UCD Canadian Seal Hunt

taibhse

Hi every year the animal rights group ARAN holds a demonstration outside the Canadian Embassy to protest the organised seal hunts that are held there. You might have seen their recent protest in the paper with the girl in her underwear in Galway against circuses. I am looking for people who might be interested to help me spread the word around UCD. If anyone would be interested please PM me, its for a good cause.;)








Thanks
Taibhise

helios

While your action deserves merrit, the seal hunt is seriously over exagerated... every year...

Riamfada

why would somone hunt seals? they are so cute and helpless. They cant even run?

helios

why do people hunt anything... The seal hunt brings income to the people in the communities where the hunt takes place, and the number of seals hunters can take is regulated by the gov't.

Chinafoot

helios wrote:

why do people hunt anything... The seal hunt brings income to the people in the communities where the hunt takes place, and the number of seals hunters can take is regulated by the gov't.

Surely there are more humane ways to do it though? And yea I know the argument about less damage to the fur.....its still ridiculously cruel.

helios

...though there's worse ways to do it, plus if they don't, the seals could revolt and harm the people who live in those areas...

Chinafoot

Worse than beating them to death with a large stick?

Personally I'm very much against this type of thing and while people may try to justify it by economic means or threats of a seal "revolt", cruelty is cruelty at the end of the day.

My 2c.

peterk19

Grimes wrote:

why would somone hunt seals? they are so cute and helpless. They cant even run?

Because there fur is soft and feels good on my skin!!!!!




But seriously they should organise a yeti hunt or some other mythical beast!!!

helios

but would you sacrifice some seals so people could stay alive?

Chinafoot

helios wrote:

but would you sacrifice some seals so people could stay alive?

Hmmm....I think its a bit of an exaggeration to say that unless these seals are beaten to death with sticks then people will die. If there is a threat of seals attacking then surely security measures could be put in place to prevent that.

**shrug**

helios

of course, the seals fighting back was an exageration, but without the seal hunt, people who live there would not be able to afford to keep themselves alive

LovelyHurling

Somehow I cant help feeling that if seals were foul smelling, faecal ingesting, mucus slobbering, grumpy little bolloxes, this ARAN group would be less demonstrative in their defence. These hunters aren't going out batting seals for the sheer joy and fun of it, either.

That said, nobody like sto see an animal brought to a painful end.

Chinafoot

Well if it is a major necessity to keep this hunt going maybe there should be some changes in the way they carry it out.

Syth

Mr.Nice Guy

FFS. Someone lock this thread. I came in here hoping to see a society where I could engage in some harmless seal clubbing (harmless to humans anyway) and instead all I get is some preachy sermon about 'animal rights', whatever they are.

Bah.

rainbow kirby

Syth wrote:

I LOL'd.

Mr_Roger_Bongos

A seal once dissed Chuck Norris.

I say - nuke the seals ("you gotta nuke sumthin!" - Nelson in the Simpsons)

John_C

I think I support your cause but I feel that the girl in her underware would help me make up my mind if she visited UCD. Could that be arranged?

penguincakes

Any reason they don't use a fast-acting poison or something of the sort?

MatthewVII

Sounds like needless expense when the end result is the same

boneless

Logic behind most seal culls: the seals eat too much fish so fishing folk are losing income. The seals skin being 'valuable' to 'fashion' industry is only incidental... yeah!! And I'm a fcuking saint...

So, the seals are culled and the fishing communities engage in intense trawling of the seas, giving species no chance to regenerate...

So... the seals are still eating too much of a lower population of fish- lets kill more of them...

The human race is the problem, not the seals.

I support ARAN by the way.

Sangre

Baby seal walks into a club...

Chinafoot

Can we cut out the jokes please folks. If you want to continue a discussion on the pros and cons of this seal hunt then feel free. If the spamming continues the thread will be locked.

bobbi

LovelyHurley:[HTML]Somehow I cant help feeling that if seals were foul smelling, faecal ingesting, mucus slobbering, grumpy little bolloxes, this ARAN group would be less demonstrative in their defence. These hunters aren't going out batting seals for the sheer joy and fun of it, either.[/HTML]

Taibhse also say boycott KFC (under her thread www.kfccruelty.com)which is chicken cruelty so i presume its not just cute furry things but cannot talk for her shes seems like shes against all animal cruelty like me.

Mr_Roger_Bongos

Did anyone else come in here, enthused by the mental image the title envokes??

E.g. Loads students running around UCD trying to Hunt Canadian Seals? "There aren't any seals in UCD" - SO WHAT! In traditional Irish Style, we'd 'hunt' for about half an hour, find no seals, then head to the bar, to drown our sorrows!!!

John_C

boneless wrote:

The human race is the problem, not the seals.

I agree but the left wing PC brigade would probably find something to object to if we clubbed the humans.

panda100

Mr_Roger_Bongos wrote:

Did anyone else come in here, enthused by the mental image the title envokes??
QUOTE]

yep i thought that seals had migrated to the lake after the crimbo break or sumthin!

TheVan

Sangre wrote:

Baby seal walks into a club...

Ah sangre, i was gonna say that!

taibhse

What Seals Are Targeted by Canada's Seal Hunt?
Harp seals are the primary target of the commercial seal hunt. Fully 95% of the seals killed over the past five years have been harp seal pups between 12 days and 12 weeks of age. To a much lesser degree, hooded seals over one year of age are also killed.

Where Are the Seals Killed?
Canada's commercial seal hunt occurs on the ice floes off Canada's East Coast in two areas: the Gulf of St. Lawrence (west of Newfoundland and east of the Magdalen Islands) and the "Front" (northeast of Newfoundland).


Who Kills Seals and Why?
Sealing is an off-season activity conducted by fishermen from Canada's East Coast. They make, on average, a small fraction of their annual incomes from sealing—and the rest from commercial fisheries. Even in Newfoundland, where 90% of sealers live, there are only 4,000 fishermen who actively participate in the seal hunt each year.

How Are the Seals Killed?
The Canadian Marine Mammal Regulations, which govern the hunt, stipulate sealers may kill seals with wooden clubs, hakapiks (large ice-pick-like clubs) and guns. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, clubs and hakapiks are the killing implement of choice, and in the Front, guns are more widely used.

It is important to note that each killing method is demonstrably cruel. Because sealers shoot at seals from moving boats, the pups are often only wounded. The main sealskin processing plant in Canada deducts $2 from the price they pay for the skins for each bullet hole they find—therefore sealers are loath to shoot seals more than once. As a result, wounded seals are left to suffer in agony—many slip beneath the surface of the water where they die slowly and are never recovered.

Is the Seal Hunt Cruel?
Yes. In 2001, a report by an independent team of veterinarians who studied the hunt concluded that governmental regulations regarding humane killing were neither being respected nor enforced, and that the seal hunt failed to comply with Canada's basic animal welfare regulations. Shockingly, the veterinarians found that in 42% of the cases they studied, the seals had likely been skinned alive while conscious.

Parliamentarians, journalists, and scientists who observe Canada's commercial seal hunt each year continue to report unacceptable levels of cruelty, including sealers dragging conscious seals across the ice floes with boat hooks, shooting seals and leaving them to suffer in agony, stockpiling dead and dying animals, and even skinning seals alive. Click here to see recent video footage of Canada's commercial seal hunt.

How Many Seals Are Killed Each Year?
Hundreds of thousands. Over the past three years, more than a million seals have been killed. In 2004, 365,971 seals were killed—the largest number of seals killed in Canada in more than half a century. The last time this many seals were killed—in the 1950s and 1960s—close to two thirds of the harp seal population was wiped out.

And the actual number of seals killed is probably far higher than the number reported. Many seals are shot at and injured in the course of the hunt, and studies suggest that a significant number of these animals slip beneath the surface of the water, where they die slowly and are never recovered.

Are There Any Penalties When Hunters Exceed the Government's Quota?
No. In 2002, the Canadian government knowingly allowed sealers to exceed the quota by more than 37,000 animals. Sealers had already killed substantially more than the quota allowed by May 15 (the regulated closing date of the seal hunt) and yet the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans chose to extend the sealing season until June. In 2004, sealers killed close to 16,000 seals more than the permitted quota. Again, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans extended the sealing season until well into June.

What Products Are Made from Seals?
Seals are killed primarily for their fur, which is used to produce fashion garments and other items. There is a small market for seal oil (both for industrial purposes and for human consumption), and seal penises have been sold in Asian markets as an aphrodisiac. There is almost no market for the meat, so seal carcasses are normally left to rot on the ice.

Is the Seal Hunt Economically Important?
No. Sealing is an off-season activity conducted by fishermen from Canada's East Coast. They make, on average, one twentieth of their incomes from seal hunting and the rest from commercial fisheries. Even in Newfoundland, where 90% of sealers live, revenues from the hunt account for less than 1% of the province's economy and only 2% of the landed value of the fishery. According to the Newfoundland government, out of a population of half a million people, only 4,000 fishermen participate in the seal hunt each year.

The commercial seal hunt is an activity that Canada's federal government could easily replace with economic alternatives should it choose to do so.

Does the Government Subsidize the Hunt?
Yes. According to reports from the Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment, more than $20 million in subsidies were provided to the sealing industry between 1995 and 2001. Those subsidies came from entities such as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Human Resources Development Council, and Canada Economic Development–Quebec. These subsidies take a variety of forms, including funding the salaries for seal processing plant workers, market research and development trips, and capital acquisitions for processing plants.

Moreover, Canada's commercial seal hunt is also indirectly subsidized by the Norwegian government. A Norwegian company purchases close to 80% of the sealskins produced in Canada in any given year through its Canadian subsidiary. These skins are shipped in an unprocessed state directly to Norway, where they are tanned and re-exported. The Norwegian government provides significant financial assistance to this company each year.

Is It True Seals Are Jeopardizing the Canadian Cod Fishery?
There is no evidence to support this contention. Some fishing industry lobby groups try to claim that seals must be culled to protect fish stocks, but nothing could be further from the truth.

The scientific community agrees that the true cause of the depletion of fish stocks off Canada's East Coast is human over-fishing. Blaming seals for disappearing fish is a convenient way for the fishing industry to divert attention from its irresponsible and environmentally destructive practices that continue today.

In truth, seals, like all marine mammals, are a vital part of the ecosystem of the Northwest Atlantic. Harp seals, which are the primary target of the hunt, are opportunistic feeders, meaning they consume small amounts of many different species. So while approximately 3% of a harp seal's diet may be commercially fished cod, harp seals also eat many significant predators of cod, such as squid. That is why some scientists are concerned that culling harp seals could further inhibit recovery of commercially valuable fish stocks in the Northwest Atlantic.

Are Seals Overpopulated?
No. The Canadian government and sealing industry have, at various times, tried to claim that the harp seal population has "tripled" over the past three decades, or that the harp seal population is "exploding," or that seals are overpopulated.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The harp seal population in the Northwest Atlantic is the world's largest—it is supposed to number in the many millions. This is a migratory population that spans the distance between Canada and Greenland.

In the 1950s and 1960s, over-hunting wiped out close to two-thirds of the harp seal population. By 1974, the population was considered to be in serious trouble, and senior government scientists recommended the commercial hunt be suspended for at least ten years.

In the early 1980s, the European Union banned the import of whitecoat seal skins, effectively removing the principal market for the hunt at the time. For the next decade, the numbers of seals killed in the hunt dramatically declined, and the harp seal population began to recover.

However, according to the last survey conducted by the Canadian government in 1999, the harp seal population stopped recovering in 1996 (when the commercial seal hunt was reintroduced) and began to decline. With more than a million seal pups killed over the past three years alone, we can only wonder what the impact will be on the harp seal population over the coming years.




btw lmao at

Did anyone else come in here, enthused by the mental image the title envokes??

E.g. Loads students running around UCD trying to Hunt Canadian Seals? "There aren't any seals in UCD" - SO WHAT! In traditional Irish Style, we'd 'hunt' for about half an hour, find no seals, then head to the bar, to drown our sorrows!!!