Canadian Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield has finally broken his silence and responded to leading scientists’ criticism regarding a proposed grey seal cull with a shocking revelation: “Seals aren’t vegetarians or vegans.”
Yes, those sage words were uttered by our very own Minister of Few Words this afternoon to a Canadian Press journalist. The Minister had remained strangely silent while the furor grew over the Fisheries Resource Conservation Council’s recommendations for a massive grey seal cull (unlike his predecessor Gail “Media Whore” Shea who loved talking to the media to the point of fabricating announcements). After reading Ashfield’s quotes online today, I personally think he should have remained silent a little longer.
Yes, Minister, seals do eat fish. So do other marine predators, such as whales, sharks and dolphins. Are you suggesting we should kill those species as well, just in case they’re to blame? After all, you don’t know for sure seals are responsible for the failure of Gulf of St. Lawrence fish stocks to rebound. You just think they’re the “most likely” cause. So if the idea is to kill a massive number of seals as an experiment to see if it helps fish stocks, why not kill a massive amount of all predators in the oceans and really double your chances of success! Not scientific enough for you? It’s about as scientific as taking your science advice from a bunch of knuckle-dragging fishermen who “clean up real good” to sit in front of the Senate Committee and lie their asses off.
But I digress. Shortly after the FRCC released its report which recommended the removal of 140,000 grey seals in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence over a five year period, two of Canada’s leading marine biologists spoke out against the scheme, branding it politically motivated and scientifically irresponsible. Hal Whitehead, a professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax specializing in the study of whales said:
“Before humans started industrial fishing, there were large populations of seals and of cod. Clearly, they can coexist perfectly well. … It appears to me that politicians are playing into this largely irrational hatred of seals to make it look like they’re doing something.“
Boris Worm, a Dalhousie biology professor who studies marine biodiversity, told media former fisheries minister Gail Shea had spoken in favour of a cull in 2009, and federal scientists have since been pressured to justify that decision. He said:
“It was something that was announced before the science was heard, and then a meeting was convened to produce the science to support that decision,” he said, referring to a series of scientific workshops held last fall. To me, as a scientist, that’s not acceptable.“
On September 26, 2011 an open letter was sent to Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield, signed by six marine scientists pointing out that the proposed greal seal cull is not supported by science and could have unexpected disastrous effects on our oceans. The signees urged the Minister to meet with independent scientists to discuss the folly of approving a large-scale cull of grey seals.
Minister Ashfield’s reaction is tantamount to a slap in the face to these leading scientists. Obviously the Minister would rather take his science advice from a bunch of biased yes-men and fishermen hand-picked by the Fisheries Minister to sit on the board of the Fisheries Resource Conservation Council. No surprise there, however – Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans is notorious for making decisions based on political expediency and economics rather than conservation.
And Minister, please remind me, because I’m still confused on this point – how do you hope to pay for this cull? The cost of such a large-scale slaughter will be substantial and DFO is currently cutting its budget and slashing science programs. Oh, how silly of me, of course, the Canadian taxpayer will foot the bill for this make-work project for disgruntled sealers. Of course, the taxpayers will unwillingly hand over the cash so the sealers can happily bash and shoot in the skulls of nursing whitecoats and their mothers, and the Harper government can buy all the sealing/fishing votes for the next election. And what do the Canadian taxpayers get? Shafted. Again. Of course.
I’m no scientist, but even I know that to focus on a simplistic prey-predator model such as cod-seal is a recipe for disaster. Our marine ecosystem is a complex food web and removing a large number of one species could have catastrophic results. If I thought there was merit in killing off a large number of one species as an experiment to see if the desired results could be achieved, I would’ve called for a cull of pro-sealing politicians a long time ago!
If anyone had any illusions the Canadian government is being truthful about the commercial seal hunt, those illusions surely have been shattered this past week. I grew up knowing the commercial seal hunt was wrong, the killing was cruel and the whole disgusting business was unnecessary. My grandmother, originally from a remote island known as Rams Island (later renamed Iona before being cleared and its inhabitants moved to the mainland) in Newfoundland, disagreed with my view, and I remember bitter words being spoken on the subject. But when I actually witnessed the killing for myself for the first time in 2007 it struck me – the Canadian public has truly been betrayed by the Canadian government. The Canadian government uses our taxes to fund the killing and misleads us in regard to every single aspect of the sadistic practice, while branding people like me – who have seen the slaughter with their own eyes – liars. I have never lied about what I have witnessed in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. The Canadian government is the guilty party. Here are just a few of the many lies told by our government:
LIE #1: Baby seals aren’t killed. THE TRUTH: Oh yes, they are – even protected whitecoats and bluebacks are killed by sealers.
This seal pup is almost completely covered in white fur and was likely 14 days old when it was killed. Not even eating solid food, still very much a baby. Photo Frank Loftus/HSUS 2011
The Canadian government claims all seals killed in the commercial seal hunt are self-reliant adults. In actual fact, seals targeted during the commercial seal hunt are between the ages of 12 days and three months, with most being under one month of age. Many, like the pup in the photo here, are still almost completely covered in white fur at the time of their death. At this age they are not swimming, nor are they eating solid food. Recently weaned, they live on fat reserves built up from their mom’s milk until they’re ready to leave the ice and swim away.
In truth, a seal can legally be killed once it begins moulting its whitecoat, which usually happens at about 12 days of age. Recently weaned, unable to swim, escape or defend themselves against sealers, they are as helpless as babies and certainly are NOT the self-reliant adults DFO would like you to believe are the target of the commercial seal hunt.
The Canadian government is quick to point out that since 1982 it has been illegal to kill whitecoats (harp pups younger than 12 days) and bluebacks (hooded seal pups younger than 14 months). This ban came into effect following an EU-wide ban on whitecoat seal products which caused the sealing industry to collapse. The Canadian government has been silent on reports coming from observers that sealers were documented killing protected bluebacks.
LIE #2 – The commercial seal hunt is humane. THE TRUTH – Every year observers compile hours of videotaped evidence sealers routinely violate woefully inadequate Regulations and inflict horrific cruelty on seal pups.
Conscious seal pups are stabbed through the eye socket and jaw with metal hooks and hauled onto boats - this is NOT illegal and is documented each year. Photo: Frank Loftus/HSUS 2011
I observed the commercial seal hunt from 2007 – 2010 and the horrors I witnessed will stay with me forever. I was unable to travel to Newfoundland this year but have been following closely reports from Humane Society International/Canada and IFAW observers. The reports have been grisly, to put it mildly. Just a few instances:
Sealers failing to perform 3-step process, slicing open seal pups still alive and possibly conscious;
Seal pups showing conscious reaction to pain – voluntary movement – after being sliced open and hurled into the bottom of sealing boat;
Seal pups being shot in the face, neck and back, suffering on the ice for long periods of time before boats reach them to finish them off;
Seal pups being shot on the ice and just left to die – sealers not even retrieving them from the ice – killing for sport;
This video, by International Fund for Animal Welfare, shows a seal pup sliced open and thrown into a boat, waving and clenching a front flipper in pain as it bleeds to death slowly in the bottom of the boat with other seal carcasses.
The bottom line is the commercial seal hunt cannot be conducted humanely. Several factors prevent the annual kill from ever being humane. The speed at which it is conducted (this year, in just one week 20,000 seals were killed by approximately 39 boats); extreme weather conditions; geographical location and inability of DFO Enforcement to monitor the killing to make sure killing is as humane as possible are just a few examples. It is simply impossible for seals to be killed humanely during the annual seal kill and that’s one compelling reason the killing must be stopped.
LIE #3 - The commercial seal hunt is tightly regulated. THE TRUTH – Regulations are inadequate to properly address animal welfare concerns and are not enforced by DFO.
The Marine Mammal Regulations which govern the killing of seals in the commercial seal hunt are woefully inadequate to properly address animal welfare concerns. For instance, the Regulations allow live and conscious seals to be hooked through the eye socket or jaw and dragged across the ice and into boats. The Regulations allow pups to be shot and left, wounded and suffering, on the ice for extended periods of time before being killed by sealers. Even the much-heralded 3-step process does not satisfy international veterinarian standards for humane slaughter. The 3-step process, introduced by the Canadian government in 2008 as a cynical ploy to stave off a threatened EU-wide seal trade ban, is not even incorporated into the Marine Mammal Regulations; it is simply a licence condition.
In my years observing the seal hunt I saw many violations of the Marine Mammal Regulations. From what I have been reading and seeing of this year’s slaughter, this could very well be the worst in terms of numbers of violations. According to observers, sealers are routinely violating the Regulations and licence conditions – failing to perform the 3-step process, cutting into live and possibly conscious pups, using what appear to be illegal killing implements, killing protected hooded blueback pups, killing for sport, not landing the carcass or the pelt…the list goes on and on. And throughout this brutal bloodbath, where is DFO enforcement? That leads me to the next lie.
LIE #4 – The commercial seal hunt is closely monitored and enforced. THE TRUTH – DFO does not monitor or enforce the killing of seals during the commercial seal hunt in Nova Scotia or Newfoundland.
Pups are routinely wounded with bullets and left suffering on the ice, waiting helplessly for sealers to come and beat them to death. Photo Frank Loftus/HSUS 2011
Observers at this year’s commercial seal hunt are reporting a distinct lack of DFO Enforcement presence in the killing zones. While observers videotaped sealers committing Reg violations for hours, DFO was nowhere in sight. This is nothing new. During my years of observation, DFO was never around to document the killing. Even when Coast Guard boats were in the vicinity, the sealers did what they liked with little or no regard for Regulations or even rudimentary animal welfare, while DFO looked the other way. Each year observers submit hours of unedited footage to DFO showing clear violations of Marine Mammal Regulations. Very few charges are ever laid by DFO as a result of this evidence given to them.
In various conversations I’ve had with DFO regarding the commercial killing of grey seals on islands in Nova Scotia, DFO has confirmed there is no constant monitoring of sealers as they kill seals. In 2007 I was told by a DFO official, “We don’t stand there looking over their shoulder as they’re working” and in 2010 it was confirmed DFO visits periodically just to check up on things. I’ve been advised by someone familiar with Nova Scotia sealers that the periodic DFO visits have more to do with bringing coffee for the sealers than actually monitoring the killing.
On Hay Island, a nature reserve in Nova Scotia, grey seal pups are herded together and beaten or shot to death mere inches from each other Photo R. Aldworth/HSI 2011
The truth is, even if DFO had the will to actually monitor the killing and enforce the Regulations, it is physically impossible to do so. Even in the smaller Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, DFO has never been able to control the sealing boats and for years sealers killed above and beyond the Total Allowable Catch. DFO admitted to reporters a few years ago it was very difficult to control the boats there. If DFO staff cannot control boats in the relatively small Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, how can they possibly claim to be able to control boats in the much larger Northern Gulf or The Front? In previous years, hundreds of boats participated in the commercial seal hunt. In recent years that number has dwindled to a few dozen, but those boats are operating in an area the size of France. DFO has a small number of vessels and limited staff – there is no physical way they can monitor the killing or enforce the law. And yet each year they lie and claim that is precisely what they are doing!
As the reports come in daily and the videos and photographs are shared via YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, the Canadian government has fallen strangely silent. Neither Fisheries Minister Gail Shea nor Prime Minister Stephen Harper have cared to comment publicly about their many falsehoods being exposed. Of course they don’t care to comment, since they believe they don’t have to answer to Canadians, the majority of whom, polling consistently shows, oppose the annual slaughter and object to their taxes being used to fund it. This is why more than ever, Canadians need to make the seal hunt a voting issue.
Coming tomorrow - Lies My Government Told Me (Part 2) dealing with more porky pies told by our government, including such chestnuts as ‘Full utilization of the animal’, ‘Sealing provides much-needed income to coastal communities’ and ‘Sealing is a time-honoured tradition.” What a load of crap…
This video, narrated by Sheryl Fink of International Fund for Animal Welfare, was shot during the first day of the commercial seal hunt off the coast of Newfoundland and shows the cruelty inherent in the annual slaughter. On the video are violations of Marine Mammal Regulations, but even more troubling are the acts of brutality to seal pups which are perfectly legal and acceptable under the Marine Mammal Regulations.
The Canadian government claims the commercial seal hunt is “tightly regulated” and “closely monitored.” Each year, however, hours of video footage is compiled by lawful observers which prove those claims are false.
The seal hunt is regulated in the sense there exists a set of Marine Mammal Regulations to which sealers are supposed to adhere. However, the Regulations are woefully inadequate and do not ensure acceptable animal welfare standards are met. Even the much-heralded “3-step process” does not meet international veterinarian standards for humane slaughter. Let me put it this way — it is perfectly legal under the Marine Mammal Regulations for sealers to impale conscious seal pups through the face or other body part with large metal hooks and drag them across the ice, before throwing them onto a boat and finishing them off with a club. Does that sound humane to you? It is not.
The government’s other claim — the commercial seal hunt is “closely monitored” — is also BOGUS. I guess it all depends on their definition of “monitored.” IFAW reported that during the first day of the killing spree, DFO Enforcement was nowhere in sight. Sealers were routinely violating the Marine Mammal Regulations and DFO was not present to monitor or enforce those Regulations.
This is nothing new. Each and every year sealers violate Marine Mammal Regulations and inflict unimaginable agony on defenceless seal pups, while DFO Enforcement looks the other way. Oftentimes, DFO is too busy keeping an eye on lawful licenced observers to actually do their job and monitor the killing.
I urge everyone to contact Canada’s Minister of Fisheries Gail Shea and ask her how she can possibly continue to insist the commercial seal hunt is humane and it clearly isn’t. Tell her the evidence is irrefutable. Tell her we are tired of the Canadian government misinforming the public as to the true nature of the cruel commercial seal hunt. Tell her it must end now. Her contact info is as follows:
Frank Pinhorn & Betty Fitzgerald – Honestly Deluded or Wilfully Spreading Misinformation? March 28, 2012