AR-News: (CA) Anti-seal-hunt ad sparks angry retort

[Barry Kent MacKay]

      Anti-seal-hunt ad sparks angry retort
     

      By BRIAN LAGHI
      From Saturday's Globe and Mail
      April 10, 2004
      



      Ottawa - A full-page ad in The New York Times blasting Canada's seal
hunt provoked an angry response yesterday from the federal Minister of
Natural resources, who accused protest groups of furnishing false
information and trying to harm the welfare of Newfoundlanders.

      An irritated John Efford said the advertisement is wrong to suggest
that the hunt allows the killing of "baby seals."

      "It's not misleading, it's absolutely wrong," said Mr. Efford, a
former fisherman from Newfoundland. "It can't be any more wrong to say we're
killing baby seals when we're not."

      Under the heading "O Canada. How Could you ... Again?" the ad says
Canada "still permits the clubbing of baby seals." It also suggests that
those who wish to stop the hunt contact Prime Minister Paul Martin. The ad
is sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States on behalf of a
number of other groups, including the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

      In a telephone interview from his Newfoundland home, Mr. Efford said
that the seals that will be taken were born several weeks ago and that this
year's hunt has not yet begun.

      Bending under pressure from protest groups 25 years ago, the Canadian
government banned the killing of harp seal pups, known as whitecoats.
Hunters must now wait until at least 12 days after birth, when the seal pups
begin shedding their white coats and around the time they are weaned and
left to feed and fend for themselves. Generally speaking, the seals are
killed after about 25 days, allowing the animals to grow a more uniform
grey-coloured coat.

      Mr. Efford said there are about eight million harp seals off the coast
of Newfoundland, causing havoc with Canadian stocks of herring, mackerel,
turbot and other fish.

      "Canadians cannot take one fish out of the ocean, yet we have eight
million seals."

      Mr. Efford added that the seal hunt affects the economy of
Newfoundland, Eastern Quebec and the Maritime provinces, all of which rely
on the fishery.

      A spokesman for Mr. Martin noted yesterday that environmental groups
have begun shying away from protesting against the hunt.

      "They realize that with so many seals, it's kind of hard to say this
is something that has to stop," Mario Lague said.

      He agreed that the images may be difficult for some, but "if you go in
a slaughter house, it's not necessarily more pleasant. But the bottom line
is this is an industry that is environmentally responsible."

      The protests come just as the seal hunt has begun to thrive again.

      Prices for the pelts began to rise in the mid-1990s and reached record
levels in the past two years, generating more than $20-million in 2002.

      With a report from Rhéal Séguin in Quebec City
     


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Barry Kent MacKay
Canadian Representative
ANIMAL PROTECTION INSTITUTE
www.api4animals.org