I've been trying to avoid this subject, but I HAVE to know:

[CatWoman]

why are the Canadians slaughtering those baby seals?

WHY!!??!!

[GOPisEvil]

1. I always thought it was population control, but I don't know for sure.

:hi:

[CatWoman]

2. it makes me very sad

:hi:

[GOPisEvil]

6. Agreed.

Even if they did have to control the population, isn't there a better way? :shrug:

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. This should get interesting.....

;)

:popcorn:

[CO Liberal]

4. The Secret Ingredient in Molson Beer

:-)

[Cannikin]

5. They're too cute for their own good.

[yvr girl]

7. They know too much

and the squeal.

[RandomKoolzip]

8. Self-defense.

Baby seals will FUCK YOU UP if provoked.

[jonnyblitz]

15. LMFAO

please stop. LOL.

[CatWoman]

24. you know

you guys are assholes.

[Dave Reynolds]

25. Guilty as charged, ma'am.

I have a hard time typing, a baby harp seal took my left arm up to the elbow.

[da_chimperor]

9. The seals are evil, so it's a case of kill or be killed with cuteness

:shrug:

[Liberal_Andy]

10. It's for the money, as always...

apparently, the locals have few other sources of revenue.

[Redstone]

13. You're right, they don't have many other ways to make a buck.

Ever been to Newfoundland or Labrador? Pretty depressing, it is.

Appalachia with ice.

Sorry to offend the animal lovers, but if it took whacking some seals to feed my family, the seals are toast.

(Not that I'd want to whack a seal, or any other animal for that matter, just for the hell of it. But when it comes down to survival...)

Flame away if you want to, but don't get too self-righteous unless and / or until you've seen how these people live. They don't have the luxury of choice like so many of us do.

Redstone

[mcscajun]

18. I have to agree with you.

I'm as broken up by images of smashed baby seal skulls as the next person, and if there was another way for these people to make a living, I'd be outraged. As it is, I'm just sad.

A lot of those seal hunters used to fish for cod and such, but the North Atlantic fisheries are collapsing. It's getting harder and harder for commercial fisherman to make any kind of decent living. And as you say, their options up there are limited.

I haven't seen Newfoundland (yet) but if the rural parts of Nova Scotia are any example, pickings are worse than slim.

[MisterP]

11. they had the nerve to be here first: if GATTACA isn't your biggest

slice of DNA, we will go Graner-Mengele on you for the amusement of the glorious hairless chimp! We're number one! Hairless chimp! Hairless chimp! Hairless chimp!

[Radical Activist]

17. hehe

That was really funny.

[Bossy Monkey]

12. Commercial hunt for baby harp seals has been outlawed since '87

Here's the start of an article on the subject from Nat'l Geographic. I'm afraid you'll have to find a copy of the March '04 issue for the whole thing:
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0403/feature3/
Depressing, but interesting

[mcscajun]

16. They have a narrow definition of "baby"

According to federal regulations, harp seals can be legally hunted once they have shed their white coat, which occurs when they are about two weeks old.

However, the federal Fisheries Department says most harp seals aren't hunted until they are about 25 days old.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20050330/ca_pr_on_na/seal_hunt_5

Two Weeks, Four Weeks. Not much hair to split there.

[jswordy]

14. It's a traditional Aboriginal and Inuit hunt.

These are subsistence hunters living in a wild place and CNN says the fishermen need to supplement their income, since many fishing families only earn about $9,800 a year from their catches of snow crabs, lobster or cod.

"They have to live on whatever they're capable of catching," Therien said. "The seal fisheries is part of their livelihood."

There are 5 million seals ("abundant," say officials) and 300,000 will be harvested.

The natives have done this for a long time, they are not getting rich off it and they have to do it to survive, and they know what they are doing and how to do it. Urbanites cannot be expected to understand, especially when they are predisposed to listen to only one side of the argument and have no idea what the people involved actually live like on what land remains theirs.

Flame away, I have native blood and will defend our ways always.

[Redstone]

19. Minor correction; it's not all Natives;

it's a lot of Newfs and people from Labrador as well. And it's not a traditional hunt for meat and skins to be used themselves; it's a commercial hunt to sell the skins overseas.

Other than that, I agree with your post 100%. Anyone who wants to tell those poverty-stricken people up there that they shouldn't do this to make money should be prepared to tell them exactly what the fuck else they can do instead to feed their families.

If you don't want them to kill seals, why not go ahead and supply them with another job? Can't do that? Then don't judge them.

Redstone

[mcscajun]

20. No flames here

We're just an economic collapse away from subsistence hunting and fishing ourselves.

[jswordy]

23. Countdown: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-

sigh

[seriousstan]

21. $16-million in revenue from the sale of pelts and seal oil,

primarily from pelt sales to Norway, Denmark, and China. There are an estimated 5 million harp seals, nearly the highest level ever recorded and almost triple what it was in the 1970s. The coastal communities have very limited sources of income and have been doing this forever.

If you live on the edge of the ocean, the ocean is your livelihood.

[ohiosmith]

22. Having lived in Canada for nearly 20 years and being the brother in law

of a Newfie, I support the right of the indigenous populace to manage the harvesting of their natural resources as they see fit. Especially when it is a matter of cultural as well as personal survival. On a personal note, seal meat is delicious and the most comfortable slippers I ever owned were made of seal skin.

[China_cat]

26. For their coats.

[Sugar Smack]

27. I was with a few people

who would spray their fur with non-toxic paint before they molted. They would be useless to poachers. They would also brush the fur so that coats could be made without using the leather. The seals loved being brushed!!!!!!!!!!




:)