Is the Seal Hunt Necessary for Canadas Economy?
The Canadian fishing industry is propped up by millions of dollars in subsidies every year. Local fishers make one-twentieth of their income from seal hunting and the rest from commercial fisheries. Even in Newfoundland, where 90 percent of sealers live, revenues from the hunt account for less than 1 percent of the province’s economy. Nor is sealing a livelihood for native tribes; most sealers are commercial fishers who use large boats to break through the ice to reach the baby seals. International boycotts in response to the slaughter further weaken the “economic” argument. Italy and Greenland recently banned imports of seal pelts, and more than 400 restaurants and companies have pledged to boycott some or all Canadian seafood until the seal hunt is ended.
