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rfmcdonaldIs the seal hunt in Atlantic Canada nearing an end? I've followed the evolution of the hunt here at A Bit More Detail for years, and the trajectory has--thankfully--been ever downward. Last year's hunt was the worst season ever thanks to collapsing demand following European Union import bans, and the search for alternative markets--China, Russia, anywhere--has been to no avail.
In Nova Scotia, the Cape Breton Post was skeptical of the prospects for a local hunt this year. The situation of the seal hunt is almost as dire in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the provincial government has begun talking about stockpiling seal pelts or directly subsidizing seal hunters to keep it all afloat. One MP has even speculated that it may in the province's best interests, economic and otherwise, to desist. He's gotten a lot of hostile reaction, to be sure, from the usual suspects.
By way of comparison, the GDP of Newfoundland and Labrador last year was roughly 28 200 million dollars. Seal hunting just isn't that economically renumerative, and many have pointed out that it also imposes significant economic costs on Newfoundland and Labrador, the cost of mobilizing coast guards in the case of emergencies, say, or the cost of tourist campaigns directed towards markets where Newfoundland's very name is associated with a bloody hunt.
One prominent sealer has blamed the federal government for not doing more to change things.
The sustained failure of the Canadian government to overturn American, European, and now Russian government policies on seal products is diagnostic. The past decades have not seen a weakening of environmentalism, or declining interest in animal rights, quite the contrary.
Unless China, say, becomes a major market for seal products, resisting trends in other potential world markets, the seal hunt won't be economically viable. It will always dependent on extensive subsidies in a time of government austerity.
None of this lend itself to hopefulness for the seal hunt.
In any case, the very material basis for the seal hunt is falling apart inside Newfoundland. Rural Newfoundland, the Newfoundland of scattered small outports dependent on fishing and sealing that Pinhorn represents, is dying, its economic underpinnings wrecked by the collapse of the cod fisheries and its population fleeing, the working-age young leaving for more renumerative jobs elsewhere in Newfoundland or Canada generally. It may not be a coincidence that Cleary, the MP who talked about ending the seal hunt, represents the riding of St. John's South-Mount Pearl that is one of the province's urban ridings, including the southern half of the provincial capital of St. John's and the province's second-largest city of Mount Pearl. Cleary's opinions may be unpopular now, but a glance at article comments suggests that they have an audience. As Newfoundland continues to urbanize and move away from its traditional industries, this audience is only going to grow.
In Nova Scotia, the Cape Breton Post was skeptical of the prospects for a local hunt this year. The situation of the seal hunt is almost as dire in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the provincial government has begun talking about stockpiling seal pelts or directly subsidizing seal hunters to keep it all afloat. One MP has even speculated that it may in the province's best interests, economic and otherwise, to desist. He's gotten a lot of hostile reaction, to be sure, from the usual suspects.
St. John's South-Mount Pearl MP Ryan Cleary is facing criticism over comments he made this week questioning the future of the seal hunt.
In an interview with CBC's Fisheries Broadcast, Cleary spoke about the viability of the hunt.
"We know that the world appetite is not there for seal meat, but the world appetite for seal products — I don't know if it's there," Cleary said. "And you know what? I may be shot for talking about this, and for saying this, but it's a question we all have to ask."
A troika of federal Conservative cabinet ministers issued a joint statement Tuesday clubbing the rookie NDP MP for his remarks.
"For someone who ran supposedly to represent the interests of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, MP Ryan Cleary's comments seem to show that he's giving up on supporting local sealers," said the statement by Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Peter Penashue, and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, who represents Nunavut.
"Unlike the whaling industry, there is no conservation reason to end the hunt. Though the industry continues to battle misinformation put forth by animal rights activists who try to close market access, our government sees no commercial reason to end the hunt."
[. . .]
Dion Dakins of NuTan Furs in Catalina says the industry is already waging an external battle, and doesn't need to be sidetracked by internal doubt.
"I certainly don't think that it's the most helpful in this debate to have that question posed by someone who's supposedly the 'Fighting Newfoundlander.' That doesn't sound much like the fighting Newfoundlander that certainly we think we need in this battle. We're in a 40-year war on this seal issue."
The seal hunt was worth about $1 million last year. Dakins says he'd like to hear Cleary voice stronger support for the seal fishery, rather than talk reflectively about it.
By way of comparison, the GDP of Newfoundland and Labrador last year was roughly 28 200 million dollars. Seal hunting just isn't that economically renumerative, and many have pointed out that it also imposes significant economic costs on Newfoundland and Labrador, the cost of mobilizing coast guards in the case of emergencies, say, or the cost of tourist campaigns directed towards markets where Newfoundland's very name is associated with a bloody hunt.
One prominent sealer has blamed the federal government for not doing more to change things.
The executive director of the Canadian Sealers Association (CSA) says the end of the seal hunt would be an economic disaster for rural Newfoundland.
He was reacting to comments made by St. John’s MP Ryan Cleary, who told CBC News it’s time to decide if the provincial seal hunt should end.
“We know that the world appetite is not there for seal meat, but the world appetite for seal products, I don’t know if it’s there,” said Cleary. “And you know what? I may be shot for talking about this, and for saying this, but it’s a question we all have to ask.”
Cleary said the province receives a lot of negative publicity for the seal hunt, and the $1 million in annual revenue it generates might not be worth it.
But Pinhorn — saying the New Democrat MP for St. John’s South-Mount Pearl “doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about” — said the reason the hunt is worth just $1 million a year is because the federal government isn’t doing enough to promote the industry or fight product bans in European markets.
“The CSA has always maintained that the federal government’s attitude and efforts on sealing is extremely weak, and that’s why it’s only worth a million dollars,” he said. “The prices are low, and the Americans ran over the federal government in ’72 (when they brought in the Marine Mammal Protection Act), for no apparent reason. Then the Europeans walked all over Canada three years ago when they were over there dealing with the free trade agreement and they put seals on the back burner. And then they banned the importation of seals in Europe, and now the Russian federation is doing the same thing, so everybody internationally is walking over the federal government, and that is why there’s no market for seals.”
The sustained failure of the Canadian government to overturn American, European, and now Russian government policies on seal products is diagnostic. The past decades have not seen a weakening of environmentalism, or declining interest in animal rights, quite the contrary.
Unless China, say, becomes a major market for seal products, resisting trends in other potential world markets, the seal hunt won't be economically viable. It will always dependent on extensive subsidies in a time of government austerity.
None of this lend itself to hopefulness for the seal hunt.
In any case, the very material basis for the seal hunt is falling apart inside Newfoundland. Rural Newfoundland, the Newfoundland of scattered small outports dependent on fishing and sealing that Pinhorn represents, is dying, its economic underpinnings wrecked by the collapse of the cod fisheries and its population fleeing, the working-age young leaving for more renumerative jobs elsewhere in Newfoundland or Canada generally. It may not be a coincidence that Cleary, the MP who talked about ending the seal hunt, represents the riding of St. John's South-Mount Pearl that is one of the province's urban ridings, including the southern half of the provincial capital of St. John's and the province's second-largest city of Mount Pearl. Cleary's opinions may be unpopular now, but a glance at article comments suggests that they have an audience. As Newfoundland continues to urbanize and move away from its traditional industries, this audience is only going to grow.
