Economically and rationally, the seal hunt isn't worth it

Barbara Yaffe, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, March 30, 2006

My sister-in-law is now the proud owner of an impressive array of Beatles records. She grabbed them from a St. John's friend who junked his beloved collection after he saw Paul McCartney protest the seal hunt.

Which is to say, defence of the hunt has gone beyond the emotional to the irrational.

If you live in Newfoundland, you dare not sympathize with McCartney or Brigitte Bardot or Pamela Anderson, or anyone who criticizes the sacred ritual of shooting and bludgeoning seals on the ice floes. The messenger is scum.

Politicians, even as far east as Ottawa, won't touch this controversy with a 10-foot hakapik.

Easterners are so defensive about the hunt they've lost their ability to be rational about its value, or lack thereof.

When the topic is raised, they foam at the mouth. Earlier this week, off the Magdalen Islands, sealers -- in a vessel carrying RCMP and fisheries officers! -- attempted to ram the activists' flimsy inflatable vessel, and tossed seal guts at them.

Those who can still talk rationally about the hunt should consider some facts.

The hunt is worth $16.5 million to Canada's economy -- a picayune enterprise, though it provides money for some needy fishermen during the off season.

Then again, there's alternative cash to be made from eco-tourism ventures that would take tourists to the ice to see seals for themselves. Who ever dreamed whale watching would become so profitable?

Ditching the seal hunt would also stop activists from promoting a seafood boycott in the U.S. where three-quarters of Canadian seafood is purchased.

The boycott hasn't really started hurting Canada. But who wants to allow it more time to possibly succeed?

For certain, the seal hunt isn't enhancing the Canadian brand. We have an international reputation as a humane, progressive nation; why allow a fringe enterprise to damage it? Who needs the negative international headlines?

And don't blame the celebs; sex sells. And don't blame the seal-hugger groups; it's legit for them to raise money. Their activities cost cash. In a democracy they have the right to protest.

Slaughtering animals is never pretty. The important point to note with the seal slaughter is that humane killing is harder to achieve. Anyone who watches a seal struggling as it dies slowly won't forget the image. (Video is available on the Internet and it will turn your tummy.)

Cattle entering slaughterhouses are whacked on the forehead by a captive bolt pistol and are stunned instantaneously. No suffering.

Pack ice is not a slaughterhouse floor. It's an undulating, freezing cold environment where sealers must work fast and furiously to harvest. Other hunters fire rifles from boats. Fishermen aren't marksmen.

There's too much mayhem and movement that goes along with this hunt for it to be humane. Sure, most seals may be killed humanely; thousands aren't.

I also grimace at the notion of killing a being that's as young as 12 days. And let's face it, it is done mostly for fur. When did you last eat seal flipper pie?

Those arguing for a seal cull to save fish have no scientific basis for the linkage between seals and collapse of the cod stock -- caused by fishermen, not seals.

Another concern: A warmer climate has left coastal ice more precarious, which will increasingly endanger the hunters in years to come.

Any rational human being with an objective perspective and a healthy conscience would look at Canada's seal hunt, the suffering involved in the way it's carried out, the bad publicity it generates and conclude it's not worth it.

Ah, but this isn't the reaction of folks on the East Coast who are taking the actions of the protesters as a direct and personal assault on their very being and responding with defiance rather than retrospection.

Politicians unfortunately pander to them because they vote and their ridings are worth as much as any others. Seal protesters, meanwhile, are often Americans or celebrities from afar and don't vote here. And, of course, the seals can't cast ballots. So this excuse for an economic pursuit continues year after year.

The seal hunt is an abomination. Ultimately, we'd all be so much better off without it.

byaffe@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2006