Marianne White, Canwest News Service Published: Wednesday, March 26, 2008
CANADA SENDS DELEGATION TO EUROPE
QUEBEC -- As the annual seal hunt gets underway Friday, a delegation of
Canadian officials and hunters will be heading to Europe to make a plea
for the industry, which has been criticized as cruel and could soon face
sanctions from the 27-nation bloc.
The European Union is weighing a ban on the import of all seal products
from Canada to protest against the annual harvest.
A spokeswoman for EU environment chief Stavros Dimas told reporters in
Brussels Wednesday Mr. Dimas is "looking into the nature of the inhumane
killing of seals," and is drafting a text to be presented before June.
Mr. Dimas could then recommend that the EU follow the lead of Belgium
and the Netherlands, who have already banned the import of seal products.
The Canadian government is waging an aggressive diplomatic battle
against the possible ban and wants to make sure EU decision-makers get
fully briefed on the seal hunt before they are asked to vote.
Canada's ambassador for fisheries conservation Loyola Sullivan -- who
heads the delegation -- acknowledged that it won't be an easy task to
overcome the anti-sealing movement that has taken hold in Europe.
"When you put propaganda out in the public for years and years, spending
millions of dollars earned on false advertising by using images that no
longer exist in over 20 years, it's difficult to change people's minds
when they have formulated an opinion," Mr. Sullivan said in an interview.
"But we are not going to be bullied by a bunch of people spreading
misinformation about Canadians honestly earning a livelihood. We have to
stand on the principle," he added.
A Europe-wide ban could be catastrophic for the $33-million industry
that is a mainstay of East Coast communities.
It would also mean Canada could no longer ship seal pelts through
European ports to major markets in China and Russia.
Mr. Sullivan's delegation -- which is going to Europe for the second
year in a row -- kicks off a 10-day visit to London, Brussels, Paris,
Berlin and Vienna on Saturday.
He is taking along a number of Canadian officials including the premier
of Nunavut, Newfoundland's natural resources minister, as well as seal
hunters from Quebec's Magdalen Islands and Newfoundland.
Mr. Sullivan lamented the fact that animal rights groups often try to
sway opinion by showing images of cute and cuddly seal pups, and of dead
and bloodied seals on ice flows. Since 1987, it is illegal to hunt
whitecoat pups and hooded seal pups, who are newborn seals.
"We have to put our side of the issue on the table to make sure people
don't legislate based on emotion," he stressed.
The Humane Society of the United States, a leading opponent of the seal
hunt, dismissed the delegation as nothing more than a "SWAT team of
lobbyists" and reiterated its intention to oppose the annual hunt that
will start Friday in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, weather permitting.
"The seal hunt is the largest slaughter of mammals on earth and it's
happening in Canada. Moreover, the government is actively promoting it
and defending," said Rebecca Aldworth, director of Canadian wildlife
issues for the organization.
For this year's culling, the government set a quota of 275,000 seal
harps out of a population of nearly six million.
Canadian officials have long maintained the hunt is well-monitored and
sustainable and Ottawa announced earlier this year that hunters will now
have to take extra steps to ensure the seals die humanely.
http://www.nationalpost.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=401628
NEWS from the ice (March-April 2008)
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080329/fishermen_rescue_080329/20080329?hub=CTVNewsAt11 3 sealers dead, 1 missing
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/seal_hunt
Check these pics: Checa estas fotos:
Seal hunting boats sail through the water in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/photo/31032008/24/photo/photos-n-canada-seal-hunting-boats-sail-water-gulf-saint-lawrence.html