Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumEU ban on trade in seal fur set to be overturned
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/eu-ban-on-trade-in-seal-fur-set-to-be-overturned-8581496.htmlA Europe-wide ban on the trade of seal fur and products is expected to be overturned this week, in a move that will reignite one of the world's most contentious wildlife issues.
The actor Jude Law has written a letter calling for the ban to be upheld, which he says would be "in line with the wishes of compassionate people all around the world". He sent the letter to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on behalf of the animal rights group Peta a week before the WTO's final hearing on the issue in Geneva and days after the start of Canada's annual seal pup slaughter.
Fur traders, including Inuit from Greenland and Canada and sporran makers in Scotland, are among those appealing against the 2010 EU ban in a European court. The legal battle is being led by the Fur Institute of Canada, which says that the ban has had an impact on the Canadian seal trade. Fishermen from several countries also allege that seals have become a menace, with growing populations reducing fish stocks.
But environmental groups say fish stocks will not be boosted by a seal cull and that it is not possible to conduct one humanely. Campaigners also criticised Inuit groups for aligning themselves with commercial organisations.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)xchrom
(108,903 posts)Nihil
(13,508 posts)> The legal battle is being led by the Fur Institute of Canada, which
> says that the ban has had an impact on the Canadian seal trade.
Yeah, that was the f*cking point you morons.
> Fishermen from several countries also allege that seals have become
> a menace, with growing populations reducing fish stocks.
Half right: "Growing populations" are "reducing fish stocks" but it's not
the seal population that's the problem, it's the human population and
especially that part of it involved in the criminal overfishing of the oceans.
stuntcat
(12,022 posts)since we're going to rape the hell out of the seas until there's nothing left in them we can eat then I shouldn't bother myself to get upset about fish only being referred to as food. but it still gets me every time.