Does the seal hunt provide an important income to 16,000 sealers and their families?
Sealers are commercial fishermen who earn a small fraction of their incomes from killing seals—the rest from commercial fisheries such as crab, shrimp and lobster. Even in Newfoundland, where more than 90 percent of sealers live, the government estimates that there are only about 4000 active sealers. Tina Fagan, former executive director for the Canadian Sealers Association, explains that while many fishermen may take out licenses to kill seals, a much smaller number participate each year: “The reason for the large number of licenses vis-à-vis the smaller number of active sealers is the fact that if they do not renew their license in any given year, they will not be eligible in the following year” (http://www.norden.org/pub/miljo/miljo/sk/2001-580.pdf). Newfoundland’s fishery has never been wealthier, earning nearly $200 million more annually than it did prior to the 1992 cod collapse.
Sealers are commercial fishermen who earn a small fraction of their incomes from killing seals—the rest from commercial fisheries such as crab, shrimp and lobster. Even in Newfoundland, where more than 90 percent of sealers live, the government estimates that there are only about 4000 active sealers. Tina Fagan, former executive director for the Canadian Sealers Association, explains that while many fishermen may take out licenses to kill seals, a much smaller number participate each year: “The reason for the large number of licenses vis-à-vis the smaller number of active sealers is the fact that if they do not renew their license in any given year, they will not be eligible in the following year” (http://www.norden.org/pub/miljo/miljo/sk/2001-580.pdf). Newfoundland’s fishery has never been wealthier, earning nearly $200 million more annually than it did prior to the 1992 cod collapse. This economic growth is because of the expansion of the shellfish industry, which today accounts for
