seals need you.
everyone this week on Tuesday is the start of the Canadian seal slaughter.
please read below.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/joyspence/ifaw.jpg
CANADIAN HARP AND HOOD SEAL SLAUGHTER
Harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus)
Nursing period lasts 12 days. Between birth and 12 days old, the young are known as “whitecoats”. When they begin to moult their lanugo (baby fur), they are known as “ragged jackets” for a week or so until they have a silvery-grey coat when they are known as “beaters” (named after the clumsy way they beat the water when learning to swim).
Hooded Seals (Cystophora cristata)
Nursing period lasts only 4 days! This is the shortest in all pinnipeds. They lose their lanugo before birth, so have a white and blue-grey coat (known as “bluebacks”) until they are 14 months old.
Facts of the seal hunt:
Canada’s hunt occurs in the Gulf of St Lawrence and off the coast of Labrador. Russia has a hunt (37,500 pups) in the White Sea and Greenland (Denmark) off their coast.
· In 1537 there were 24 million harp seals. 1.8M in early 1970’s. They claim that the population is now 5.2M but this is extrapolation from 1999’s population survey. There may be much less than this so killing 1 million over 3 years may cause a decrease in population size (especially with a decreasing food supply).
· It is cruel. Sealers kill with clubs (Canadians), hakapiks (Norwegians) or guns (mainly for older seals; use is more common these days).
· 96.6% of 286,238 harp seals killed during the 2002-2003 hunt were between 12 days and 12 weeks old (still babies!).
· Up to 42% of the seals may be skinned alive
· Seals are a scapegoat for overfishing of Atlantic cod: calculations that seals eat too many fish based on too many assumptions. A decrease in seals does not necessarily mean an increase in fish for humans!! Only 3% of harp seals’ diet is cod, and the other 97% comprise of cod predators. So less seals = more cod predators = less cod! Cod numbers are <1% than they once were.
· It is unnecessary. Profits from the hunt (apart from government subsidies to the sealers) come mostly from fur but some from penises for Asian medicines.
· Sealers authorised to kill 975,000 baby and adult harps and 30,000 adult hoods over 3 years (2003-2005). In 2002 the quota was 275, 000 but sealers killed 312,000!
History (focussed on Harps, Hoods were by-catch)·
Hunt went from subsistence to commercial when cod fishermen started netting seals in the 16th century and exported products, especially oil.
· By second quarter of 19th century, 300 boats took >500,000 yearly
· Depression between world wars and overproduction of whale oil meant the seal oil market decreased.
· After WWII when food supply was low, sealing increased. Newfoundland industry was undertaken by Norwegians with diesel powered boats.
· Carcasses were usually left behind, apart from the flippers, which is Newfoundland were a delicacy (flipper pie).
· Norwegians developed better handling and storage methods for furs, so the fur market was developed.
· In the 1950’s investigations of population numbers began. Numbers decreased by 50-60% from 1950-70. So the hunting season was shortened and killing of adults in whelping areas prohibited.
· 1950-1959: 312,000 killed per year on average (highest 430,000 in 1951)
· 1960-69: 284,000 per year on average
· 1965 Seal Protection Regulations: controls on killing methods, licensing of boats, aircraft and sealers. Canadian sealers issued a quota of 50,000 in the Gulf. Landsmen from Newfoundland, Magdalen Is etc not regulated.
· 1971: Special Advisory Committee on Seals and Sealing recommended that the seal hunt be phased out by 1974 followed by a 6-year moratorium. It never happened. Instead the ICNAF (International Commission on NW Atlantic Fisheries) introduce higher than before quotas.
· 1975: Canadian government scientists recommend sealing halt for >10 years, it never happened.
· 1985: 3 major scientific studies, none could conclude the harp seal population was increasing; in fact it appeared more likely to be decreasing.
· 1985: Canadian government-appointed “Royal Commission on Seals and Sealing Industry” recommend that commercial pup hunt should not be permitted.
· 1987: commercial pup hunt ended, no large vessels allowed offshore, $5M compensation for sealers(!) But landsmen still allowed to kill pups from 12 days old.
Protest Campaigns
1965 IFAW formed by Brian Davies
· Got a small tourism industry going as alternative employment and profit
· Instrumental in getting importation of whitecoat and blueback furs into Europe banned (1983).
1977 Sea Shepherd formed by Captain Paul Watson
· Direct action volunteer organization that stands in front of sealing ships, seals themselves basically doing anything they can to prevent sealers from killing.
· 1979: Sprayed over a thousand pups with organic red dye to render the furs worthless to the sealers, the crew is arrested, charged and jailed.
· 1981: Sprayed blue dye over hundreds of pups
· 1994: Introduces the Seal-Brushing Project as an alternative to sealing
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE HARP & HOODED SEALS
· Sign the petition (email joy_spence@hotmail.com to get a copy of it that you can print out)
· Tell everyone you know about the issue
· Write letters to editors, Canadian embassies in your country, PM of Canada, Fisheries Minister and other MPs (also email me for a copy of a letter/email template and addresses to send it to).
·hold an education stall in your town and get people to sign the petion and protest the slaughter.
REFERENCES
Carey, P. W. 1992. Fish prey species of the New Zealand fur seal. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 16 (1): 41-46.
Lister-Kaye, John. 1979. Seal Cull: the grey seal controversy
Lavigne, David M. & Kovacs, Kit M. 1988. Harps and Hoods
Bonner, Nigel. 1994. Seals and sea lions of the world. Chapter 9: Seals and Hunters, Chapter 10: Seals and Fisheries.
HYPERLINK "http://www.seashepherd.org";
www.harpseals.org, www.ifaw.org
HYPERLINK "http://www.hsus.org"; www.hsus.org
thank you any additional info can be sent to you from joy_spence@hotmail.com
please read below.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/joyspence/ifaw.jpg
CANADIAN HARP AND HOOD SEAL SLAUGHTER
Harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus)
Nursing period lasts 12 days. Between birth and 12 days old, the young are known as “whitecoats”. When they begin to moult their lanugo (baby fur), they are known as “ragged jackets” for a week or so until they have a silvery-grey coat when they are known as “beaters” (named after the clumsy way they beat the water when learning to swim).
Hooded Seals (Cystophora cristata)
Nursing period lasts only 4 days! This is the shortest in all pinnipeds. They lose their lanugo before birth, so have a white and blue-grey coat (known as “bluebacks”) until they are 14 months old.
Facts of the seal hunt:
Canada’s hunt occurs in the Gulf of St Lawrence and off the coast of Labrador. Russia has a hunt (37,500 pups) in the White Sea and Greenland (Denmark) off their coast.
· In 1537 there were 24 million harp seals. 1.8M in early 1970’s. They claim that the population is now 5.2M but this is extrapolation from 1999’s population survey. There may be much less than this so killing 1 million over 3 years may cause a decrease in population size (especially with a decreasing food supply).
· It is cruel. Sealers kill with clubs (Canadians), hakapiks (Norwegians) or guns (mainly for older seals; use is more common these days).
· 96.6% of 286,238 harp seals killed during the 2002-2003 hunt were between 12 days and 12 weeks old (still babies!).
· Up to 42% of the seals may be skinned alive
· Seals are a scapegoat for overfishing of Atlantic cod: calculations that seals eat too many fish based on too many assumptions. A decrease in seals does not necessarily mean an increase in fish for humans!! Only 3% of harp seals’ diet is cod, and the other 97% comprise of cod predators. So less seals = more cod predators = less cod! Cod numbers are <1% than they once were.
· It is unnecessary. Profits from the hunt (apart from government subsidies to the sealers) come mostly from fur but some from penises for Asian medicines.
· Sealers authorised to kill 975,000 baby and adult harps and 30,000 adult hoods over 3 years (2003-2005). In 2002 the quota was 275, 000 but sealers killed 312,000!
History (focussed on Harps, Hoods were by-catch)·
Hunt went from subsistence to commercial when cod fishermen started netting seals in the 16th century and exported products, especially oil.
· By second quarter of 19th century, 300 boats took >500,000 yearly
· Depression between world wars and overproduction of whale oil meant the seal oil market decreased.
· After WWII when food supply was low, sealing increased. Newfoundland industry was undertaken by Norwegians with diesel powered boats.
· Carcasses were usually left behind, apart from the flippers, which is Newfoundland were a delicacy (flipper pie).
· Norwegians developed better handling and storage methods for furs, so the fur market was developed.
· In the 1950’s investigations of population numbers began. Numbers decreased by 50-60% from 1950-70. So the hunting season was shortened and killing of adults in whelping areas prohibited.
· 1950-1959: 312,000 killed per year on average (highest 430,000 in 1951)
· 1960-69: 284,000 per year on average
· 1965 Seal Protection Regulations: controls on killing methods, licensing of boats, aircraft and sealers. Canadian sealers issued a quota of 50,000 in the Gulf. Landsmen from Newfoundland, Magdalen Is etc not regulated.
· 1971: Special Advisory Committee on Seals and Sealing recommended that the seal hunt be phased out by 1974 followed by a 6-year moratorium. It never happened. Instead the ICNAF (International Commission on NW Atlantic Fisheries) introduce higher than before quotas.
· 1975: Canadian government scientists recommend sealing halt for >10 years, it never happened.
· 1985: 3 major scientific studies, none could conclude the harp seal population was increasing; in fact it appeared more likely to be decreasing.
· 1985: Canadian government-appointed “Royal Commission on Seals and Sealing Industry” recommend that commercial pup hunt should not be permitted.
· 1987: commercial pup hunt ended, no large vessels allowed offshore, $5M compensation for sealers(!) But landsmen still allowed to kill pups from 12 days old.
Protest Campaigns
1965 IFAW formed by Brian Davies
· Got a small tourism industry going as alternative employment and profit
· Instrumental in getting importation of whitecoat and blueback furs into Europe banned (1983).
1977 Sea Shepherd formed by Captain Paul Watson
· Direct action volunteer organization that stands in front of sealing ships, seals themselves basically doing anything they can to prevent sealers from killing.
· 1979: Sprayed over a thousand pups with organic red dye to render the furs worthless to the sealers, the crew is arrested, charged and jailed.
· 1981: Sprayed blue dye over hundreds of pups
· 1994: Introduces the Seal-Brushing Project as an alternative to sealing
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE HARP & HOODED SEALS
· Sign the petition (email joy_spence@hotmail.com to get a copy of it that you can print out)
· Tell everyone you know about the issue
· Write letters to editors, Canadian embassies in your country, PM of Canada, Fisheries Minister and other MPs (also email me for a copy of a letter/email template and addresses to send it to).
·hold an education stall in your town and get people to sign the petion and protest the slaughter.
REFERENCES
Carey, P. W. 1992. Fish prey species of the New Zealand fur seal. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 16 (1): 41-46.
Lister-Kaye, John. 1979. Seal Cull: the grey seal controversy
Lavigne, David M. & Kovacs, Kit M. 1988. Harps and Hoods
Bonner, Nigel. 1994. Seals and sea lions of the world. Chapter 9: Seals and Hunters, Chapter 10: Seals and Fisheries.
HYPERLINK "http://www.seashepherd.org";
www.harpseals.org, www.ifaw.org
HYPERLINK "http://www.hsus.org"; www.hsus.org
thank you any additional info can be sent to you from joy_spence@hotmail.com