THIS YEAR A NURSERY THRIVES, IN PLACE OF BLOOD-RED ICE
2/13/09, SEALERS ABANDON GREY SEAL HUNT WHEN MARKET FOR THEIR SKINS DRIES UP - Does the global boycott of Canadian seafood lose more revenue than dead baby seals bring in? Is the demand for seal goods drying up as fast as you can say European Union ban? Rebecca Aldworth, Director of Wildlife Issues for Humane Society of the U.S., was overjoyed to find thriving life on Hay Island, Nova Scotia, where the annual grey seal hunt should have been underway.

"Instead of sealers beating defenseless pups to death with wooden bats, I stood amidst a spectacular nursery, alive with protective, nurturing mothers and their babies. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Nova Scotia government had authorized another grey seal kill. But processing plants announced they would not buy baby grey skins, so sealers stayed home. The pups are likely safe for now, but the true target of the world's largest marine mammal slaughter, harp seals, will be killed by the hundreds of thousands. Still, there is hope for harp seals too."

With an import-export ban on seal goods for the entire European Union under evaluation, Kinship Circle targets Canadian and European officials, Olympics organizers and Canadian seafood producers in campaigns to stop Canada’s annual bloodbath. This year, at least grey seals are spared.

SECRET SLAUGHTER OF NOVA SCOTIA GREY SEALS
There is another slaughter of baby seals on the east coast of Canada each year. This slaughter happens quietly, but its violent nature reflects the better known harp seal hunt. Fishermen, who pay just a few dollars for a sealing license, descend on recently weaned seal pups to shoot and bludgeon them. The young seals are fragile, defenseless. Their skin is ripped from their bodies and carcasses are commonly left to rot. SOURCE: www.antisealingcoalition.ca/GreySeals/index.php

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