The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) welcomed the EU decision. The ban represents a welcome victory in the IFAW’s forty year campaign to end the hunt.
Canadian officials are in Brussels this week to ask the European Union not to pass proposed legislation that would ban the import of seal products.
The trip was organized by the Canadian federal Fisheries and Oceans Department. According to the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), the delegates are hoping to sway members of European parliament to vote against the ban.
According to CNN, the European Union has proposed a ban on importing seal products from countries that kill seals using inhumane methods. Seal products can include their pelts, meat, and oils. While still requiring approval from EU nations, the proposed ban would impose the biggest economic blow and reprimand on Canada, whose citizens sometimes use spiked clubs and guns to kill seals.
This proposed ban is no small deal. Even International Rock God Paul McCartney has publicly stated he is an advocate of the ban, and that Canada’s seal hunt is a “stain” on Canada. He made these remarks several weeks prior to playing at a concert in Canada that took places several days ago. As CNN reports: “Canada’s east coast seal hunt is the largest of its kind in the world, with an average annual kill of about 300,000 harp seals. The Canadian slaughter of some 335,000 seals in 2006 brought in around $25 million (15.7 million euros).”
In my first exploration of the issue of by-catch in commercial fishing, I looked at the devastating effects of fishing not simply for the "target" species, but on those animals who are unlucky enough to be caught in the lines, traps, hooks, and nets not meant for them. In this second part, I further explore this issue and take a look at how the dolphins, sea turtles, and seals - animals for whom
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