A recent proposal approved by a European Parliament subcommittee would prohibit all EU nations from importing any seal products. This would be an economic blow to Canada, which holds the world’s largest yearly commercial seal hunt, as well as Greenland, which has a heritage of seal hunting.
Members of the parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee voted 25 to 7 to endorse the bill tightening a ban on seal products within the EU’s 27-nation bloc. Nordic nations, however, are openly against the move claiming it violates global trade rules.
The EU proposal does grant a limited exemption for indigenous Inuit communities from both Canada and Greenland, allowing them to trade seal pelts, meat and oil for “cultural, educational, or ceremonial purposes” only. EU Lawmakers are standing by their belief that seal hunting is an “inherently inhumane” activity, but to become a law the bill still needs the approval of the entire EU assembly and EU governments. The soonest this could happen is April, according to the International Herald Tribune.
Canada and Greenland have both warned that they will challenge any new ban before the World Trade Organisation. They have the backing of Nordic nations Finland, Denmark and Sweden. The issue of seal hunting remains one of the most sensitive among animal rights activists.
It’s interesting to read the variety of comments regarding the subject of the killing of innocent and defenseless creatures who have done no harm in their life but to exist. It’s funny that nobody proposed beginning a “hunt of the seal hunters”; it sounds more fair; naturally this extends to the fox hunters too (no offense to have left them for last). The only problem is that their skins are of much poorer quality; the meat, however is full of protein; careful about the by products, they stink a bit.
Seals are not hunted for profit in Iceland, some seals are shot when they hunt salmon in rivers etc, but they are more or less left alone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORjOmiluonc
whales are hunted in Iceland, the only company allowed to hunt whales got a quota of some 150 fin whales and didn’t fill that quota, they still have all the meat in freezers, if you trow a rock into the sea it will bounce off a whale or a seal before landing in the sea, no place on earth takes better care of its wildlife than Iceland,
the only threat to seals and whales is Icelands possible EU entry, if we join the EU the Spanish, Portuguese,
French and British fishing fleet will be here fishing like there is no tomorrow,
this will be the end of seals, whales, fish and sea birds etc, fish is the key to life in this area, unfortunately most environmentalists are ignorant shallow minded short sighted and really not that interested when you think about it.
Now – the facts!
Seal hunting is condemned worldwide. There is no humane way to kill a seal. The vast majority of people in Europe have welcomed the ban on ALL seal products into Europe earlier this year.
The people on this blog who think that hunting a wild animal is fun obviously also hide a perverse and sadistic tendency to harm any defenceless being – and need to see a doctor and get urgent medication …. (and English spelling lessons).
I think the hypocrisy displayed by the IFAW is despicable. They haven’t hunted the “white ones” since 1987 in Canada, and 98% are killed in a humanely fashion per the Veterinary Society.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/05/05/f-seal-hunt.html
The truth will set you free, not propaganda from one side of the fence criticizing an equally biased source of propaganda on the other side. It’s INFO WARS people!
I have read several comments from men. It seems that these guys are on some kind of drug or should be. We are not God we don’t have to right to say what lives or dies. Due to man’s carelessness so many species have gone extinct. The only over population is man. This is barbaric and uncalled for. I am a Canadian and resent the fact that the government with no respect for the rest of Canada will go ahead and do this slaughter. I feel that this decision should decided with all Canada. The government doesn’t give a crap about these people if they did, then they would find other resources for their income. The government only wants more money in their pocket. Rose
Let bomb Cananda and Norway!
GOD PUT ALL THE ANIMALS AND THE NATURE FOR US TO DO WITH IT AND TO THEM ANYTHING WE WANT. WE ARE THE MASTERS OF THE CREATION. THOSE SCIENTIST SAYING THAT WE ARE FROM THE MONKEY ARE WRONG. GOD PUT ADAN AND EVA IN THE PARADISE AND THAT IS ALL.
SO YEAH, WE SHOULD JUST KEEP HUNTING SEALS AND WHALES AND DO TO NATURE ANYTHING WE WANT. WE ARE THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE AND WE ARE A PERFECT RACE OF NORWEGIANS THAT ARE AN EXAMPLE FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD IN HOW TO DO THINGS.
LETS CELEBRATE NORWAY!!!
-LETS CELEBRATE WHALING!!
-LETS CELEBRATE HUNTING SEALS!!
-LETS CELEBRATE PRODUCING AND SELLING WEAPONS TO THE WORLD!!
-LETS CELEBRATE POLUTING AIR AND SEA WITH OIL PRODUCTION!!
YEAHHHHH!!! ALL TOGETHER!!! BIG NORWEGIAN PARTY!!! JEEEEEEEE!!
I LOVE NORWAY REALLY…
@Government Subsidized Extreme Barbaric Cruelty
You are missing the point of the seal hunting.
Enjoyment!
It is more about the journey than the destination.
A grand day out, father and son male bonding.
Let the hunt continue.
P.S
Still in the uk the wealthy hunt foxes on horses with dogs(although there is a ban)
Is this cruel?
Does anybody eat the fox?
Is the fox pelt used?
I think the answer to all is no.
BUT ,still fox hunting continues.
Why?…..Because the wealthy think that they are above the law and that fox hunting is a grand day out!
All sea men hate seals because they bite the fish only to get the liver, they are also full of worms
but sweet and gentle animals, feel free to pet them and give them a hug, just be sure to sneek up to them before giving them a kiss because they are so shy.
one thing to remember for the monsters who shoot seals, divers can look alot like seals, be sure before you pull the trigger :)
*CORRECTION: THE EARTH IS FLAT..
YEAH, I A GREE CAL, ALL THAT ABOUT HUMANS DESTROYING THE NATURE, DOZENS OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS SPECIES EXTINTED EVERYDAY, THE CHEMICALS WE THROW TO THE AIR AND SEA… ALL THA IS PURE SENTIMENTAL CRAP. HAVE YOU SEEN THE AMAZONIAN FORREST? WHEN THEY GO AND CUT DOWN HUNDREDS OF SQUARE MILES OF TREES, ENDANGERING SPECIES THAT LIVE THERE? ALL THAT IS ECOLOGIST CRAP. NOTHING OF THAT IS HAPPENING.
WE JUST SHOULD HUNT AS MANY WHALES AND SEALS AS WE WANT. NO PROBLEM. THE NATURE HAS UNLIMITED RESOURCES FOREVER,
AND THE EARTH IS PLANE, IT IS NOT A GLOBE AS MANY SCIENTISTS SAY. LETS NOT LISTEN TO THEIR CRAP ANYMORE !!
LETS GO HUNTING!!!
YEAHHHHH !!
The only people who says seal hunt is not inhumane are the sealing extremists. They show no concern not to drag injured baby seals behind or skin them while they are alive or take only their skins leave its flesh to rot.
How come this would be an economic blow to Canada? Canada spends millions to subsidize this blood bath, Seal hunt never was a viable for the economy, moreover Canadian seafood boycott already cost close to $ 1 billion.
One seal pelt sold for $6-33 last year. Canadian cost guard only cost $17 million while sealers made $6 million.
And the cost of the DFO seal-hunt bureaucracy, which alone has to cost already more than the sealers earn: license issuers, accountants, typists, file clerks, inspectors, quota setters, regulation drafters, “scientists,” “statisticians,” “economic analysts,” speech writers, media relations officers, anti-boycott propagandists, writers of replies to angry letters, arrangers of tours of European journalists.
And there is the cost of lobbying in EU, refusing to watch seal slaughter videos and going to World Trade Organization for each country that bans seal products.
Seal slaughter hurts Canada.
The only people who judged seal hunting to be “inherently inhumane” are the animal rights extremists who will say anything if it serves their purpose. Sadly, they are now able to dictate policy to the EU leadership. The EU is tossing it’s friends in other countries under the bus in order to appease their domestic animal rights extremists.
Some day they are going to need those friends and they won’t be there.
seal hunting is an “inherently inhumane”
Why?
Is a seal cute?
I personally think this is no different from swatting a fly.
If the seal is not a endangered and the hunting quota controlled, i see NO PROBLEM to continue hunting.
Myself I don’t like seal meat.
But i do own two sealskin coats which keep me warm and look great!