Anti Seal Group Proposes Boycott on Canadian Seafood...

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Just in case some of you need a visual.

For the record, that seal has a white coat. If you want to ban the above act . . . congratulations, you've succeeded!

You're not allowed to hunt seal pups.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/...seal-hunt.html

It's actually been that way since 1987

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

For the record, that seal has a white coat. If you want to ban the above act . . . congratulations, you've succeeded!

You're not allowed to hunt seal pups.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/...seal-hunt.html

It's actually been that way since 1987

That's a pretty crisp photo to be taken before 1987...

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

That's a pretty crisp photo to be taken before 1987...

You might need the settings on your monitor checked, as those seals don't look like they have white coats to me

[DAN0383]

That bastage!

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by DAN0383

That bastage!

That man defintely does not have a white coat, but it still doesn't make him fair game to wallop with a club.

[Devils'Advocate]

The incredible vast majority of the cod that has been killed, and is still being killed in Europe, is being eaten by humans. I think if we want to save the cod, we need to start hitting humans over the head with large sticks.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

The incredible vast majority of the cod that has been killed, and is still being killed in Europe, is being eaten by humans. I think if we want to save the cod, we need to start hitting humans over the head with large sticks.

If only we could actually protrol the Grand Banks with efficiency. The problem there is foreign trollies. We have strict limits on what Canadian fisherman can catch, but then you have foreign ones come over and catch all they want.

If you want to stop the "problem" of seal hunting, you have to go beyond the mere act of the hunt and get to the root of the situation.

We stop the seal hunt, what happens?
- seals start drowning on ice flows as the ice isn't thick enough to properly give birth on
- seals that do survive are eating the limited amount of cod in the ocean
- but more people are eating cod than seals (partly true due to culling of the seals via the hunt)
- we need to regulate how much cod can be caught
- we can't regulate non-Canadian fisherman
- we have to increase patrols in the North Atlantic to keep foreign fishing tollies out
- how much does it cost to get more boats, and sailors?
- aren't we having a retruitment problem for the armed forces & coast gaurd as is?

- this is all not taking the traditional sealing practices into account. That's a whole new kettle of fish!

At the end of the day, let's take a look at what we can feisably control. No hunting the white coats.

[Clarkey]

I doubt this organization really carries much clout to change Euro's buying habits.

[Devils'Advocate]

Now, I have read in several places that cod is very, very small part of the seal diet. I'd love to see some figures on how much of the yearly cod stocks are being eaten by seals vs being eaten by man.

Q's "Well, we really can't stop the fisherman from catching and killing the cod, so we might as well kill the seals" seems rather disturbing. If we're pointing to a small source of the problem and exaggerating it for political reasons, while doing nothing about the REAL source of the problem because it's out of our control would tend to suggest that this problem is quite unsolvable. And if that is the case, we should just throw up our hands and not waste resources solving an unsolvable problem.

[MJK]

A club to the head was used to kill to the seal instead of a gunshot to protect the pelt from damage.

Seal meat is pretty good but really greasy. It is a really dark meat. The Inuit use all of the seal. They eat it and use the seal pelt to make mitts. I have a kick a$$ pair of seal skin mitts that are really warm. My hands would freeze here without them.

[MJK]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

For the record, that seal has a white coat. If you want to ban the above act . . . congratulations, you've succeeded!

You're not allowed to hunt seal pups.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/...seal-hunt.html

It's actually been that way since 1987

That is an adult seal. It doesn't have a white coat. Here is what a pup looks like:

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by MJK

That is an adult seal. It doesn't have a white coat. Here is what a pup looks like:

Some men hunt for sport,
Others hunt for food,
The only thing I'm hunting for,
Is an outfit that looks good...

[Boblobla]

I am pretty sure noone give a two craps about what these hippies think and it really isn't going to change anything at all.

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

I am pretty sure noone give a two craps about what these hippies think and it really isn't going to change anything at all.

European governments do. Nothing like getting cheap bonus points and looking good banning a legitimate culling by rehashing 40 year-old photos of seal pup bashing.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

Now, I have read in several places that cod is very, very small part of the seal diet. I'd love to see some figures on how much of the yearly cod stocks are being eaten by seals vs being eaten by man.

Q's "Well, we really can't stop the fisherman from catching and killing the cod, so we might as well kill the seals" seems rather disturbing. If we're pointing to a small source of the problem and exaggerating it for political reasons, while doing nothing about the REAL source of the problem because it's out of our control would tend to suggest that this problem is quite unsolvable. And if that is the case, we should just throw up our hands and not waste resources solving an unsolvable problem.

Sorry,

My point isn't that we shouldn't be trying to solve the root of the problem. And I think it's fool hardy to think that we aren't working on the root. However, there are many complications with it.

That said, if we don't curb the seal poplulation then kiss all the cod goodbye (and you won't have the benefit of being a screeched in Newfoundlander in the process). So we have to do the unfortuante patch-stick solution in order to save the fish.

It's all the fish, or some of the seals. When it comes to the cod, O-Town sumed it up: It's all or nothing at all, there's no where left to fall, when you reach the bottom it's now or never.

[Canuck-Hater]

I also read on wikipedia that the Inuit account for 3% of the total seal hunt. So that just tells you that hunting seal is mainly for capital gain. I just dont understand why people like you and me need to eat seal. Its almost like definning sharks so rich people can eat shark fin soup.

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

That said, if we don't curb the seal poplulation then kiss all the cod goodbye (and you won't have the benefit of being a screeched in Newfoundlander in the process). So we have to do the unfortuante patch-stick solution in order to save the fish.

It's all the fish, or some of the seals. When it comes to the cod, O-Town sumed it up: It's all or nothing at all, there's no where left to fall, when you reach the bottom it's now or never.

I don't buy it. I've read that seal also eat other cod PREDATORS. Bonner (Natural History of Seals) states that it is very difficult to scientifically show the correlation between seal population and cod populations. Given that seals eat just as many cod predators as cod themselves, it might be DAMAGING to the cod stocks to have a seal hunt. But Bonner is from 1990... if someone has a more recent scientific study showing a direct link, I would love to read it.

We didn't know what we were doing with the cod stocks then and it was knee jerk reaction after knee jerk reaction and we screwed the pooch. Now, from the science I've seen, there is no scientific basis for "kill the seals to save the cod", yet it's another knee jerk reaction at best, a sneaky political lie at worst.

[valo403]

As said elsewhere this comes down to one thing, cuteness. Cute animals must be protected, do what you wish with the rest.

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by valo403

As said elsewhere this comes down to one thing, cuteness. Cute animals must be protected, do what you wish with the rest.

That's untrue for some of us.

As a vegetarian (I don't eat the ugly animals either) I am not going to say that I am outright against a seal hunt. I understand the cultural importance to the seal hunt to the Inuit and the desire for the Newfoundland people to survive and live off the sea in any way possible. As a utilitarianist, it's tough. To paraphrase Star Trek, sometimes the needs of the people outweigh the needs of the animals.

[JohnnyB]

Seal is delicious. I ate a bunch of seal last night. Cut really thin, arranged on ice and eaten with soy sauce and wasabi, those little fellas are pretty darned tasty. Wish we ate more of them in Canada.