Atlantic Canadian Musings

 

Ban or No Ban?

People were left scratching their heads in bewilderment today as to whether or not the EU seal product trade ban would come into effect on Friday, August 20th.  Earlier today Prime Minister Stephen Harper blasted the impending EU ban – which will prohibit trade in seal products from all nations – as being discriminatory against Canadian sealers who he described as “hardworking people of modest means.”   A few hours later Fisheries Minister Gail Shea announced the EU seal product trade ban had been suspended until further notice after Inuit leaders questioned the legality of the ban.  Further confusion ensued when conflicting reports were issued by the European Commission stating the trade ban would indeed pass into law on Friday and Canadian media outlets stating the ban had been suspended at the last minute.

 

Brutality Against Canada’s Baby Seals – Approved by Canadian Inuit

One thing, however, is no longer in doubt — the Inuit of Canada support and defend the abject cruelty of the Atlantic Canadian commercial seal hunt.  Canadian Inuit have stated in the past they stand in solidarity with eastern sealers and had launched a challenge against the EU seal product ban earlier this year.  Inuit have complained that, although the ban specifically exempts products from traditional Inuit hunts, it would devastate their economy and would prevent them from hunting seals.

 

Inuit Hunt – Subsistence or Commercial?

Rebecca Aldworth, Executive Director of Humane Society International/Canada questioned the logic and motives of the Inuit challenge to the EU seal product ban:

“The EU ban on seal product trade eliminates EU trade in products of inherently inhumane commercial seal hunts, but specifically exempts products from traditional Inuit hunts.

If the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is now claiming the prohibition will negatively impact their seal hunt, they are directly inferring that their hunt is conducted for commercial, rather than traditional subsistence, purposes.”

Very good points.  I’d be most interested to hear National Inuit leader and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Mary Simon’s response to this. 

 

Inuit Whored Out by Government for Benefit of Atlantic sealers

In 2006 Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society reported that a few years previously Brian Roberts, senior advisor to the Canadian Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, had addressed a conference of whalers in Iceland and urged the exploitation of native people to defend commercial whaling:

In his address, Roberts outlined specific strategies that commercial whalers can use to undermine anti-whaling campaigns, drawing from the heated debates on sealing and the fur industry in Canada.

“The first step was to neutralize the appeal of the animal protection lobby,” Roberts said. “To accomplish this it was necessary to mount an equally emotionally powerful counter-appeal. This counter-appeal was based on the survival needs of aboriginal communities which depended upon the continuing taking of fur-bearing animals.”

Roberts said that this lesson would be useful to the whalers in “your own efforts to deal with a poorly informed and emotional public, and with politicians seeking electoral approval from such publics.”

In other words, Roberts speaking on behalf of the government of Canada was openly saying that Native people should be used as politically-correct and emotional arguments to win favor for commercial whaling.  

Interesting, no?  Wait, it gets even more interesting.  In a 2001 memo from Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs regarding maneuvoring seal products past the U.S. seal product trade ban implemented in 1972, it was recommended the Canadian government ”play the Nunavut Inuit card as leverage to open the door to obtaining a waiver and have the east coast sealers follow.”  Sneaky.

And for some strange reason, the Inuit have been more than happy to be used as pawns in the Canadian government’s defence of the inherently cruel and unprofitable slaughter.  Their eagerness to be whored out to the world for the benefit of Atlantic Canadian sealers is backfiring – they are rapidly losing the support of their fellow-Canadians.  When I first became involved in this issue, people told me they supported the Inuit subsistence hunt.   Today, however, I’m hearing a completely different story.  Many people have expressed to me their disgust with the Inuit’s alliance with the brutal Atlantic sealers and have advised they have withdrawn their support for subsistence hunting.

 

Delaying the Inevitable

Realistically, sealing advocates have not prevented the trade ban on seal products; they have simply delayed the inevitable. 

Says HSI Canada’s Rebecca Aldworth:  “This suspension is temporary in nature and, while affording time for the applicants to present their case before the European Court of Justice, does nothing to prevent the EU ban from coming into force prior to the 2011 commercial seal hunt.“  Sheryl Fink, senior researcher with International Fund for Animal Welfare, agrees the suspension is a minor delay and confirms the EU made the right decision based on solid facts of the seal slaughter.  She also points out the European Commission voted to implement the ban in response to the wishes of its own citizens, and believes the Canadian government should show the same respect for the wishes of its citizens.  “I would hope that the Canadian government will listen to its citizens, who predominantly do not want to see a commercial seal hunt continued in this country.”

Polling consistently shows the majority of Canadians are opposed to the commercial seal slaughter and object to their tax dollars being used to subsidize and defend it both at home and abroad.  Yet every year the Canadian government lavishes millions of our tax dollars upon the inherently cruel, unsustainable and unprofitable industry.  Add to that financial burden the further cost of expensive WTO and joint Inuit/Atlantic sealer challenges, and one is left once again scratching one’s head in bewilderment, wondering why on earth the government of Canada is pouring BILLIONS of dollars into an industry that is economically negligible.  A licence buyout would be markedly cheaper and a long-lasting solution, so why this stubborn determination to waste more of our taxes on a losing battle?  It’s just too bad the Canadian government didn’t see fit to lavish a fraction of that money on the homeless and poverty-stricken across Canada.  But clearly Atlantic sealers/fishers’ votes are far more important than the Great Unwashed Masses across this country.

The latest coyote-human encounter in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park has resparked the debate surrounding the Nova Scotia government’s coyote cull, planned to begin on October 15th under the guise of a “pelt incentive.”

As frightening as the experience must have been for the teenager involved, it was hardly the “vicious coyote attack”  the Chronicle Herald melodramatically termed it.  A 16-year old who was sleeping on the ground outside her parents’ tent, awoke to see a coyote standing over her.  The coyote ran away when she screamed and swatted it.   The coyote had bitten her scalp twice and stitches were required.

To me, it didn’t read as a “vicious attack.”  It read more like a case of a coyote, accustomed to finding scraps of food on the ground of a campsite, mistaking this girl’s head sticking out of the sleeping bag for food and giving a couple of experimental bites.  That’s not to diminish in any way the fear and pain she must have felt.  But vicious attack?  No. 

Of course the usual panicked cries of “they’ve got to be stopped before they eat my child!” could be heard immediately, and all coyotes are being branded vicious killers.  The truth is, if the finger of blame is to be pointed at anyone, it should not be pointed at the coyotes – it should be pointed squarely at the provincial government.

When Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources Minister John MacDonell announced the coyote bounty in April, an “enhanced community public education program” was promised.  I called DNR this morning and spoke with the Executive Director of DNR.  She advised me the “enhanced community education program” had already been implemented and it consisted, for the most part, of a one-page large-print PDF document entitled Living with Coyotes in Nova Scotia uploaded to the DNR website and distributed to a few schools and other institutions.  The Executive Director said experts had also visited schools and would provide me with more information.

So to assuage the fears of the Great Unwashed Masses, the government offers a single page with a few general tips on living with coyotes in Nova Scotia.  “Enhanced community education program” to me would involve public service announcements on radio and television, billboards, public seminars, etc.  Not a one-page document put up on a website in the hopes someone will find it.  Of course, the government knows it needn’t put much energy into educating people how to live in harmony with coyotes because its top priority is to kill all the coyotes.

Public education is key if humans are to understand their behaviour shapes the behaviour of coyotes and learn to live in harmony with them.  This was glaringly apparent this morning during Rick Howe’s call-in radio show.  One caller told listeners coyotes showed up while he and his friends sat around a bonfire, and when one of his friends panicked and ran to the house, they were shocked that the coyote chased her.  Experts warn people that running from a coyote will trigger a predator response.  Another caller complained that neighbourhood cats were disappearing.  Experts warn people not to leave small pets unattended as they are viewed as an easy meal by coyotes in the absence of other prey.  Had the NS Department of Natural Resources made a serious effort to educate the public about living with coyotes, it is unlikely the Nova Scotian parents of the 16-year old would have allowed their daughter to sleep in the open on the ground in a park known to have coyotes roaming.  It is unlikely the campers on the lot before them would have left food lying around to attract coyotes.  If John MacDonell had done his job properly, this incident need not have occurred.  To anyone who might think it’s harsh to blame the Minister, reflect on this — how harsh is it, then, to condemn to death thousands of coyotes for the actions of a few?  That’s harsh.  Even harsher when one considers it is human habituation of wildlife that has led to this, and MacDonell and his staff know it.

Minister MacDonell said in April he didn’t care how many coyotes trappers killed.  He also said he wouldn’t mind if trappers eliminated half of the province’s estimated 8,000 coyotes by next spring.  Clearly he doesn’t understand the concept of compensatory reproduction.

And therein lies the rub.  Science indicates coyote culls don’t work because coyotes will reproduce at a faster rate to compensate for reduced numbers.  MacDonell knows culls don’t work.  That why, shortly before the government’s announcement, any documentation stating culls aren’t effective was removed from the DNR website.  And that’s why the government is not calling it a cull (or bounty, for that matter), but rather giving it the fancy name ‘pelt incentive for professional trappers’.  MacDonell claimed the “pelt incentive” “is a way to change coyote behaviour and reduces a problem wildlife population.“  Indiscrimate trapping for $20 a pelt is going to reduce the problem coyotes?  Doubtful.  Coyotes innocent of any offence will be trapped and killed.  Adult females will be killed, leaving pups behind to starve to death.  And what’s that about reducing a problem wildlife population?  That, my friend, is a cull.  You can dress it up as fancy as you like, but it is still a CULL.

Parks Canada has indicated it will not implement a cull in Cape Breton Highlands National Park.  Derek Quann, the park’s resource conservation manager, says a cull would not be appropriate or effective, saying park staff has effectively used loud air horns and pepper spray to deter coyotes from getting too familiar with visitors in the park.

I asked the Executive Director of DNR if the provincial Natural Resources Department had a response for Parks Canada statement and whether it would make them rethink the planned cull.  I was told I had to understand it wasn’t a cull.  It was an “incentive program for professional trappers.”  I told her politely that I appreciate it’s the official party policy that it’s an “incentive” and I understand that as a provincial government employee she was required to refer to it as an “incentive” but everybody knows it’s a cull.  And everybody knows culls don’t work.  Except for the Minister of Natural Resources.   But then, he also believes the distressed calls of a trapped coyote will send a warning message to other coyotes to stay out of that area.  Interesting, considering hunters use the sound of distressed coyotes to attact other coyotes.

Ignoring science and commonsense the government of Nova Scotia stubbornly insists the cull bounty incentive will go ahead as planned.  On October 15th trappers will be paid $20 per kill and will be free to sell the pelt to any buyers.  And guess where the money is coming from to pay the trappers?  You guessed it – taxpayers.  In the spring our tax dollars are being used to subsidize the brutal slaughter of baby seals by commercial sealers in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and in the autumn our tax dollars will subsidize the brutal slaughter of coyotes by commercial trappers.  Once again Darrell Dexter’s NDP government has sold our wildlife to the highest bidder.

Why?  Some believe MacDonell is a good guy simply wanting to reassure the panicked masses and to appear decisive and strong, while others suggest he is pandering to the Trappers’ Association of Nova Scotia while wearing his Minister of Natural Resources hat.  Still others accuse him of colluding with influential livestock farmers while wearing his Minister of Agriculture hat.  His theories of how/why this cull bounty incentive are full of conflicts and contradictions which makes it apparent there is more involved here than a sincere desire to keep the Great Unwashed Masses safe.

The truth of the matter remains that WE have caused this problem; not the coyotes.  Through our own actions and habits, we are inviting coyotes into our neighbourhoods, yet panicking when they accept our invitation.  We need to understand how our behaviour affects and attracts coyotes and we need to alter our behaviour to re-establish a mutual respect between humans and wildlife.  This is the ONLY solution that will work long-term.  But it’s not the solution that’s going to put taxpayers’ money into the pockets of members of the Trappers’ Association of Nova Scotia, is it?

This morning I happened upon a media release on the DFO website entitled ‘Government of Canada Protects Canadian Oceans and Wildlife‘.  Snorting derisively, I read the release which proudly proclaimed Fisheries Minister Gail Shea was marking World Oceans Day by announcing “two Areas of Interest for potential designation as Marine Protected Areas under the Oceans Act” as well as three new National Wildlife Areas.

“World Oceans Day is a time to acknowledge the vested interest all Canadians have in ensuring the health of our oceans,” Shea is quoted as saying in the press release.  She uses such rousing phrases as “…our commitment to ensuring that ocean resources thrive for the benefit of our communities” and “…demonstrate the Government of Canada’s commitment to conserving and protecting our country’s unparalleled natural beauty“  This from a woman who’s considering turning our newest national park – iconic Sable Island – into a death camp, slaughtering and burning 220,000 grey seals (including, inevitably, nursing whitecoats and their mothers) using heavy loaders, incinerators and wood chippers, a venture which will not only prove fatal for the seals but also for Sable Island’s fragile flora and fauna…O that Gail and her wacky sense of humour! 

Government of Canada protecting Canadian Oceans and Wildlife?  I think not.  One cannot protect our oceans and wildlife with destructive fishing practices, bumbling incompetence, and bloody hakapiks and wooden bats.

Given DFO’s track record of sacrificing conservation in the name of political expediency, it is certainly laughable they are now claiming to be the protector of our oceans and wildlife.  DFO has mismanaged cod into commercial extinction and now seems determined to drive scapegoated seals – including grey seals in provincial nature reserves and national parks – to the brink of extirpation.

I sent Shea an email pointing out all of the above points and suggested she resign before she “protects” our oceans and marine wildlife into oblivion.  I suggest readers of this blog send her an email as well.  I know she’d love to hear from you.

Yesterday Fisheries Minister Gail Shea announced the commercial seal slaughter in Newfoundland and Labrador would be extended to May 31st.  According to the press release issued by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, ”while the Marine Mammal Regulations set the closing time for the seal harvest at May 15 for commercial harvesters, the closing date can be modified through a variation order to adapt to changing circumstances.”

I think the good folks at DFO need to acquaint themselves with the Marine Mammal Regulations – they got it wrong.  The closing date for commercial sealers is not May 15th – it is June 15th.  I’ve been advised the closing date was changed in 2008.  But I guess that was before Gail’s time and she just hasn’t had a chance to read the Regulations which she claims sealers follow and DFO enforces.  If DFO doesn’t know the Regulations, how can it claim to enforce them?

This press release is simply one more of a long line of PR stunts designed to placate sealers and make it appear it’s business as usual for those who make a few bucks from bludgeoning baby seals to death.  Shea claims the closing date has been extended to ”allow sealers more time to make use of their 2010 allocations and provide them with an extended period of time to take advantage of potential market opportunities“  Oh yes, those allocations — the quota that was raised despite a marked absence of markets, a move that was condemned by sealers as “stupid.”  I’m sure sealers will agree yesterday’s decision is just as stupid.  If there are no markets, why tell sealers they can kill seals for an extra two weeks?  But actions speak louder than words.  According to Sheryl Fink, Senior Research and Projects Specialist for IFAW, a DFO representative confirmed to her that only ONE boat is currently sealing.  Looks like everyone else has gone home.  And why not?  There are no markets, “potential” or otherwise.  And now that Shea has inadvertently shut down the slaughter early, that’s where they’ll stay.

Not content with giving the stamp of approval for Nova Scotia sealers to slaughter defenceless grey seals in protected areas of Nova Scotia such as Hay Island and Sable Island, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Natural Resources has set another wildlife species in this province in his sites – the eastern coyote.

Minister of Natural Resources John “If-It-Moves-Kill-It” MacDonell announced a $20 bounty on coyotes in this province in response to growing public hysteria after a spate of coyote-human encounters, one of which proved tragically fatal.

There has been talk of a bounty for some time now but experts had warned documented evidence indicated that bounty programs were unsuccessful in temporarily or permanently reducing coyote abundance (or subsequently reducing livestock depredation, for that matter); in fact, just the opposite was proven – studies showed that coyotes respond to culls simply by having larger litters.  So now the government believes by implementing a bounty encouraging professional trappers to trap and kill coyotes for $20 a pop, that will instill a fear of humans into coyotes and discourage them from straying too close in future.

MacDonell is quick to point out this is not a cull for population control, stating “this is more of a people-safety thing, so I’m not expecting to eliminate coyotes” and adding 75% of the population would have to be killed for 50 years for adequate population management.  Well, the government seems to be off to a good start on that, since its goal is to reduce the coyote population by 50% in the first year.  Conversely, MacDonnel added, “I don’t care what it’s [the coyote population] reduced by, to be honest.  I’m more concerned about getting rid of the animals that might be a problem.“  I wonder how his department came up with the decision that 50% of the population – 4,000 of the estimated 8,000 – is “a problem”? 

For some politicos, 50% is 50% too few.  Colchester County Councillor Mike Cooper believes Nova Scotia should completely exterminate its coyote population.  “Bounties don’t work,” says the bloodthirsty councillor during this week’s council session. “You might as well get rid of them. They’re hunting in packs now.“  Hunting in packs…who else hunts in packs?  Oh yes, humans.  Maybe they need to be exterminated as well?

Mike O’Brien, a provincial wildlife biologist, said scientific research supports the cull, which should result in the remaining coyotes keeping their distance from people.  “Should?”  So what, we’re going to slaughter half the population of coyotes in this province because it “should” or “might” work?!  But wait, this is the government.  Why am I surprised…I would like Mr. O’Brien to point me in the direction of this research, as I haven’t seen it yet and would be interested in reading it.  Alfie MacLeod, the Conservative natural resources critic, is supportive of a bounty although he has no clue whether or not it will be effective.  Says Mr. MacLeod, “Is it the right solution? We won’t know until this is allowed to have a chance to work.”  Another subscriber to the redneck philosophy of “let’s kill us a whole bunch of critters to see if it works, hyick”.

The bounty is facing opposition from some unexpected parties.  Tony Rodgers, executive director of the Nova Scotia Federation of Anglers and Hunters, has criticized MacDonell’s move, saying a bounty is “a politically motivated waste of taxpayers’ money.”   You’d think that Mr. Rodgers would be happy, since only licensed trappers are eligible to take part in the bounty, and trappers are part of the organization’s membership. 

Even more importantly, the mother of the victim of a fatal coyote attack is speaking out against the bounty.  Emily Mitchell, whose 19 year old daughter Taylor was tragically killed by coyotes while hiking in a park in Cape Breton National Park last October, is aghast that a bounty has been implemented.  Ms. Mitchell says her daughter would have opposed the bounty and would be devasted to think they’re using her attack as one of the reasons they’re implementing the bounty.  Ms. Mitchell is calling MacDonell’s decision a knee-jerk reaction, adding, “It upsets me and makes me very uncomfortable.  You’re going out and killing wild animals who, for the most part, are just going about their business. I just think, and I know my daughter felt exactly the same.” 

Liberal natural resources critic Leo Glavine called MacDonell’s decision ”an overreaction prompted by public concern” and has accused the government of removing information critical of culls from its website.  He also says the minister is bending to political pressure rather than making a decision based on sound science.  I’m pleased to see Mr. Glavine speaking up against the senseless killing of coyotes, since he seemed to have lost his voice when it came to voting against Bill 50 permitting the senseless slaughter of thousands of defenceless baby grey seals on protected Hay Island.  Mr. Glavine’s criticism is sincerely appreciated by bounty opponents.

Clearly, the NDP government is caving in to public hysteria.  As tragic as Taylor Mitchell’s death was, it was an isolated incident.  We need public education, not lethal traps.  The public needs to be educated on how to avoid confrontation and to live in harmony with the wildlife in their area.  Here are just a few ways we can do that:

• Stop leaving pet food out and secure all rubbish bins, ensuring no rubbish or food is left on the ground;
• Stop leaving pets outside – coyotes typically eat rabbits and rodents and if hungry enough will naturally eat a pet.  Why people leave their cats out at night and start shrieking when a coyote or raccoon makes off with them I’ll never know.  If you love Fluffy, you’ll keep her inside!!
• Learn what to do (and more importantly what NOT to do) should you come face-to-face with a coyote.  Make yourself look as large as possible, yell, wave your arms, throw rocks.  Make sure you’re not blocking a coyote’s path.  Do NOT turn and run from a coyote as that will trigger a predator/prey response and will lead to an attack.

Those are just a few of the things we can do to co-exist as peacefully as possible with coyotes.  I don’t profess to have all the answers but I know one thing:  killing is not the answer!  I’ve walked in the woods, nervous of coming face-to-face with a wild animal.  But I would never contemplate slaughtering the wild animals to allow me to walk unafraid through those woods.  There seems to be a mentality in this region that animals are either a “sustainable resource to be harvested” or a “pest to be exterminated.”  It seems to slip everyone’s mind that these are sentient creatures we’re talking about – mammals capable of feeling pain and fear.  When dogs and cats are caught in traps their humans speak out in outrage at the horrible death their pet suffered.  It doesn’t seem to cross their mind that the wildlife targeted suffer a death equally horrible in those traps.  Why is it unacceptable for a dog but perfectly acceptable for a coyote?  Because one is domesticated and one is wild?  This is a morally schizophrenic viewpoint which is not acceptable in the 21st century.  It’s akin to eating cows and pigs and being horrified by others eating cats and dogs.  The cruelty is the same.  All suffer the same fear and pain.  So why is one okay and not the other?

If you’re against the NS coyote bounty, please feel free to join a new Facebook group – Stop the Nova Scotia Coyote Bounty.

What a difference a couple of weeks and a [suspected] government subsidy makes.  At first it was doom and gloom for the commercial sealing industry as reality finally set in.  Due to unprecedented low ice and alarmingly high pup mortality, there were very few seal pups for sealers to butcher.  Newfoundland sealers were criticising Fisheries Minister Gail “Chucky” Shea’s increase in quota to 388,200, calling it “stupid” since there were no markets for seal products.  The largest buyer of seal skins – Carino – wasn’t writing any cheques because that company had stockpiled pelts from previous years it hasn’t been able to sell.  The other buyer – NuTan Furs Inc., previously known as Atlantic Marine Products Limited, a subsidiary of Newfoundland fisheries mogul Barry Group - had commissioned to purchase only up to 15,000 skins from a “dedicated group of sealers.”  Magdalen Island sealers killing pups on the opening days of the commercial seal slaughter admitted they were throwing pelts overboard because they could not locate a buyer.  Newfoundland sealers were staying ashore and crying on reporters’ shoulders because they’d have to miss out on bashing in the brains of defenceless baby seals to pay for their fags and booze.

Fast-forward two weeks and all seems suspiciously suddenly rosy in the Land of the Seal Killers.  Suddenly we are getting news reports that Newfoundland sealers are rubbing their hands together in glee because large concentrations of pups are hauled out on small icepans, meaning sealers are able to butcher large numbers without having to exert too much energy.  Says Frank Pinheadhorn of the Canadian Sealers Association, “This is perfect conditions for sealing because the ice is not packed together,” he said. “Whatever ice is there is just filled with seals.”

Here’s where it gets really strange.  NuTan is reportedly paying sealers $25 per seal skin – double what they received last year.  Pinheadhorn estimates 60,000 pups have been butchered so far, and sealers expect to slaughter another 12,000 before they’re finished at the end of May. 

Okay, let’s review — no markets for seal products; largest buyer isn’t buying anything because it can’t sell skins from previous years; the sole buyer commissioning only 15,000 skins; no markets for seal products…yet sealers are planning to slaughter 72,000 seal pups and get $24 per skin from NuTan.  Sound suspect to you?  It certainly does to me.

Let’s face it.  Dion Dakins, director of NuTan Furs Inc. (also, coincidentally, a director of the Fur Institute of Canada – more on them later), is a businessman.  He’s not stupid.  He may be a callous sociopath eager to profit from severe animal cruelty, but he’s not stupid.  So why is he paying Top-Dollar to Newfoundland sealers for seal skins he knows he’ll never be able to sell?  Perhaps because it’s not his dollars being used to “buy” the skins?  Is this is a subsidy?  If so, who is paying?  The federal government or the Newfoundland government?  Or perhaps both in a joint venture?  ACOA?  DFO?  72,000 skins at $24 a pop is alot of money – somebody has to be coughing up that money as a subsidy, cos those skins will never sell.

You may remember NuTan Furs is also the buyer who stepped forward in 2009 when no buyers could be found for the seal skins sealers hoped to rip from the carcasses of baby grey seals in Protected Wilderness Area Hay Island, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.  The provincial government-sanctioned slaughter of up to 2,220 grey seal pups on that island was nearly cancelled when no buyer could be found.  Suddenly the Fur Institute of Canada stepped in with a Bailout for the Boys and arranged for NuTan Furs (Dion Dakins, the sole director of NuTan Furs is on the board of directors of the Fur Institute of Canada) to purchase 200 skins to use as fabric samples for potential buyers [NOTE:  The so-called "potential buyers" didn't materialize, since the 2010 planned slaughter was also cancelled since again no buyers could be found and the provincial government decided against subsidizing the processing of seal carcasses "to meet the requirements of a buyer.")  That slaughter of 200 seals for their skin smacked of government subsidy.  As does this slaughter of 72,000 harp seal pups.

Anti-sealing organizations are asking some hard questions.  Sheryl Fink, a senior researcher with IFAW is spot-on when she says, ”Something smells fishy here.  Why is it that Quebec sealers are throwing pelts back into the water while Newfoundland sealers now have a buyer for 72,000 skins? It seems strange if NuTan is able to purchase sealskins at almost double last year’s price when other Newfoundland processors are unable to get rid of their stockpiled pelts. It also seems remarkable that the demand for seal pelts would skyrocket in less than a week.”

It’s a shame Canadian media is such a shower of cowards when it comes to this issue, steadfastly refusing to investigate clear indications of corruption in the commercial seal hunt issue and questionable practices by the Canadian government using taxpayers’ dollars to subsidize the slaughter and perhaps even buy the unwanted skins.  Canadian media would be able to ferret out that information sharpish.  But they’d have to grow some first.

Our work here is done.  The HSUS and IFAW teams have documented multiple days of the slaughter and have captured compelling evidence this slaughter is completely inhumane and unmonitored, contrary to the Canadian government’s bogus claims.

The Canadian government can kiss goodbye any chance it feels it might have to win a WTO challenge to overturn the EU seal product ban.  As we leave Newfoundland, we take with us enough evidence to shut down this outdated and cruel industry forever.

This is my fourth year witnessing the commercial seal hunt on behalf of the Atlantic Canadian Anti-Sealing Coalition. Each year I see such brutality and savagery that I feel nothing would surprise me anymore. Yet each year I am shocked anew – not only at the vicious and barbaric manner in which baby seals are killed by Canadian sealers, but at the Canadian government which continues its campaign of misinformation, attempting to pass the annual slaughter off as humane and regulated. It is neither.

This year I am also shocked at the silence of the Canadian media. The slaughter of baby seals began in this area of Newfoundland known as ‘the Front’ on April 8, with tens of thousands of harp, hooded and grey seal pups to be inhumanely slaughtered for their skin, yet the Canadian media has virtually ignored it.

Each year, international journalists converge on Canada to document and report on the commercial seal hunt. To date, no Canadian journalist has documented the killing of baby seals. This year the complete silence of the Canadian media on the annual slaughter is deafening.

Canadian media turns out in droves to report on Canadian politicos dining on seal flesh at Parliament Hill, Canada’s Governor General gobbling up raw seal heart from seals killed at her request and Miss Newfoundland naively throwing her support behind the commercial seal hunt. But the Canadian media is nowhere to be found when seal pups are being viciously and savagely slaughtered for their skin. Why is this?

This year’s seal kill is especially controversial in light of the record-high pup mortality caused by unprecedented low ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Equally controversial is the fact that three of the four buyers of seal skins in Canada are not buying anything this year, as they have stockpiled pelts from previous years which they have not been able to sell. The fourth buyer, rumoured to be a prominent Newfoundland seafood company, has commissioned the purchase of 40,000 – 50,000 seal skins, which leads many to question why a large number of skins are being bought when no markets exist, and who exactly is putting up the money for these seal pups to be killed.

The cruelty I have witnessed here this year is forever etched on my memory. I have seen baby seals shot in the face and left to paw frantically at their injuries. I have seen conscious pups impaled on metal spikes and hauled across the ice, sliced open from face to flipper on the decks of sealing boats and left to die slowly. I have witnessed multiple and repeated violations of law by sealers resulting in extreme animal cruelty while DFO consistently looked the other way.

The Canadian government has made a grave mistake in allowing the slaughter to proceed this year. Due to unprecedented low ice resulting in record-high pup mortalities, Fisheries Minister Gail Shea was asked to cancel the hunt as a precautionary measure. Shea refused, indicating she was leaving that decision in the hands of sealers. A decision that should have been made by marine biologists and climate specialists was made by fishermen wielding clubs and guns. The slaughter proceeded and licensed observers filmed each act of cruelty and each violation of law by sealers, compiling an incriminating case against the commercial sealing industry and the Canadian government which subsidizes and defends it.

The Canadian government can kiss goodbye any chance they feel they might have to win a WTO challenge to overturn the EU seal product ban. As we leave Newfoundland, we take enough evidence to shut down this outdated and cruel industry forever. Perhaps on that day the Canadian media will see fit to report again on this issue which is so important to all Canadians.

This morning I went with the ProtectSeals team in the zodiac to continue documentation of the slaughter. Unfortunately, high winds and waves prevented us from reaching the sealing boats and reluctantly we turned back for the long, wet and uncomfortable trip back to shore.

Fortunately, team members in the helicopter equipped with the Cineflex camera located sealing boats and documented the day’s slaughter, catching more evidence of cruelty and violations.

Watching these defenceless pups being killed is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. To watch helplessly as pup after pup suffers unbelievable agony at the hands of these sealers, and to be unable to do anything to protect or save them, is damaging to the soul. But I remind myself there is a purpose to my presence. By being there I am helping to ensure this barbaric practice is stopped and future generations of seals will not suffer the same fate. I am there to witness their deaths and to share my experiences with others as a counter to government propaganda spread by politicos such as Fisheries Minister Gail Shea and Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette, who have never seen the commercial seal hunt and have no authority to make representations as to its humaneness.

I am here representing the many Atlantic Canadians who are outraged this slaughter occurs in our region using our tax dollars while the government lies to the world, claiming we support the bloodbath.  I am here to assist in any way I can to shut this industry down.

And we are shutting this industry down.  As videotaped evidence of the abject cruelty of the commercial seal hunt is shared with the world by groups Humane Society International and International Fund for Animal Welfare, more and more people are speaking up in disgust, joining the Canadian seafood boycott and urging their governments to ban trade in seal products.  Even sealers are recognizing this industry is doomed and a recent poll showed half of Newfoundland sealers holding an opinion favoured a license buyout.

We have seen a shift, in the past couple of years particularly, with fewer seals killed as more and more markets close to the grisly products of a cruel industry.  But our work isn’t done yet.  One seal shot and bludgeoned to death on the ice is still one far too many.  We will continue our efforts to ensure NO seals are killed.  We will not stop until ALL seals are protected.  That day is coming soon.

This is my fourth year witnessing Canada’s east coast commercial seal hunt with the HSUS ProtectSeals team. Each year I see such brutality and savagery that I feel nothing could ever surprise me again. Yet each year I am shocked anew – not only at the vicious and barbaric manner in which baby seals are killed by Canadian sealers, but at the lies the Canadian government continues to tell, claiming this slaughter is humane and regulated. I see it with my own eyes each year and know it is neither “humane” nor “regulated.”

From a helicopter equipped with a powerful Cineflex camera, Rebecca Aldworth and I watched through a monitor the bloodbath unfolding below us on the ice. We watched in horror as baby seals resting peacefully on the ice were showered with bullets by Newfoundland sealers.  These seals were not killed outright by the bullets – they very rarely are – they were merely wounded and suffered horribly for minutes at a time while the sealing boats made their way to them.  Instead of immediately putting the pups out of their misery, the sealers inflicted yet more savagery on them, striking their heads with hakapiks then, often without checking to ensure the pups were unconscious, stabbing them through the face with hooks and dragging them across the ice to hoist onto the sealing boat.  Time after time Rebecca and I were horrified to see the wounded pups exhibiting conscious reaction to pain as they were stabbed through their face and they were hoisted through the air into the boats. 

One of the many horrible images forever burned onto my memory is that of two small pups laying on the ice.  A bullet ripped through one pup and as he rolled over onto his back in pain, the second pup was shot in the face.  The second pup began crawling around in confusion and pain, snaking a thick trail of blood behind her.  She crawled for an agonizingly long time, forming almost a complete figure-eight in her blood.  Finally after what seemed an eternity, she was shot again and lay still.  At that moment the first pup rolled over onto his side and we realized he was still alive.  The sealer jumped out onto the ice and slammed the hakapik into his skull twice.  Then, without checking to ensure the pup was dead or irreversibly unconscious (as sealers are required to do as a condition of their sealing license) he hacked at the pup’s head with the sharp spiked end of the hakapik, stabbing him through the face and hauling him to the boat where he was tossed on deck.  The sealer then returned to the second pup, bludgeoned her twice and, again without checking she was unconscious, hacked at her head twice, impaling her through the face and hauling her across the ice and onto the boat while her flippers clenched in pain.  We flew our helicopter over the deck of the boat and were sickened to see one of the pups still moving.  Instead of killing the pups, the sealers simply flipped them over onto their backs, sliced their bellies open from face to flippers and left them there to suffer until they finally died.

But this is just one of the horrors I witnessed today – just one of the images that will forever be burned onto my brain.  We saw so much abject cruelty and so many violations resulting in needless suffering that we felt sick as our helicopter returned to base.  And DFO did nothing.  But this is nothing new.

DFO claims repeatedly the seal hunt is “closely monitored and tightly regulated.”  But where was DFO as we watched for hours sealers violating their license conditions time after time and inflicting horrendous suffering on defenceless baby seals?  A Coast Guard vessel was in the area but clearly, DFO officials were either not monitoring the boats or chose not to notice violation after violation.  On previous days, sealers were flagrantly violating their license conditions right in front of a Coast Guard icebreaker and again DFO officials were either not doing their job or chose to look the other way while baby seals suffered.

The truth of the matter is, even if DFO had the will to monitor and regulate the commercial seal slaughter, it would be physically impossible to do.  The area commercial sealing takes place is vast, and only a handful of Coast Guard boats are present.  There is no incentive for sealers to adhere to the Marine Mammal Regulations and the terms of their sealing license because they know convictions are few and far between and penalties are negligible – a pittance of a fine that equals a slap on the wrist.

And so the Canadian government continues to spread its lies to the general public in Canada and abroad, trying to mislead the public into thinking the seal hunt is humane, monitored and regulated.  This despite the overwhelming boddy of evidence that is amassed each year by licensed observers.

I said at the beginning of this year’s hunt that the Canadian government was insane to allow it to continue this year.  First, due to unprecedented low ice many harp seal pups perished in record-high numbers.  Fisheries Minister Gail Shea was asked to cancel the hunt as a precautionary measure but Shea indicated she was leaving that decision in the hands of sealers.  So the slaughter proceeded and licensed observers HSUS and IFAW filmed it, compiling an incriminating case against the commercial sealing industry in Canada and the Canadian government which subsidizes and defends it.

The Canadian government can kiss goodbye any chance they feel they might have had to win a WTO challenge to overturn the EU seal product ban.  The evidence that HSUS and IFAW have collected will be taken to Europe and it will be shown that, contrary to claims of the Canadian government, the Canadian commercial seal hunt remains as inherently inhumane as ever.

The commercial sealing industry in Canada is over, and sealers and Canadian government have nobody to blame but themselves.  Through their own greed and cruelty they have caused damage to this great country, staining our reputation in the eyes of the world and bringing economic hardship on other Canadian industries such as seafood and tourism.  Even Newfoundland sealers are recognizing it’s over and are now indicating they’re finally interested in a license buyout from the government.  This is something sealing opponents have been requesting for years, but government and industry were resistant.

After many decades of campaigning to end this atrocity, we are very near our goal.  I will rejoice when the industry is shut down permanently and no more baby seals will die a horrific death at the hands of fishermen wielding clubs and rifles.  I will travel to the harp seal nursery ice to spend time with baby seals knowing they are safe, and instead of mourning their deaths I will celebrate their lives.