Are seals that are commercially hunted being used “only for their fur”?
No. In ongoing attempts to trivialize the need for seal products derived from Canada’s largest hunt, animal-rights activists continually point to the use of the fur as the only reason for hunting seals. Leaving aside the question about the sustainability and legitimacy of wild-fur and leather production, Canada’s oldest and arguably most sustainable industry, the claim that there are no other products utilized from seals hunt is patently false. The second and indeed most prominent byproduct from commercial seal hunting is seal oil, used primarily as an Omega 3 supplement. This is rendered from the fat of the animals, which is 100% utilized. This fat, or blubber slab that comes attached to the pelt of each animal, represents well over half the useable weight of the animal. In fact, there is between four and five times more fat than meat for most seals that are hunted. As for meat, the primary ‘cut’ from a seal comes from the shoulder of the animal, traditionally referred to as “flipper”
