that this organization enjoys tax exempt status but appears to be involved very closely with questionable business interests. The Society and its leader have been involved in everything from intentionally sinking ships to booby trapping trees which loggers must try to harvest (the practice of which is suspected of seriously injuring at least one mill worker) and they've been involved in generally disrupting legal business enterprises.

Sea Shepherd claims to have multiple vessels in ports around the world yet there is some question as to exactly how many vessels they really own and operate at any given time.

Consider as well that this organization is run by a man who, even while the world grieved over 9/11, stated, "There's nothing wrong with being a terrorist, as long as you win." In fact, just recently with regard to people who do not accept his view of nature conservation, Watson said, "If [you] shot and killed a bank robber, you would be given a medal"

Again, what does all of this mean?

Perhaps it means nothing or perhaps it means everything.

It is difficult to understand how a group, which employs terrorist tactics can be given tax-free status by the U.S. government. Having said this, since Sea Shepherd is indeed considered a non-profit organization, it should not bother Watson to respond to what has the appearance of questionable financial activities and business relationships.

An explanation might prove worthwhile if for nothing else than to ease the minds of anyone who may have donated money to his organization.

Do these facts show illegal or even immoral activities? That question would be best answered by U.S. federal officials / authorities, but these items don’t reflect well on the organization and it would perhaps be in Mr. Watson’s best interest to clear them up for the public record.

According to sources, much of this information and more has already been presented to the IRS but due to a lack of resources and the perceived low priority of the case, a thorough investigation has yet to take place. After all, Mr. Watson does not practice is brand of what some refer to as "eco-terrorism" in that country as often as he does in others.

Some citizens of the U.S. and Canada have contributed to this group. These people, along with the governments of both nations and in particular the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, which has long been the target of the Society’s activities, should be more than interested in getting answers and in requesting that the IRS investigate these matters fully.

I'm sure the public would love to hear Mr. Watson’s explanation, however if he chooses not to respond that’s his decision. In reality his explanations should be given to IRS investigators.

Unlike Watson, I don’t underestimate anyone’s intelligence. I’m confident that our readers are more than smart enough to draw their own conclusions if he chooses not to officially clear these items up once and for all.

While I personally would like the seal hunt to end, I think the hunt should be ended on Canadian terms not some movie star's. The seal hunt protesters make more money on the seal hunt than do the seal hunters.

The following is the debunking of the myths and lies of the protesters:


NOTE TO EDITORS: The following points are intended to address the current myths and misconceptions surrounding the Atlantic Canada seal hunt.

Myth #1: The Canadian government allows sealers to kill adorable little white seals.

Reality: The image of the whitecoat harp seal is used prominently by seal hunt opponents. This image gives the false impression that vulnerable seal pups are targeted by sealers during the commercial hunt.

The hunting of harp seal pups (whitecoats) and hooded seal pups (bluebacks) is illegal – and has been since 1987. Marine Mammal Regulations prohibit the trade, sale or barter of the fur of these pups. Furthermore, seals cannot be harvested when they are in breeding or birthing grounds.

Myth #2: Seals are being skinned alive.

Reality: The most recent Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) Report and numerous reports mentioned by the Malouf Commission (1987) indicate that this is not true.

Sometimes a seal may appear to be moving after it has been killed; however seals have a swimming reflex that is active – even after death. This reflex falsely appears as though the animal is still alive when it is clearly dead – similar to the reflex in chickens.

Myth #3: Seals are not independent animals when they are killed – they still rely on their mothers and can’t even swim or fend for themselves.

Reality: Only weaned, self-reliant seals are hunted after they have been left by their mothers to fend for themselves.

The vast majority of harp seals are taken after more than 25 days of age, after their white coat has moulted. Harp seals have the ability to swim at this stage of development. They are also opportunistic feeders and prey on whatever food source in readily available to them.

Myth #4: Countless seals that slip off the ice after being clubbed or shot are lost and never accounted for.

Reality: "Struck and lost" data from at-sea observers as well as the CVMA indicate that this is not true. In fact, the record of struck and loss for the Canadian commercial seal hunt stands at less than five per cent.

For one thing, most of the harp seals taken in Canada are hunted on the ice rather than in the water and this makes losses much lower than in places like Greenland. Second, harp seals that are hunted have very high levels of body fat, making them quite buoyant. That, coupled with the buoyant qualities of salt water, make it quite easy for sealers to retrieve a seal should they slip into the water after being shot.

Myth #5: The Canadian government is allowing sealers to kill nearly one million seals to help with the recovery of cod stocks.

Reality: Several factors have contributed to the lack of recovery of Atlantic cod stocks, such as fishing effort, poor growth and physical condition of the fish, and environmental changes. Seals eat cod, but seals also eat other fish that prey on cod, therefore it is difficult to hold any one factor responsible for the decline in cod stocks.

In addition, there are many uncertainties in the estimates of the amount of fish consumed by seals. The commercial quota is established on sound conservation principles, not an attempt to assist in the recovery of groundfish stocks.

Myth #6: The club – or hakapik – is a barbaric tool that has no place in today’s world.

Reality: Clubs have been used by sealers since the onset of the hunt hundreds of years ago. Hakapiks originated with Norwegian sealers who found it very effective. Over the years, studies conducted by the various veterinary experts, and American studies carried out between 1969 and 1972 on the Pribilof Islands hunt (Alaska) have consistently proven that the club or hakapik is an efficient tool designed to kill the animal quickly and humanely. A recent report in September, 2002, by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, had results that parallel these findings.

Myth #7: The methods used to kill seals are far less humane than those used to hunt or slaughter any other domestic or wild animal.

Reality: Hunting methods were studied by the Royal Commission on Sealing in Canada and they found that the clubbing of seals, when properly performed, is at least as humane as, and often more humane than, the killing methods used in commercial slaughterhouses, which are accepted by the majority of the public.

Myth #8: The hunt is unsustainable.

Reality: Since the 1960’s, environmental groups have been saying the seal hunt is unsustainable. In fact, the harp seal population is healthy and abundant. In excess of five million animals, the Northwest Atlantic seal herd is nearly triple what it was in the 1970s. DFO sets quotas at levels that ensure the health and abundance of seal herds. In no way are seals - and harp seals in particular – an "endangered species".

Myth #9: The "hunt" is simply a front for what is actually a cull aimed at reducing the population of harp seals.

Reality: The seal hunt is not a cull. It is a sustainable, commercially viable fishery based on sound conservation principles. In fact, the Department has adopted an Objective-Based Fisheries Management approach using control rules and reference points to establish management measures for the harp seal hunt. This process will facilitate a market-driven harvest that will enable sealers to maximize their benefits without compromising conservation. If the current three-year Total Allowable Catch (TAC) is fully taken, the population will still remain well above 70 per cent of its highest known abundance, found in the latest survey in 1996.

DFO takes a number of factors into consideration when establishing TAC levels for harp seals, including – ice conditions, pup mortality, natural mortality, incidental harvest or by-catch, the Greenland and Arctic hunts and commercial harvest levels.

Myth #10: The seal hunt provides such low economic return for sealers that it is not an economically viable industry.

Reality: The landed value of seals was $16 million in 2004. Pelt prices as high as $70 have recently been recorded. Seals are a significant source of income for some individual sealers. The money is earned over a very short period. Sealing also creates employment opportunities for buying and processing plants.

While sealing income may seem negligible by some US or European standards, sealers themselves have stated that their income from sealing can represent from 25-35 per cent of their total annual income. Sealing also represents benefits to thousands of families in Eastern Canada at a time of year when other fishing options are unavailable or limited at best, in many remote, coastal communities.

Myth #11: The Canadian government provides subsidies for the seal hunt.

Reality: The Government of Canada does not subsidize the seal hunt. Sealing is an economically viable industry. All subsidies ceased in 2001. Even before that time, any subsidies provided were for market and product development, including a meat subsidy, to encourage full use of the seal. In fact, government has provided fewer subsidies to the sealing industry than recommended by the Royal Commission on Sealing.

Myth #12: The seal hunt is not worth it - seals are only taken for their fur and the rest of the animal is wasted.

Reality: Seals have been harvested for food, fuel and shelter and other products for hundreds of years. The subsistence hunt is a valuable link to Canadian cultural heritage. Canada exports seal products in three forms: pelts, oil and meat. Traditionally, the pelts have been the main commodity, but production of seal oil for human consumption has grown substantially in recent years. Seal oil markets remain positive, and a large percentage of seal oil is finding its way into areas other than traditional marine and industrial oils.

DFO encourages the fullest use of seals, with the emphasis on leather, oil, handicrafts, and in recent years, meat for human and animal consumption as well as seal oil capsules rich in Omega-3. Any seal parts that are left on the ice provide sustenance to a wide variety of marine scavengers such as crustaceans, seabirds and fish.

Myth #13: The seal hunt is loosely monitored and DFO doesn’t punish illegal hunting activity or practices.

Reality: The seal hunt is closely monitored and tightly regulated. Canada’s enforcement of sealing regulations is thorough and comprehensive. Regulations and licensing policies stipulate hunting seasons, quotas, vessel size and methods of dispatch. Fishery Officers monitor the seal hunt in numerous ways to ensure sealers comply with Canada’s Marine Mammal Regulations. They conduct surveillance of the hunt by means of aerial patrols, surface (vessel) patrols, dockside inspections of vessels at landing sites and inspections at buying and processing facilities. In 2004, Fishery Officers spent approximately 8600 hours monitoring and enforcing the hunt. In the last five years, 94 charges were laid and convictions were upheld in 57 of those cases.

Sealers are well trained in humane hunting methods and are, as a group, responsible and law abiding. Assumptions that large numbers of sealers are violating the laws and regulations governing the hunt are unfounded.

Myth #14: If sealers take more than their allotted quota, DFO simply further raises the quota for them.

Reality: The Government of Canada has strict conservation measures in place, and is committed to the careful management of all seals to ensure strong, healthy populations in the years to come. 2005 is the last year of a three-year harp seal hunt management plan. The harp seal TAC was set at 975,000 for 2003-2005 and it has not been raised. This multi-year management plan was developed in consultation with more than 100 stakeholders, including conservation groups, at the 2002 Seal Forum in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

There have been two instances when TACs were allowed to be exceeded to allow sealers disadvantaged by environmental conditions to have an opportunity to seal after good hunting in other areas had allowed the full TAC to be taken early.

These decisions were made only because the increased hunting would not jeopardize conservation and sustainability.

Myth #15: Anyone can get a licence – even those who have never hunted before, and there are no training requirements.

Reality: Before sealers can qualify for a professional licence they must obtain an assistant licence and work under the supervision of a professional sealer for two years. Individuals applying for a personal use licence must demonstrate they apply good sealing practices to ensure the seal is killed in a quick and humane fashion. Personal sealing licences will only be issued to individuals who had a licence, a valid hunter’s capability certificate, or big game licence the previous year and who have attended a mandatory training session.

Myth #16: The majority of Canadians are opposed to the seal hunt.

Reality: Animal rights groups currently campaigning against the seal hunt cite a 2004 Ipsos-Reid poll stating that 71 per cent of Canadians are opposed to the hunt. In fact, Canadians support federal policies regarding the seal hunt. An Ipsos-Reid survey conducted in February 2005 concluded that 60 per cent of Canadians are in favour of a responsible hunt. The survey methodology and results of this poll are available on request.

Great posts,Juan. If I haven't said it before..most everything you post I agree with 100% Just watching Bardot hobbling around on her canes made me feel so damn old

Every canadian should come out in full support of our seal hunters and go out there a kill a seal!

Kill one seal each..and one protester Yes,I could go for that. Most of those Anti groups are only in it for the profits anyway.

You'd think that these European and American protestors would take a look at a bigger environmental problem in the North Atlantic; foreign overfishing in Canadian waters. But since most of the foreign vessels involved in this illegal fishing are American and European... COUGH Protectionism! COUGH

The baby seal hunt fulfills a cathartic need in Canada. There is so much emotional and psychological suppression borne of living in the shadow of a superpower that bashing in the head of a baby defenseless seal is an important release valve.

This may be the one issue that unites the right and left in Canada. And it’s a particularly stupid issue. It's embarassing. It's inhumane. It should be stopped.

Oh gawd I'm getting tired of you people..


Maybe the Seal Hunt Protests fulfill a cathartic need for the heiresses and loudmouths in the US and Europe, who, because of the psychological guilt of perpetrating horrible acts, need to villainize small, weak communities that cannot fight back. It's a form of cowardice. The protester wants to fight for animal rights, but not against the US beef industry, the Alaskan Seal Hunt, or the Japanese Whale Hunt, since these are rich and powerful enemies that can fight back hard and fast. Rather, it is much better for these Starbucks Sociologists and Daddy's Girls to attack a far-away little known Atlantic area, which does not possess the publicity machine and legal might to suitably highlight the idiocy and lies propagated by these rainbow warriors.

The willful ignorance of you people is embarrasing. It should be stopped.

Hi Missile

Thanks for that.

One thing about stopping the hunt is that the protesters would no longer make the money they are currently making. This could become a free trade issue. " Unfeeling Canadians put honest American seal hunt activists out of work" Bush says, Yer with our protesters, or yer with our enemies". Further, Bush said,"I'm going to ask Prime Minister Harper to re-open that hunt, and get our people back to work". It could happen

Preparation:
Yep, the canned seal meat when served in the traditional Newfoundland
way does make a very pleasant meal. Key things to bear in mind for
seal are: it is actually a very lean dry meat, LOADED with iron,
requires some fat in the cooking like the lean venison or moose. When canned properly the process makes for flesh that has more edibility than when fresh cooked.
The upscale version of seal meat is:
Boiled potatoes, cabbage, turnip and carrot. The seal meat ( all of
the contents in the can or jar ) is put in a pan, a pastry mix is
laid over top, thinly sliced onion is laid around the pan, making
sure it is exposed. Bake until pastry is crispy and light brown.
Remove from pan and make a flour gravy, makes LOTS, from the liquid
from the can/jar. This gravy does VERY well with lots of coarsely
cracked pepper. Seal responds awfully well to pepper. I don't think
it is possible to use too much.
Serve with partridge berry sauce.
This meal is washed down with strong tea - the spoon must stand up in it.
ps. Canned seal meat is salted for taste in the canning process using pickling salt. It does not require the extensive salting for
consumption that fresh seal demands. I use a combination of pickling and iodized salt in the grinder on the table. I find it gives me the balance of bite and sweet which is missing from either the pickling salt or iodized salt alone.

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Ump I think I'll give it a pass. I lived in NFL for five years and they are good natured hardy folks. If the protesters want to rumble the newfs will show them how it's done.

Oh for crysake out loud, what B.S. pop psychology have you been reading?

Well, at least you're right about that much, but for all the wrong reasons.

well said sanch
yep its that canadian inferiority complex again

Sorry I couldn't resist...

300,000
wow!
thats a lotta protesters

The main issue with the seal hunt in the way they are killed.

Protestors are digging up a lot of issues, but if there was a nice round up and then the seal carefully taken to an "arbitoir" or slaughterhouse where it could be done behind closed doors, I doubt that there would be any protest.

The cute factor plays into the killing method too. Thats dumb, get real.

Is it bad to kill seals the way they do? - no, not compared to other killing methods. Not at all. So protestors should be focused on THE WORST MOST BARBARIC killing of animals, not the seal hunt.

The club the sealers use knocks the seals "immediately irreverably unconscious". By law, they are supposed to hit each one three times, just to be sure. That raises the eyebrows of the uninformed too. Get real, the last two blows are not even heard much less felt by the seal.

Thats it as far as suffering of the seal goes. Blink! As fast and humane as any killing can be. Even if they gently administered a lethal dose of drugs to each seal, the seal would suffer more that way than by the club. They are not removed from there natural terrain, they are not handled at all.

In fact, the more I look at it, the more it seems to be THE MOST humane killing we do. Show me an example of less suffering in a kill than a seal has!! please, I am serious - anything at all, one example.

Cows, Chickens, Pigs and even Fish go thru more suffering in the process of becoming food or products for people. Their whole lives growing up have suffering than these seals, baby or not, which gets to live in the wild and has but one split second of interaction with a human - clunk! They usually don't even see it coming!

Slaughtering of cows is ugly - they keep them fully conscious as they klll them, so more blood pumps out or something. From what I saw at Brooks Alberta slaughter houses, they string them up by their hind legs, dislocating their hips before they are killed or clunked on the noggin.


Normally I would be on the side of peacefullness and pacifism, a chronic protestor, but I have killed animals for food, and I am okay with it. Thats what we do, allways have. It can be done with respect.
I eventually quit eating meat, but thats because our regulators refuse to protect consumers from horemones and various toxic drugs etc.
Mad cow is a result of poor choices of feed, and that is also an inhumane act to cannabolise them like that.

So by comparison, the seal hunt is fine. If we want to raise our standards of animal treatment, there are 1000 better and more urgent and more inhumane cases for these protestors to put their well -intended hearts against. I do not slam them as some do, I understand that they are good people. I hate to hear the seal assn head guy say dumb stuff like "they only do this because it means money for them from various sources to protest this seal hunt".

What baloney - is that why Paul Macartney was there? Money?

I encourage everyone to get real , fergawdssakes. I could only HOPE to die so easily as a seal killed by a club.

Look at both sides of this, then we all have to be realistic, seal hunting is not hunting at all and is in no way like slaughtering cow and chicken in slaughter houses. The fact remains, seals are killed for their pelt and the rest is left to rot. When these killers find nurseries, in a hurry to meet a quota (that is never, ever regulated) and to beat the other seal hunters to the seals many are left to die on their own or to wait for the return of the hunters, where they will then, at times, be skinned alive. Canada, 53%, agrees with this government subsidiary. UNBELIEVABLE! To say that this is a long time culture and must be respected is even more heart breaking and an out and out lie, these are not Inuit’s. To say that it has been a long time, small supplemented income is to state the truth. However, inhumane and devastating ways of doing things do become obsolete in a world where we are suppose to be learning from our mistakes, a world where self sufficiency is at our own fingertips, through real work and moral correctness. I heard one Canadian put seal hunting into the category with computer programming saying not every one chooses to be a computer programmer, it is a lively hood. If I worked for a computer company and they somehow became obsolete and cruel and the computer company in my area closed, I would find other employment, even if that meant moving. Addressing this in this way is just plain naive. What do computers have to do with the slaughter of innocent seals for only their fur? And a certain senator, who does not speak for all Canadians, stated America has no right to protest the hunt. These animals are wild; they do not belong to Canada. Wild animals belong to the world. These men have not raised them from birth feeding them and weaning them for food consumption, so to even put them in the category with cows, chickens etc....is absurd and avoiding the true issue. To turn this issue into an Iraq, silly (by the way I doubt the Americans are seeking innocent people in Iraq to slaughter for any reason, especially their skin), to attack the legal sale of guns, also silly, it is a right Americans have, but the right to go out and shoot innocent people with this same hand gun is not permitted by the American government, in fact, they unlike us have strict prison terms. And whether or not you agree with capitol punishment you have to agree with the fact that 82% of those on death row have either admitted guilt or DNA proves guilt without a doubt, also 94% of those inmates have committed crimes in the past, so they are not all innocent and can not even remotely be compared to the seal hunt. It is all just a way to avoid the real issue. The Inuit’s have killed seal for survival, forever, they use the whole seal. Again this is avoiding the issue.
The depletion of the cod came from this exact behavior, from these exact same people. Without the seal the predatory fish will be even more abundant to deplete stocks. So now Canadians are trying to undo what they have caused in the first place, they are killing the very animals that will eat the eel that eat the cod eggs...etc.. UNBELIEVABLE. If they are worried about the seals migrating to the fresh water stocks, they should have thought about this before they first depleted the seals food supply. FIND another way! Look at the other options presented; next, what will it be, after the seals have been depleted? The numbers given by the fisheries for seals this year is plain wrong, they are just not out there the way they claim, many have drown from the lack of ice, which they deny because they can. One big ugly circle is what this behavior is causing; trying to fix it in this way WILL make the whole situation worse for the whole world. Canadians, whether you are for it or against it, you FINANCE it. And this hunt is costing our country more than it is worth, regardless of what we believe, whether right or wrong, these boycotts will work and we will suffer as Canadians in the long run, so we need to assume, as Canada, seal pelt will make up for the loss of sales in seafood and tourism. America’s tourism and purchases from this country are a large part of this countries viable existence even though we hate to admit it. The Inuit's are not on the attack here, only the commercial hunt for pelt. Try to stay on the issue. Canada is a large country, this is not acceptable, if you can not find employment where you are, move elsewhere, whether you like it or not. Eventually Canada will expand and jobs in all areas will be readily available. By the way there are help wanted ads everywhere in all provinces. As human beings with moral ethical values we sometimes have to do things that make us uncomfortable, in order to survive, but we do not have to do things that help us to be cruel and intentionally unaware of all the devastation we cause. Yes, wrong is going on all over the world, but it does not, I repeat does not, make this anymore right, in fact, in some ways this is worse, because deep down we know what it is we are doing.....shameful. This great country doesn't seem so great any more. How can we lead the world into a great and peaceful future, when we can't even reach out and manage to survive ourselves in humane and moral ways?
By the way I am not vegan, I believe in hunting for food consumption and as long as the environmental effects are not harmful. Culling the seals as the government may have you believing is just not necessary factually, in fact it is the opposite, global warming is real we have all seen the effects of it, in fact our government not to long ago denounced the Americans behaviors on this topic. We were then shown as the greatest increasers of carbon monoxide….now again look at us…denying the effects of global warming all together. I am so ashamed. And to say that the world should only focus on world hunger is to say we should ignore other injustices we can immediately fix. By the way many of these protesters do send money over seas and they also sponsor some of these starving children, but to focus on only one moral dilemma and issue at a time, means we pretend they are the only issues. The whole world is noticing that we very rarely tell the truth and we never practice what we preach to the world…..we only point our fingers and say what you are doing is worse…who is worse the murderer or the thief? They are both wrong and both should be addressed. We as Canadians just hate when the people who are wrong happen to be us. So I say, let us show the world and the Government we will not any longer put up with anything we believe morally wrong and potentially devastating to the world as a whole, whether it be our self made water contamination problems or the unjustified killing of seal for their pelt alone, because when looked at as a whole it ALL matters.

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I have a few questions Amanda...

1) What exactly are these "Predatory Fish" that the seals are saving our cod from? Mind now, my fathers been a fisherman all his life, and all of his forebears before him since the mid 1700's. I've been out on the water with him more than once myself, and I've never seen a seal take on a shark, which is the only fish I've seen eat cod... What new biological discoveries has PETA made that haven't been shared with the rest f the world. Ravenous Turbot, Giant Capelin. What fish are you talking about?

2)One simple way to end the Seal hunt is to end foreign overfishing. The fact is that inshore fishing ( four guys to an open boat) employs more Canadians and does less ecological damage than large-boat trawling does. One could also fight against FPI, a company that was made by the Federal and Provincial governments to work Newfoundlands fishery (with Newfoundland quotas) yet is illegally shipping processing jobs to China ( about 600 jobs are going from the Burin Peninsula alone). Why aren't the eco-warriors fighting against draggers destroying the breeding grounds? Why aren't they fighting against the outsourcing of NL fishery jobs? If these jobs were kept on the Island, the Newfoundlanders would have no need to turn to the Seal hunt for extra money.. so why not try to help on that front.

OH right! Fish and Fishermen aren't that cute!!.


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And does no-one feel ashamed that the Protestors put forward Brigitte Bardot as a seal-hugging saint fo a woman, when she has repeatedly been charged for hate-crimes, and publically announced that homosexuals (fairground freaks) and immigrants ( foreign hordes) should be executed or extradited from her pure Aryan nation?!?! The womans a nut case people!!!

We don't get seal meat out here....I think Doryman should cook some up for us and serve it with whatever greens NFLders eat.

That's twice today Doryman you made me laugh. Now I can go back to work with a smile. Loved your post and agree with you 100%. The next time I walk the dog on the beach I will keep my eyes peeled for this new elusive Kelp Monster that is eating Seals.
I will try and get pictures for Peta.

P.S. FPI has some serious explaining to do to the tax payers of NFL. They were given funds to keep jobs in NFL not out source them. Corporate greed rearing it's ugly head again.

Holy smokes, there's sure alot of ruffled feathers on this subject. I noticed the biggest misconcetption is that it isn't those cute baby white seals you see on the protesters logos that are being hunted. The ones that get hunted are the ones that have grown into their adult grey coats. Jeeeezzzus The white ones haven't been hunted for their pelts since the 70's.

And for this once I do agree with doryman on the issues on the matter. Karlin also had a good point on the seals being hit on the head. Seals have very soft skulls, while travelling across the ice in Nunavut, my friends and I came across a young seal that had lost it's hole, and it's back was injured. After spending 1 hr looking all over for its hole, it was decided to put it out of its misery, because it wouldn't last the night with all the foxes on the ice. The elder in the group just came over to it and..."WOK!", hit it on the head once with his fist, and you swear you put a bullet into it.

And as far as wasting the carcasses go, there is much effort in collecting the meat for these things as there is the fur.

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Green food?????

Nah, I can get you some turnips, taters and carrots with gravy. Flipper pie's pretty good. It's also a mild aphrodisiac!

FPI has some serious explaining to do to the tax payers of NFL. They were given funds to keep jobs in NFL not out source them. Corporate greed rearing it's ugly head again.

yep, the quotas fished by FPI aren't the companies quotas at all, but they have been given leave to fish the quotas of various towns.. Thus they fish harbour Breton's quota, Fortune's Quota, Marystowns Quota... but then they tell us it is bad business to employ the people of these towns in the processing industry. Would Alberta let the Oil companies ship gobs of oil sands to Chinesre refineries? Nope. NL needs a heavy dose of Albertan-typ strategy to defend it's resources...


Oh and amanda... Those things above this are called "Paragraphs" sound it out. P-ara-graaaaaphs....