IFAW urges Prime Minister Harper to call off seal hunt (Harp seals at risk from global warming)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.ccnmatthews.com/news/releases/show.jsp?action=showRelease&searchText=false&showText=all&actionFor=640205

MARCH 14, 2007 - 10:01 ET

IFAW urges Prime Minister Harper to call off seal hunt

Harp seals at risk from global warming

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - March 14, 2007) - IFAW is calling on the Canadian government to call off Canada's commercial seal hunt due to a disturbing lack of seals-and ice-in the Gulf of St Lawrence.

Ice conditions on Canada's east coast are shaping up to be among the worst on record, according to the latest information from Environment Canada.

Normally, harp seals give birth and nurse their pups on pack ice in the Gulf of St Lawrence but the lack of any solid ice means very few harp and hooded seals have been seen.

"It's absolutely unbelievable," said Sheryl Fink, IFAW Senior Researcher. "Surveillance flights are reporting that there is not a single harp seal to be found in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence."

FULL story at link.

[mikelgb]

1. The Cull is necessary! The cull is necessary!

:sarcasm:

[flvegan]

2. IFAW has a psa up at their website

http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?splash&oid=3

I fear that it's unlikely that this will end the seal hunt, either.

[LeftyMom]

3. But if they don't cull the pups that aren't there for the pelts nobody wants

then they'll eat the cod that humans already ate and we can't have that!

[Nihil]

4. Oh I'm sure they'll find plenty if they look hard enough ...

... once the "hunting season" starts then they will be photos of loads of
seals on solid pack ice ... by the same people who showed the tanks on the
border of Saudi Arabia that the damn naysayers pretended weren't there ...

They'll even be able to count the number of seals using very similar
"scientific" techniques to those adopted by the Japanese whalers ...
if you see one then kill it, put a couple of ticks on the list to prove
there were plenty really and then sell off the corpse ...

[Omaha Steve]

5. Look at the results of the anti-sealing activities!!!!

I just got this from a friend in an anti-sealing group.

Andrew of Global Action Network reminded me earlier of the following:

Germany has just announced it is shutting its doors to sealskins - over 25% of the market for Canadian unprocessed sealskins last year.

The Netherlands announced it will institute a ban, a move that received unanimous support from their parliament.

Belgium actually implemented a ban on all seal products.

The UK announced that they will press the EU to implement a ban.

The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to ban the trade in all seal products.

The Council of Europe, the oldest EU political body, passed a resolution calling on their 46 member states to promote initiatives aimed at banning the trade in seal products.

The prices for sealskins are falling this year, removing the financial incentive for sealers to kill seals.

Important distributors of Canadian seafood have been pledging, one after another, to stop selling Canadian seafood until the hunt is ended. So much so that the seafood industry in Canada is finally now starting to speak out about their concerns.

These are all major advances that involved a lot of work, expertise and money. For those who are new to the issue, this is not an easily won campaign. We are up against the full force of the Canadian government. It is the high level of opposition we are facing that should tell us exactly how important this victory is. The last time the seal hunt was stopped, it took over 20 years of steady pressure. This time, we are winning it far faster.

[Matilda]

6. I thought it was won in the 1980s.

So sad that it has to be fought all over again.