Britain will ban seal pelts
 I am suddenly feeling patriotic |
Today I am very proud to be British. I just heard from Captain Paul Watson of the "Sea Shepherd Conservation Society that Britain is pushing ahead with a ban on the sale of seal pelts and intends to encourage the rest of Europe to do the same. This is great news! I am going to celebrate by drinking a cup of British tea in my Union Jack mug and may even start humming the national anthem soon (I have to hum it since I don't know the words!).
Paul Watson also said "The way to shut this obscene slaughter down is with economic pressure. We need to boycott everything Canadian, especially Canadian seafood products and tourism to Canada, and we need to shut down the markets worldwide."
I'm doing alright for seafood but I need to make sure I look at the lables on products more and make sure they are not Canadian. I think I am guilty of having recently purchased some organic Canadian maple syrup. Dang! I don't think we have any other kind of maple syrup here in Bermuda. Looks like I will have to give up pancakes then but that's not much of a sacrifice considering millions of lives are at stake here!
To find out more about the Canadian seal slaughter and how you can help click on the links above.
This year 335,000 harp seals were killed in Canada during a hunt that finished last week.
There is a discussion including Paul Watson, about this topic over on the Envirolink forum.
Comments
I think Norway is the biggest buyer of seal pelts from Canada, but meanwhile they have a big seal hunt by themselves as well.
I read today in a Norwegian paper that now the hunt brings no profit, they burn the seals after the seals have been shot because there is no demand for seal pelts or meat. They will however continue as usual with the hunt since they think killing seals is regulating the ecosystem, the old story that the seals and whales eat too much fish.
Posted by: Ann Novek | June 1, 2006 08:06 AM
I participate in another forum and Peter Corketon, a marine mammal scientist, who I admire wrote this( maybe you find it offensive):
So perhaps someone rational would care to discuss how Japanese hunts of small cetaceans, or the Norwegian (or Icelandic) hunts of coastal seals, are an excellent (or, for that matter, an acceptable) model for managing hunts of marine wildlife? Could a little international discourse help out in those instances? Then, having looked at them, how does Canada's situation differ? Ian Stirling being Canadian and an excellent scientist, the question has merit, because the Canadian approach strikes me as being different (i.e. they've got their act reasonably well together for species that aren't subject to international review).
Posted by: Ann Novek | June 1, 2006 10:11 AM
The marine mammal scientists name is :
Peter CORKERON!
Posted by: Ann Novek | June 1, 2006 10:52 AM
Don't know the words to God Save The Queen? Some bloke named John Lydon wrote it and I fink it goes somefink like this:
GodsavetheQueen,thefascist regime,theymadeyouamoron, potentialH-bomb.Godsavethe Queen,sheain'tnohumanbeing (bean?),thereis no future in England's dreaming. Don't be told what you want,don't be told what you need, there's no future, no future, nofure fo
Posted by: Philip Cook | June 3, 2006 04:36 PM
Oops. I accidentally pressed 'POST' before I was finished. Anyway, the rest of it goes like this:
nofutureforyou.Godsavethe Queen,wemeanitman,weloveourQueen,Godsaves.GodsavetheQueen,'causeit'stouristsaremoney,andourfigureheadisnotwhatsheseems.OhGodsavehistory,Godsaveyourmadparade,OhLordGodhavemercy,allcrimesarepaid.Whenthere'snofuturehowcanthrerebesin?,we'retheflowersinthedustbin,we'rethepoisoninyourmachine,we'rethefuture,yourfuture.GodsavetheQueen,wemeanitman,weloveourQueen,Godsaves.GodsavetheQueenwemeanitman,andthere'snofutureinEngland'sdreaming.Nofuture,nofuture,nofutureforyou.Nofuture,nofuture,nofutureforme.
The alternative version of "God Save the Queen" goes something like this:
God save our gracious Queen, Long live our noble Queen, God save the Queen. Send her victorious, happy and glorious, long to reign over us, God save the Queen.
I hope this doesn't offend any Monarchy worshippers.
There are times when I am ashamed to admit that I am a Canadian (born in Vancouver)when this slaughter occurs every year. For what? Profit? So that these Newfie fishermen can supplement their income? I can understand if a native First Nations person was hunting seals for food and using the pelts for warm clothing, as is their tradition. They have more respect and understanding of the natural world, and the way Mother nature works.
Even though I am a Greenpeace member, I was glad to have met the crew of the Farley Mowatt (Paul Watson's Sea Shepherds ship)when it was berthed at Dockyard.I was disappointed not to have met Paul Watson. He'd just left when he heard that Bob Hunter had died.The crew and its organisation deserve praise for their efforts.
God save the Queen.
God save the Pup Seals, if He insn't blind and deaf...
Posted by: Philip Cook | June 3, 2006 05:57 PM