Editorial: Seal Fishery Project
by Kurtis Coombs, Newfoundland

My name is Kurtis Coombs I am a 14-year old grade 9 student. I live in St. John', Newfoundland, the capital city of the seal hunt. I am doing a project on the Seal Fishery and I was very glad to see an article in The Telegram today that your organization is in support of this fishery and eager to take action against these activists.

I have been interviewing various government members regarding this fishery and was hoping to get something in writing from you in regards to this issue. After all the researching I have done, I have looked at the activists' view, the federal and provincial governments' view, and the sealers' view of this fishery. It seems to me that the activists ignore the facts totally.

Year after year the hunt is changed and progresses to be as humane as possible but the activists are still singing the same old song from when they first started in the seventies. I believe the resolution to this controversy is for both our governments to work together with the sealers and come up with campaigns to counter act the activists' claims and educate people to the real facts. Seeing this article today makes me optimistic that maybe someone else on the outside of this issue could help get the government and the sealers together and make an unbeatable army to fight the sealing war.

Our fishermen no longer have the cod fishery to live on, so the sealing fishery is more important to them now then it ever has been in history. I hope you and your organization can help Newfoundland and Labrador turn this hunt into a fully viable commercial industry as it should be. 

Thank you for your time and good luck, Kurtis Coombs