Canada Kicks Ass
Largest Seal Hunt In More Than Half A Century

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AdamNF @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 7:46 am

$1:
ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland -- Canada is once again at the center of an environmental row as it begins the largest seal hunt in more than half a century.


Link to CNN story - here

I am 100% against the seal hunt, i think its brutal and inhumane. Its makes me ashamed to be a Newfoundlander. It's the fisherman who do all the seal hunting. I don't know any fisherman, i have never met any fisherman, i donÂ’t think they even exist anymore,

$1:
The ad -- under the heading "O Canada. How could you ... again?" -- says the country "still permits the clubbing of baby seals."

John Efford, Canada's minister of natural resources, responded by saying the advertisement is incorrect to suggest the hunters are killing baby seals.


Seeing Efford is from Newfoundland may his opinion be a little bias.

   



Robair @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 10:06 am

You always hear one side of stories like these. I wonder what greenpeace would say about our cyote hunts in SK when they start to become a problem. (usually every three years or so)

Any Nefies on here that have the other viewpoint? Anybody participate or know folks that do?

   



othello @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 10:15 am

The issues for me would be:

1. Is there scientific evidence suggesting that there is an overpopulation problem that is harming the marine environment?

2. Is there evidence that the hunt is appropriately scoped, in terms of the number and age of seals killed, to address the overpopulation problem without causing longer term harm to the seal population?

3. Are the methods used in killing the seals as humane as possible and are appropriate measures being taken to enforce Canadian legislation regarding the humane treatment of animals?

My biggest concern is for the last point. Efford argued that baby seals weren't being killed, but didn't even address the "clubbing" reference, suggesting that clubbing is still permitted. The American Humane Society website has a section on the seal hunt and they suggest that, in prior years, they observed seals being skinned while still alive and conscious.

That's reason enough for the government to put in place a more effective monitoring program that ensures appropriate hunting practices and monitors quotas.

   



GWN_Ronnie @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 10:40 am

$1:
I don't know any fisherman, i have never met any fisherman, i donÂ’t think they even exist anymore,


Adam it's people like you that make me wish YOU were not a Newfoundlander!!!!

Take an afternoon and drive outside your neighborhood. You will see fishermen are all over the place. The fishery employees thousands of people in this province, and for a lot of people it is their only source of income. In some areas if the local fish processing plants were to close the surrounding communities would die. BTW this has and still does happen.

As for the seal hunt, I think that there is nothing wrong with it if it is done properly. Yes some people still use a gaff (club) to kill seals, but the seal dies instantly. In some cases it's better then using a gun which is now the more popular weapon.

The article on the CNN web site does mention that a lot of people think that the seals are eating the cod stocks that we are trying to desperately recover. This is very true, I've seen video of dead seals with their stomach full of cod and caplin. Caplin is the fish cod mostly eat. It is virtually impossible for the cod stocks to recover if their biggest natural predator's population is growing by the millions!

$1:
Greenpeace, which was at the forefront of the anti-seal hunt campaign, has decided not to take part this time


Do you know why this is? It's because Greenpeace is against the INHUMANE killing of animals. Now 99% of the seal hunt is conducted humanly, and Greenpeace is not in anyway against hard working people making a living.

BTW I am a Newfie


P.S. here's something you should check out Adam.
If you're so proud to be a Newfoundlander maybe you should know a little about this great province.

Link for Adam

   



Hopper @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 11:53 am

othello othello:
3. Are the methods used in killing the seals as humane as possible and are appropriate measures being taken to enforce Canadian legislation regarding the humane treatment of animals?



I agree totally........how can clubbing anything on the head be considered humane??

$1:
I've seen video of dead seals with their stomach full of cod and caplin. Caplin is the fish cod mostly eat. It is virtually impossible for the cod stocks to recover if their biggest natural predator's population is growing by the millions!



What exactly are the seals supposed to eat if not cod? They have as much right to eat them as we do - probably more. We're the world's largest predator of EVERYTHING - should we start clubbing babies around our neighborhood to keep our population down? If WE hadn't taken too much cod for decades there wouldn't be a problem now....what we are suffering from is the fact that we as people have not yet learned to take anything in MODERATION.

More fish=more money=more fishing=declining stocks=no more fish=whining fisherman that want gov't handouts.

The seals are probably smarter than us - they'll see a lack of cod and start eating something else.

   



GWN_Ronnie @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 12:14 pm

$1:
The seals are probably smarter than us - they'll see a lack of cod and start eating something else.


They ARE eating other fish. Caplin.
Caplin is one of the biggest items in the cod's diet.
Soon we will have no cod and no caplin.

$1:
how can clubbing anything on the head be considered humane??


please describe a humane way of killing an animal as you see it.
I think an instant death with little stress to the animal pretty humane.

$1:
They have as much right to eat them as we do - probably more


Funny, I don't recall saying that seals had no right to eat cod. Please don't put words in my mouth.
I was saying that it's silly to try to rebuild the cod stocks while we let thier natural predators grow in numbers by the millions.

   



Robair @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 12:25 pm

GWN_Ronnie GWN_Ronnie:
Adam it's people like you that make me wish YOU were not a Newfoundlander!!!!

Greenpeace is against the INHUMANE killing of animals. Now 99% of the seal hunt is conducted humanly, and Greenpeace is not in anyway against hard working people making a living.

BTW I am a Newfie
Link for Adam


Yup, that's what I thought. Animal rights folks have their place, don't get me wrong. But just like any other activist, they are a little too quick to jump onto bandwagons. City folk need educatin' from time to time.

   



Tweeter @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 12:50 pm

Would the fuzzy bunny huggers have such a problem with the inhumanity of the hunt if seals looked more like, say, tuna? The solution to this problem is to teach soy to scream.

   



Mukluk @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 12:55 pm

GWN_Ronnie - fantastic posts, thankyou. I thought I was the only one who thought Adam's post was wrong. I agree with you 100%.

People have hunted animals since the beginning of time. The fact that the seal hunt has been happening for longer than I have been alive AND this is the largest one in a long time (apparently), I would have to say that we are probably not overhunting these animals.

The fact that Greenpeace is not worried about it anymore tells me something also.

Bottom line: We eat meat, fish and chicken all the time. You don't think that these animals are still walking around without their "meat" on them, do you? Next time you chow into a BigMac think of how humanely the cow "passed away".

Fishing...exposing marine life to the atmosphere until it dies. Club on the head as required if you don't think suffocation is adequate. Anyone here fish (aside from the newfies, as we now know there are no fisherman in NF)?

m

   



AdamNF @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 4:36 pm

Clubing is not in any way humane,. what they use is a stick with a hook on it and they beat the thing. They show videos of it on CBC now and then and its sickning. And dont tell me i dont know anything about the history on Newfoundland, my great grandfather was the capain of a sealing ship and i have the book "The History of Newfoundland' by D.W. Prowse :wink:

And why is it a big deal that i have never met a fisherman. The Cod fishery has been closed for a decade, i like in the city and all the fisherman i guess live around the bay.

   



RoyalHighlander @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 5:37 pm

Tweeter Tweeter:
Would the fuzzy bunny huggers have such a problem with the inhumanity of the hunt if seals looked more like, say, tuna? The solution to this problem is to teach soy to scream.


ROTFLMFAO :lol:

   



RoyalHighlander @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 5:41 pm

well we could go back to foraging for roots and berries again.. wrapped in tree bark for warmth... would that make them happy????

   



Rev_Blair @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 6:25 pm

I'm not against a limited seal hunt, but I think this one is too big.

There is also little scientific evidence that seals are seriously harming the cod stocks because they also eat other predators of the cod. That evens things out.

   



karra @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 7:44 pm

Country folk need educatin' some time too yawl. Something to do with shirts and collars perhaps, I dunno.

Got to agree with those in favor of the hunt on this. These cute lil' critters certainly wouldn't garner all this here discourse if they weren't so damn cute, without urban type folk the likes of BB takin' up their lil' ol' cause.

As to the humanity of the kill, sure sounds and appears better than any other offered form of execution.

The outrage kills me when there are fanatical wankers in the middle east who would take your way of life from you and yours and dispose of you in a manner not unlike what the fisher folk are doing to a few of the overpopulated seal population - yet yawl whine and complain about this?

Perspective? Never heard of such a thing. . . .

   



karra @ Mon Apr 12, 2004 8:57 pm

$1:
Comparing seals to people? The true depth of your dimentia, or does it go deaper yet? That is one of the most fucked-up things I've ever heard. Borderline genocide talk.

Perspective? Ever heard of tolerance?


Not comparing seals to people at all - and you should know better - 'less 'der be lotsa sun in yer neck o' the woods der lad or wot eh?

Next time perhaps you'll try posting without the requisite quantity of alcohol or whatever in your stream. Genocide? That truly is ridiculous.

   



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