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Sustainable
eNews |
April 2003 |
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IWMC
World Conservation Trust |
Spring 2003 has been late in coming to the
northeastern coast of North America, but the seals don't know that. Over
five million of them are on the ice of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off the
Newfoundland coast on the "Front". Harp seal pups were born the
first week in March, and now are ready for harvesting. Betes de la Mer, or
"Beaters" are the young of the year, and theirs are the only
marketable harp sealskins at this time. The market is not quite as good as
last year. Prices for the average beater pelt hover around $35 to $40
(Canadian) average, with the best grades going around $55. Some 400 boats
were off the front, where  they found the seals some 40 to 50 miles out to sea, in
rough, heavy storm seas and with heavy ice. It's a rough way to make a
living.
Inuit sales of ringed seals are bound to be affected by the harp seal
glut. Both native and Newfoundland cultures and economies are therefore
impacted by the great abundance of pelts. Although sealers were anxious to
get out to the front and take their share of the quota, this has been a
year of heavy seas, icing conditions on the boats, and danger. Not the best
conditions in which to hunt. A still less than optimal market dampens the
enthusiasm for sealing.
What are the reasons for this situation? The European market for
sealskin disappeared in 1983, with a legislative ban (in what was to become
the EU) on the products of seals under the age of one year. The ban was
accomplished by a huge marketing effort on the part of the International
Fund for Animal Welfare, whose petition drive in Europe resulted in
legislators voting in the ban to protect their jobs.
Since that time, both Inuit people and Newfoundlanders have been hard
pressed to pay their bills, feed the family, and sustain their economies.
The rest of the world is now being encouraged to buy sealskin. China and
the rest of the Far East, including Russia, are being contacted by all
manner of fur sellers, so now sealskin is competing hard with mink, beaver,
coyote, fox, and other wild furs. Farmed furs are also on the market, and
all these products are affected by the world economic system, itself
affected by everything from the threat of terrorism, to the war in Iraq,
the SARS epidemic (which keeps Chinese buyers out of Canada, for instance)
and the world's iffy or falling stock markets.
IWMC sends all our best wishes to the seal hunters of the Far North and
Newfoundland.
The best that could happen is that new and more profitable markets will
be found for sealskin, seal oil as food supplements, and meat products. [In
fact, the best of the best would be the sudden death of the infamous US
Marine Mammals Protection Act.] The international market for fur supports
conservation, and all those people who depend on renewable resources and
sound habitats. IWMC applauds the DFO for its efforts to get their seal
managers over this hump. The ecological disaster started by the IFAW must
not be allowed to run its course. Seals must be controlled through
widespread use, they must not be wasted, and the nonsense about sterilizing
them must be scrapped for the idiocy it is. The sooner a widespread harvest
of seals can be accomplished, the sooner the herds will be brought under
control, and the entire ecosystem can settle back into something
approaching a normal state. Good Luck, to Canada and to all the Inuit
people there and in Greenland. 
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