I don't really agree with this video because they state a lot of ideas and situations as facts. Also, Paul Watson is over-the-top with his methods. (Dubbed a "violent extremist/eco-terrorist" by Greenpeace)

There's no current threat of seals eating themselves to extinction. The seal population is booming because humans killed way too many sharks, their predators. And now fisherman feel they have to compete with the seals. Because we are over-fishing the sharks and fish now the solution is to kill the middle predator seals. Not really a well thought out long term solution. >> ^Skeeve:

There are lots of reasons to downvote this overly-simplistic video but I am doing it for the seal clubbing part because the only people who attack the seal hunt are people who haven't done their research.
As I have said before and I'll probably say again, the seals are eating themselves into extinction and the only thing that has kept the stupid (but cute) creatures from wiping out their own species is human culling of their numbers.
I could go on and on about other parts of the video but I'll leave it at that.

There are lots of reasons to downvote this overly-simplistic video but I am doing it for the seal clubbing part because the only people who attack the seal hunt are people who haven't done their research.

As I have said before and I'll probably say again, the seals are eating themselves into extinction and the only thing that has kept the stupid (but cute) creatures from wiping out their own species is human culling of their numbers.

I could go on and on about other parts of the video but I'll leave it at that.

Being from the maritime provinces I have become in all honestly both annoyed and embarrassed from the seal hunt. I'm annoyed that the fisheries ministers from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia have associated their policies vastly erroneously with those on the northern territories.
#1.The vast amount of people who hunt seals in the maritime provinces are not native people; it's not a native economic issue. (it's a false correlation).
#2.Three Department of fisheries studies in a row proved that seals are a minute factor in th depletion of fish stocks and killing them as an excuse is irrelevant as they are an adaptable mid-level predator.
#3.Within our own models from the department of fisheries we're killing off our top predators faster than we can replace them....and we've increased sea farming as a response. No correlation to science.

So in conclusion the fisheries policies of the maritime provinces are based on myths, propagating thru short term jobs and mascaraeding as science.

People are only upset about the seal hunt for two reasons.

1) they're cute
2) they're hunted on snow and ice so it looks very graphic

There's no danger to the species whatsoever, they're prolific, in fact if they were left unchecked they'd be endangering OTHER species.

I hate it when idiots who see a little graphic footage immediately jump to the conclusion that it's wrong without any real information.

For the moron commenting about rifles, the club used on seals is specially designed for a quick kill and is less likely to cause suffering than a rifle. Learn about what you're discussing before you speak instead of shooting your mouth off.

The difference is, apparently, that the Canadian hunters don't have to abide by the laws of the land regarding the hunt. That is what the observer is pointing out.

This really is unnecessary. While I don't begrudge the Inuit hunt, I've read that they do not participate in the commercial hunt and that their take amounts to three percent of the total kill. Here, reportedly, is a letter from an Inuit named Arnaituk M. Tarkirk, of Quebec:

We have been hearing all about the European vote to ban the importation of seal products from the so-called seal hunt.

I am an Inuk and I would like to say what I think about this.

Peter Ittinuur, Northwest Territory MP, has been saying that this vote will put a lot of Inuit on welfare. This is stupid. The money from the hunt goes to Norway mostly and has nothing to do with the Inuit.

We are skillful hunters who hunt adult animals for food, That is not the same as bashing a pup, which can’t move, over the head.

In fact, if the seal hunt stopped, we would benefit the most. There would be 180,000 more seals left for us to eat when they are a few years older, and also people would not have such an aversion to sealskin products as they have after seeing the way they kill the pups, so craft work made with adult seals would be more popular.

The Hudson Bay Company and the government are just using the Inuit to further their own purposes. I am surprised Peter Ittinuur, whom I know, could allow himself to be used like that. I know people who are against the seal hunt, and they are not against the Inuit.

I am an Inuk, and I oppose the seal hunt.

And, let's do talk about seals and cod: http://www.fisherycrisis.com/index.html

To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The seals aren't the problem. Man has unbalanced the ecosystem.

How is this different from killing a fish by hitting the head with a hammer and then gutting it? The only difference really is that seals have harder skulls and thus may need to be hit two or three times before they stop moving completely (the first hit probably kills 95% of them, but some still move just like a headless chicken would).

By the way, rifles are used to kill adult seals, since they move too fast on ice. But of course you don't see that because it's not "brutal" enough. What you see in the videos is always hunting of 12 to 15 days old seals who have begun molting (their pelt changes from white to grey). These can be killed with only the hakapik since they can't move fast enough to escape a killing blow.

In Norway, a veterinary must be aboard each ship. Still the Norwegian rules for seal hunting state that : "Adult seals that are more than one year old must be shot in the head with expanding bullets, and can not be clubbed to death. The hakapik shall be used to ensure that the animal is dead. This is done by crushing the skull of the shot adult seal with the short end of the hakapik, before the long spike is thrust deep into the animal's brain. The seal shall then be bled by making an incision from its jaw to the end of its sternum. The killing and bleeding must be done on the ice, and live animals may never be brought onboard the ship. Young seals may be killed using just the hakapik, but only in the before mentioned manner, i.e. they need not be shot." (From wikipedia) Also, "In 2007 the European Food Safety Agency confirmed that the animals are put to death faster and more humanely in the Norwegian sealing than in large game hunting on land." The only difference with Canada I think is that Canadian hunters don't have to bleed them on the ice.

>> ^Bruti79:
There's a ton of reasons of why the seal hunt is good, and about two or three as to why it's bad. If it keeps the cod stock in balance, and it provides a stable income for first nations families, then how is it any different than any other hunting or fishing?

Exactly. There are a few things none of the anti-seal hunt people seem to ignore. First, it's been shown that, without the seal hunt, the seals will eat themselves (and the fish) into extinction in a matter of a decade. This would do tremendous, permanent damage to the ecosystem.

Secondly, this is a major, traditional source of income and sustenance for the First Nations people - Canada already takes a hit on the international front for how we treated them, I'm sure it wouldn't help to take this away from them.

And lastly, if it was the snake hunt or the rat hunt no one would be the slightest bit concerned, but because the seals can be cute (particularly the babies) everyone who knows shit-all about the situation feels like its their duty to save them.

I'm a pretty lefty Canadian, but come on, why don't you take those cameras through a place that processes chicken or cow meat? There's a ton of reasons of why the seal hunt is good, and about two or three as to why it's bad. If it keeps the cod stock in balance, and it provides a stable income for first nations families, then how is it any different than any other hunting or fishing?

I'm sure no one minds the way fish and crab are hauled out of the ocean and suffocated or crushed under the weight their fellow crustaceans =P

That's what Greenpeace needs for taking out the St Lawrence Seal Hunt. Orcas. Trained Orcas with frickin' lazurs on their heads.

Ok, putting that ad on TV is way lower on my moral scale than cutting open a fish.

Same goes for seal hunting and so many other things. The only thing that makes people against seal hunting is a) they're cute and b) blood on the snow is much more photogenic than blood in an abattoir.

PETA was even trying to get kids to stop drinking milk at one time, what a bunch of losers. They should all be shot alongside Jenny Mccarthy and those anti inoculation nutjobs.

seal hunting is inhumane. mass killing of animals to make commercial products is pretty different from old cultural traditions that are enjoyed by all classes of people, imo.

it is more natural for beasts of burden to die in this way and for it to be seen by people, than to live in a cloistered world in which all killing goes on out of sight.

PETA is retarded and people who fall for their crap about the Canadian seal hunt need to get their facts straight. The simple fact is that the stupid seals would eat themselves into extinction within a few generations if it wasn't for the seal hunt. By selectively killing seals we are ensuring that the species survives.

Plus, the only reason why anyone cares is because the baby seals conform to society's idea of "cute". If it was a baby snake hunt or a baby vampire sea spider hunt no one would care.

Why can't they just set up Dolphin, Tiger, Shark breeding farms?

Same with the Canadians and the yearly Seal hunts.

'If I can't shoot rabbits, I can't shoot fascists.'

Good luck getting a filiming permit in an abattoir too.

Downvote for preachy anti-seal hunt propaganda.

If a baby seal had a chance, it would kill you and everyone you care about.