Canada, Where’s The Seal Meat

Liberalman

Senate Member
Mar 18, 2007
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Canada, Where’s The Seal Meat

Our government has decided to protect the seal hunt and has gone as far as allowing dog and cat fur to be imported into this country.

Our Governor General decided to have a taste of seal meat while on tour in the north and Prime Minister Harper has allegedly tasted seal meat behind closed doors away from the cameras.

In Toronto I walked into several different grocery stores and some specialty stores and no one has seal meat.

According to the Sealers Association of Canada

Seal meat is rich in protein and iron. A rich dark meat, it is an excellent alternative to the red meats and has been enjoyed for centuries.

The three Omegas are EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid), DPA (Docosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid). Seal oil, now available in capsule form, is a prime source of Omega 3 fatty acids. Signs of Omega 3 fatty acid deficiencies are poor growth and poor eyesight in children, and skin problems in adults. Research also indicates that Omega 3 plays an important role in brain and vision development in infants. Research in Canada, Japan, and Denmark show that seal oil is easily absorbed in the body, and indications are that Omega 3 fatty acids can reduce the risk of heart disease by keeping arteries clear and lowering cholesterol.


The nutritional value of seal meat make it an ideal meal for today’s health conscious consumer, a fact not lost with those who have traditionally consumed seal meat as a regular dietary item. Seal meat is very low in fat and a very good source of many essential dietary nutrients including; protein, calcium, iron, magnesium, and vitamin B12. It is a very healthy choice of red meat, given the fact that it is raised in the wild and not artificially enhanced and force-grown as with many of our beef, pork and poultry products currently available.

While this country protects the seal hunt for some reason it is not making seal meat available to the general population like they are available in other sealing countries.

Maybe they should look into the viability of seal farms.

They do it for fish they can do it for seals.

If they had enough seal farms then they don’t have to have the seal hunts.
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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If they had enough seal farms then they don’t have to have the seal hunts.

Canada supports the seal hunt for culling purposes. Starting up seal farms would completely defeat that purpose, and make the whole thing moot.

BTW, where's the moose, the deer, the rough grouse? All are legal hunts. All are meat that's been enjoyed for centuries in this country. Why aren't they in stores?

The lack of seal meat in stores has nothing to do with the validity of the hunt.
 

Kakato

Time Out
Jun 10, 2009
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Canada supports the seal hunt for culling purposes. Starting up seal farms would completely defeat that purpose, and make the whole thing moot.

BTW, where's the moose, the deer, the rough grouse? All are legal hunts. All are meat that's been enjoyed for centuries in this country. Why aren't they in stores?

The lack of seal meat in stores has nothing to do with the validity of the hunt.
Because it has to be govt. inspected and theres not many moose or grouse farms around to make it feasible,we do sell elk meat in some Alberta stores though.
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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Because it has to be govt. inspected and theres not many moose or grouse farms around to make it feasible,we do sell elk meat in some Alberta stores though.

Not hunted meat. That was my point. :smile:
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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I'm sure they would if their was a market for it,most seals are harvested for their fur,not the meat.

lol... Kakato, I'm in Alberta. I'm quite certain, regardless of how much I might want seal meat, the Hutterites wouldn't be able to hunt it or farm it for me. lol.
 

Tonington

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 27, 2006
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Maybe they should look into the viability of seal farms.

They do it for fish they can do it for seals.

If they had enough seal farms then they don’t have to have the seal hunts.

Farming seals would be incredibly expensive. You would only be able to succeed as a farmer if there was a healthy market to sell your product to. The fact that there is wild fishery product, and it is not widely available, suggests that there isn't a good market there.

You would need to spend an awful lot of money to grow the market. You would need to spend even more to feed the seals. The EPA, DPA and DHA come from eating a marine diet, and marine products are not cheap. You could raise seals for cheap on other products potentially, but then your product loses it's health benefits.

Lastly, as I already said there is a commercial fishery. It's not possible to compete with a capture fishery in the same market. The costs are way too high.
 

Kakato

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Jun 10, 2009
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lol... Kakato, I'm in Alberta. I'm quite certain, regardless of how much I might want seal meat, the Hutterites wouldn't be able to hunt it or farm it for me. lol.
You dont know the hutt's that well then.:lol: They could raise them in their dugouts but then the gals wouldnt have a place to swim on thursdays.:x

A few got busted couple years ago for selling endangered birds and their body parts here.
 

Tonington

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Oct 27, 2006
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Because it's good and nutritious and the Government of Canada endorses it

I don't know if it's good, I just know that I couldn't make any money farming seal. Aquaculture operations are hard enough to get financing for...seal would be riskier still.
 

YukonJack

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Dec 26, 2008
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In a TV show called "SUPER DAVE" there were frequent references to "genuine Saskatchewan seal-skin" jackets.

So, if you want seal meat, try Saskatchewan. Surely, they did not just use the skin and waste the meat?!
 

taxslave

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Nov 25, 2008
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Once apon a time there was a bounty on seals and salmon were plentyfull. Many fisherman carried rifles on their boats and hunted the seals. The good people of Ottawa who have never seen a ocean decided that us coastal dwellers were cruel and banned the bounty. Now some salmon runs are an endangered species and seals hang out in river mouths to frolic and eat.
 

Tonington

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Oct 27, 2006
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Don't go blaming the seals for salmon runs dying off. Salmon runs were fine for millennia with seals around. If you want to point the finger, point it at logging which increases silt run-off and smothers eggs. Point it at over-fishing and irresponsible resource management. Point it at hydro-electric dams. Point it at pollution. Point it at poorly sited salmon farms.

It's not seals which are spoiling nature's bounty, it's us right across the planet.