Thursday, Mar 02, 2006
McCartneys stage anti-sealing protest north of P.E.I.

GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE (CP) - The annual seal hunt off the East Coast is a "stain on the character of the Canadian people," music legend Paul McCartney said Thursday as he and his wife Heather staged a high-profile, anti-hunt protest on barren ice floes in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The megastar couple called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to end the centuries-old commercial slaughter by buying back hunters' licences and promoting eco-tourism instead.

"We don't want to see the local people suffer," McCartney said after the couple got on their bellies to get a close-up look at newborn harp seals sprawled on an ice pan about 20 kilometres northwest of the Iles-de-la-Madeleine.

"But, from what we hear, it is quite a small amount of their annual revenue and this could be easily sorted out by the Canadian government, if they care to do it."

Under partly cloudy skies, the McCartneys travelled by small plane from Charlottetown to Iles-de-la-Madeleine, 160 kilometres northeast of Prince Edward Island. They then boarded a helicopter and flew to the ice floes.

Dressed in bright orange survival suits, the 63-year-old former Beatle and his wife posed for photos with a snow-white pup as a media entourage of about three dozen looked on.

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"We're calling upon Stephen Harper and the government to consider looking at this problem . . . in the light of the international objections," McCartney said.

"Canada is known as a great nation . . . But this is something that leaves a stain on the character of the Canadian people and we don't think that's right. I don't think the vast amount of Canadians think that's right."

The most recent figures suggest the industry, which started in the 1700s, was worth between $15 million and $20 million annually and employed up to 10,000 people, most of them in Newfoundland. Supporters argue that income from the harvest is vital to remote communities with few other economic opportunities.

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The McCartneys, longtime animal rights activists, noted the Canadian government had approved a three-year management plan in 2003 that set the total quota for harp seals at 975,000 - a move that prompted renewed outrage among conservation groups.

Phil Jenkins, a spokesman for the federal Fisheries Department, said he took the opportunity to make Ottawa's case directly to McCartney when he spoke with him during a flight into Charlottetown on Wednesday night.

"Sir Paul McCartney said that he had heard that the seal population was declining and there was a conservation issue," Jenkins said. "In fact, the seal population is at 5.8 million animals and that's about triple what is was in the 1970s."

Jenkins said he was concerned by the McCartneys decision to pose with the youngest harp seals, known as whitecoats, because hunters have been banned from killing them since 1987.

Under federal rules, harp seals must not be killed until they lose their white fur. That can happen in as little as 12 days. But most of the seals taken are about 25 days old, the Fisheries Department says.

Thursday's protest was organized by the Humane Society of the United States and the British-based group, Respect for Animals.

"This is the biggest thing that has ever happened in the seal campaign," said Rebecca Aldworth, spokeswoman for the Humane Society of the United States.

"Paul and Heather McCartney are two of the most visible people in the world and they are two of the strongest animal protection people in the world. Them taking a stand for seals today will help us to bring a final end to the commercial seal hunt."

She said the proposed licence buy-back program should include compensation for lost income.

"Given that the federal government subsidized the return of the commercial seal hunt (between 1996 and 2001) we think this would be a good investment to see its end," Aldworth said Thursday.

Earlier, the McCartneys release a statement describing the hunt as brutal, and they cited a 2001 independent veterinarian report that concluded close to half of the seals killed were likely still conscious when skinned.

The Fisheries Department says it has an independent report that suggests otherwise.

"Sometimes a seal may appear to be moving after it has been killed; however seals have a swimming reflex that is active - even after death," the department says on its website.

"This reflex gives the false impression that the animal is still alive when it is clearly dead."

The department has also insisted Canadians support Ottawa's policies, citing a February 2005 Ipsos-Reid poll that concluded 60 per cent of those surveyed were in favour of a "responsible hunt."

The date for the start of this year's hunt has yet to be set, though it usually begins in late March. The 2006 quota is also under review.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

Paul McCartney and his wife Heather pose with a seal pup on the ice floes off Iles de la Madeleine in the Gulf of St.Lawrence, Thursday, as part of a high-profile protest against Canada's annual seal hunt. (CP/Tom Hanson)