Seal hunt in Canada
The seal hunt in Canada is the world's largest hunting action against the harp seal .
history
1970s
Until 1971, the seal hunt off the Canadian east coast was largely not controlled. The annual catch for harp seals was often well over 300,000 animals. More than 80% of the seals killed were whitecoats, young animals with white fur.
During this time, scientists estimated that harp seal populations had declined by two-thirds. Finally, a quota was introduced to limit the number of animals killed.
By this time, images of newborn whitecoats being skinned next to their dams had entered the public eye and sparked a wave of protests against the hunt.
1980s
IFAW achieved its greatest success in the fight for the protection of harp seals in 1983 when the European Union imposed an initially provisional import ban on the skins of harp seal pups (“whitecoats”) and hatchbacks (“bluebacks”). The ban was extended in 1985 and has been open since 1989.
Due to the European import ban and the global decline in demand for seal products, significantly fewer seals were killed in the following 15 years. During this time approx. 60,000 harp seals are killed each year and the population has recovered.
1990s
In 1995 the Canadian Minister of Fisheries increased the quota for harp seals on the grounds that the seals were responsible for the severely depleted cod stock. To underline this decision, the minister also announced a new subsidy program for seal hunters. The provincial governments in Newfoundland and Labrador began subsidizing seal meat .
From 1996 the annual quota for harp seal hunting increased.
2000s
In 2003, the Canadian government introduced a three-year quota totaling 975,000 harp seals. The Canadian government plan for the years 2003-2005 stipulated that no more than 350,000 animals should be shot in the first two years and no more than 275,000 in the third year. In fact, 365,971 seals were shot in 2004, compared to 289,512 in 2003. For 2005 the Canadian government approved a hunting quota of 319,500 animals, but 350,000 animals were shot.
In 2008, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas issued a general import and trade ban for products made from seals for the EU. As a result, trade in these products collapsed statistically. In 2010 330,000 seals were released, compared to 400,000 in 2011. Mainly young animals are killed.
Seal hunting is a shrinking industry. The export value of seal products has fallen from 18 million Canadian dollars in 2006 to 317 thousand Canadian dollars in 2015, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare. According to the Ministry of Fisheries, there were 1,318 active seal hunters in 2014 (around 5600 in 2006), each of whom earned an average of Canadian $ 1,523 (before expenses) from hunting seals. Greenpeace even reports fewer than 400 seal hunters in 2014.
literature
- Brain Davies: RED ICE - My fight to save the seals
swell
- ↑ http://robbenschutz.de/ffekten.php ( Memento of October 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Augsburger Allgemeine of March 29, 2011
- ↑ Myths and Facts About Commercial Seal Hunting in Canada. IFAW, April 11, 2017, accessed April 24, 2017 .
- ↑ Questions & Answers about the seal hunt in Canada. Greenpeace, 2015, accessed April 24, 2017 .