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Canadian seal industry faces 'crisis' because of import bans, sealers told

2 days ago

 

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Canada's centuries-old commercial sealing industry faces a

" crisis " because of growing opposition throughout Europe that threatens to close

vital markets, the head of the Fur Institute of Canada said Tuesday.

 

In a stark address to a gathering of about 100 sealers, Bruce Williams, chairman

of the organization, said the future of the seal harvest is bleak if support for

bans on the import of seal products continues to build in Europe.

 

" Unfortunately, the animal rights organizations around the world have come to

realize that the easiest way to kill something - for maybe lack of a better term

- is to kill the market, " Williams said.

 

" If you can't sell the product, if it has no commercial value, then I would say

that it is doomed. "

 

Belgium and Holland have approved legislation prohibiting the sale of seal

products. Germany, Italy and Austria are drafting similar legislation, prompting

pressure for the European Union to adopt a ban.

 

While those countries aren't Canada's biggest importers of seal products, they

serve as a critical shipment and manufacturing point to the larger markets of

Norway, Russia and China.

 

Williams said there's an additional effect an EU-wide ban could have on the

sealing industry.

 

" One thing I can tell you is that if fur is not fashionable on the runways of

Paris and Milan, it's not going to be fashionable anywhere, " he said.

 

" The simple reality today is the big markets are China and Russia, but they want

things that are in style, and style is not dictated by those countries. It's

dictated by the countries in Europe. "

 

Even Loyola Sullivan, Canada's fisheries ambassador, acknowledged Tuesday that

efforts to overcome the anti-sealing lobby in Europe would be tough.

 

" It's difficult because it's advanced so far, " Sullivan said.

 

" It's got a tremendous foothold in Europe, and most people close to the

situation feel that a ban by other countries is imminent, that it's gone too

far. It would be unpopular now for a member of parliament in a European country

to support the hunt. "

 

In September, Canada launched a challenge to the World Trade Organization in an

effort to persuade the Belgian and Dutch governments to reverse their bans,

arguing their policies were rooted in misinformation spread in large part by

animal rights groups. Ottawa's complaint remains before the WTO.

 

Mark Small, a former president of the Canadian Sealing Association and longtime

sealer, said even though Canada's hunt is the most sustainable in the world, his

fellow hunters may have to accept some changes in their practices, such as

different measures to cull the seals.

 

" I'm definitely sure that, as a sealer myself, we can do a better job than we've

been doing in the past, " Small said.

 

" We've got to make some compromises if we're going to protect our future

industry in this province. "

 

The federal government is proposing sealers immediately bleed the seal after

shooting or clubbing it - a process that involves cutting two large blood

vessels - to minimize pain and distress.

 

Rebecca Aldworth, a spokeswoman for the Humane Society of the United States,

said Ottawa should drop its efforts to reverse bans in Europe and put together a

buyout package for sealers.

 

" We hope that the sealing industry will work with us to push the federal

government to fairly compensate the people that will be affected by the closure

of the sealing industry, " Aldworth said from Montreal.

 

" That is the most graceful way for the Canadian government to exit this

controversy. "

 

Animal rights activists have long condemned the hunt, saying the annual

slaughter is cruel, difficult to monitor and ravages stock levels.

 

But sealers and the federal Fisheries Department have just as vigorously

defended the hunt as sustainable, humane and a necessary source of income for

fishermen on the Atlantic coast.

 

The seal hunt usually begins in late March or early April, depending on ice

conditions.

 

 

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.

Confucius