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In recent days we’ve had two scheduled showings of Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth” scheduled for showing in Yarmouth County.
Now according to a Nova Scotia Business Journal article by Greg McNeil it seems that Global Warming may be to blame for the thin ice conditions and low harvest rates in this years Seal Hunt off the south coast of Newfoundland.
I’ve been monitoring the situation there and it seems that a Department of Fisheries chopper pilot with over 20 years experience has been reported to have said he has never seen this lack of ice. While Dept of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) officials believe a fair amount of seals have already left by the Cabot Strait.
Much debate has been stirred up over this Seal Hunt and the viability of it. DFO figures show a drop of $4.5 Million in direct revenues from the Seal Hunt, with only $16.5 Million in 2004, down from $21 Million in 2002. Yet Proponents claim that some fisherman earn up to 75% of their annual incomes from the Seal Hunt. While other people protest saying there is no need for the Seal Hunt.
So, what is the truth? Where do we turn for answers?
Well, according to The Canadian Outdoor Heritage Alliance there is a flurry of misinformation from animal rights organizations, such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), every year during the Seal Hunt.
COHA says, “these organizations specialize in lies and misleading information designed to trick the public into pressuring the governments involved into ending this traditional, and scientifically proven sustainable, harvesting of a natural resource.”
Does COHA make a valid claim?
Well, for that we need to look at some IFAW claims. If you visit IFAW’s Stop The Seal Hunt website you’ll see they claim, “More than 300,000 seals will be cruelly killed this year.” Yet, their own Press Release more accurately states the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) is only 270,000. It’s a small one, but they obviously contradict themselves for the sake of sensationalism.
Another press release by Katie McConnell (IFAW, U.S.) Canada’s 2007 commercial seal hunt starts today.
States: “Last year, the government set the limit at 335,000 seals, while the total number of seals actually killed was more than 354,000, based on official government figures.”
The Press Release goes on to say that this is “unacceptable and unnecessary” yet, nowhere does it say that the Gov’t. has already taken measures to correct this!
According to a March 29, DFO News Release, The Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) announced the (TAC) and other management measures for the 2007 Atlantic seal hunt.” Among these measures Minister Hearn also announced tough new measures to reduce the possibility of quota overruns. “Fleets that overrun their quota will see their allocations reduced by the same number of seals in their overrun on a one for one basis the following year.” Thus the problem of overrun had been addressed prior to the IFAW claim and complaint mentioned above.
As for IFAW’s claims that the Seal Hunt is “unacceptable and unnecessary” the DFO reports differently. Based upon the “Technical Briefing on the Harp Seal Hunt in Atlantic Canada” and slide five, which deals with the “Sustainable Hunt” seals are managed under the Objective-Based Fisheries Management Approach (OBFM). Which is a management regime adopted following extensive consultations and a Seal Forum in which over 200 organizations from industry, government, aboriginal, conservation and animal rights groups were invited to provide their input on the proposed management regime.
The DFO’s “Technical Briefing on the Harp Seal Hunt in Atlantic Canada” also states, “Canada’s seal population is healthy and abundant. The harp seal herd — the most important seal herd for this industry — is estimated at around five million animals, nearly the highest level ever recorded, and almost triple what it was in the 1970s.”
Thus it would appear that according to the Dept of Fisheries and Oceans Canada the Seal Hunt is necessary and sustainable.
So it appears that claims made by the Canadian Outdoor Heritage Alliance, (COHA) are substantiated by the Canadian Government and the DFO, and that the Seal Hunt is a scientifically proven and sustainable harvesting of a natural resource.
For more information on the Seal Hunt, COHA, DFO, IFAW, and other resources see the List of Helpful Links at the bottom of this Blog Post.
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So, for YarmouthCounty.com, this has been Brian Hurlburt, and I invite you to Make it a great day!
Sincerely,
Brian Hurlburt
customerservice@yarmouthcounty.com
List of Helpful Links
Nova Scotia Business Journal article by Greg McNeil
Report of the Eminent Panel on Seal Management
The Canadian Outdoor Heritage Alliance (COHA)
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
IFAW’s Stop The Seal Hunt
IFAW Press Release by Katie McConnell
Technical Briefing: Harp Seal Hunt in Atlantic Canada
Honourable Loyola Hearn, DFO Minister announces (TAC)
