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Sustainable
eNews |
February
2003 |
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IWMC
World Conservation Trust |
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Canada fights to
undo the Sea(L) Disaster
by Janice Henke,
Anthropologist
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The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans has
recently announced that the harp seal population in Canada's waters has
grown to something over 5 million animals in the last thirty years. Seals
eat nothing but fish. They don't discriminate - any fish that will fit down
the throat is fair game. Therefore, harp seals eat both the small species
and the young of large species, so the prey list includes herring,
mackerel, capelin, cod, turbot, and anything else, throat-size, that may
swim by.
 Back in the late 70s, early 80s, the International
Fund for Animal Welfare, using trumped up and false claims of
"cruelty" to harp seals, persuaded the legislators of the
European Union to ban the import of the products of any seals under the age
of one year. Consequently, the market for all seal products crashed. Not
only Inuit subsistence hunters, but Quebecois in the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
and Newfoundlanders, all suffered from the immediate impact of this loss of
market. At the time, the harp seal population was 1.8 million and slowly
growing. The harvest was not only certified by veterinarians to be humane,
but was proven sustainable from a population dynamics perspective.
Scientific data did not matter to European politicians, who feared for
their political security due to the immense public outcry stimulated by
IFAW and secondarily, Greenpeace.
| The
intervention of these NGOs in the political ecology of the region changed
the entire western Atlantic marine environment. It has resulted in cruel
conditions for seals, fish, sea birds, whales, and human beings. |
The years since the ban has seen temporary
resurgences of market value for harp and ringed seal products, and this
includes the use of seal fat rendered into oil for human consumption as an
important dietary supplement. Some Norwegian distributors have bought seal
pelts and have also found markets for the Omega 3-rich oil. The US and
mainland Europe, however, remain out of this market sphere.
The crisis in the Canadian cod fishery may
be due to a number of factors. One is that increased melting of Greenland's
ice cap is causing a sea temperature change that affects fish spawning
success, and may increase fry mortality. Another factor is the oil
exploration off the Grand Banks, which used seismic waves caused by
dynamite blasting. This increased turbidity and certainly, impacted the
spawning cod, which have been observed to have lost a few year classes
since that time. Over-fishing by other nations, with or without Canadian
government permission and oversight, has undoubtedly made a difference. And
of course, the seals have eaten their increasing share of all fish
resources.
| The
fact of a drastically reduced seal harvest has taken a huge toll on the
fish. |
IFAW and others want to blame Canada's
foreign policy towards other fishing nations for the loss of a viable cod
population. They say that Canada is unfairly blaming the seals. At this
time, the fact remains that there are over 5 million harp seals in Canada's
waters, the market for products is steadily growing, and the DFO has made
the wise decision to let the fishermen take up to 350,000 animals per year
for the next three years. Of course, this harvest will not be sustainable.
Of course, the seal herd will be decreased, with good fortune, to more
ecologically harmonious levels. Intraspecies (seal to seal) strife and
wounding will be decreased if this harvest can be accomplished at these
levels for the next few years. Seals are now so overcrowded that they are
hurting each other as they gather for the annual mating season. Young males
are bullied and bitten and scratched by the older bulls. The fact that
females may experience delayed sexual maturity under these crowding
conditions is not enough to control this ravenous herd. They all need to
eat, and there is not enough food. Pup mortality will increase, but it will
not be sufficient to do the necessary job of herd depletion.
| IFAW has caused this seal
disaster, and the organization is still claiming untruths about past
harvests and the impending seal harvest. |
As always, fisheries officers will be
actively enforcing the Seal Protection Regulations. Despite protests and
problems, Canada will once again harvest seals, and attempt to bring the
environment back into balance.
IWMC wishes the Canadian people, the
seals, and their marine environment, well. After the current crop of
whitecoats has shed off to the bête-de-la-mer stage, or
"beaters", the hunt will begin. Sealers will take both older and
newly matured seals, and continue the traditional cycle of processing and
selling their bounty. Their government will stand by them in these hard
times, and with fishermen, officers, and trade officials working together,
things will get better.
Good luck, Canada.
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