Paul McCartney is calling on citizens around the world to speak out against commercial seal hunting in an appeal distributed by Humane Society International and The Humane Society of the United States. The European Union is currently considering a ban on the trade of all seal products, which could save millions of seals from cruel slaughter. Click here to read the entire statement.
McCartney, who traveled to Canada's harp seal nursery in 2006 to protest their annual commercial seal hunt, is asking the public for help in making the European Union ban a reality. The European Union is accepting public comments until Feb. 13.
"The sight of mothers and their pups on the pristine ice is one I won't forget, and I've committed myself to working to preserve that wondrous spectacle for generations to come," said McCartney.
"For so many years, we've tried to stop this senseless brutality. Now, there is new hope for the seals. The EU is considering ending all seal product trade in the European Union, regardless of the age of the seals," continued McCartney. "This move would save millions of seals from slaughter, and help put a final end to commercial seal hunting globally."
Twenty-five years ago, the European Union made history when it ended its trade in products from newborn harp seals. Commercial seal hunting in some countries came to a virtual standstill, and countless numbers of baby seals were saved. But the hunters soon began to kill the pups when they were slightly older—and the products from those baby seals are legally traded in the EU. Today, some commercial seal hunts are twice as large as they were when the EU first took action. A ban on the trade of all seal products in the EU could spell the end of many commercial seal hunts.
As a strong proponent of government sponsored programs to retire sealing licenses, fairly compensating seal hunters for lost revenue as commercial hunting is ended, McCartney's statement concludes, "Commercial seal hunting doesn't simply cause unimaginable suffering to the seals; it is also dehumanizing and often dangerous work, contributing very little to the incomes of the hunters. A European Union ban on all seal product trade would force nations where seal hunting has taken place to invest in real alternatives – jobs that will provide safe and sustainable futures."
For more information, please visit humanesociety.org/bansealtrade.
FACTS:
- About three quarters of a million seals are killed in commercial seal hunts around the world each year. Canada's is the largest, with nearly one million seals killed in the past three years, and smaller seal hunts occur in other countries including Greenland, Russia, Namibia and Norway.
- Commercial seal hunts often target defenseless seal pups. In Canada, more than 95 percent of the seals killed each year are less than 3 months old. In Namibia, virtually all of the seals killed are nursing pups.
- Hunters primarily kill the seals for their skins, which are sold to fashion markets in Europe and Asia.
- Seal hunting is often supplementary income for the hunters, virtually all of whom are commercial fishermen or seasonal workers. In Canada, revenues from sealing account for, on average, less than 5 percent of the annual incomes of the seal hunters.
- A 2007 study by a panel of veterinary and zoology experts who studied the Canadian commercial seal hunt found a widespread disregard for the Marine Mammal Regulations by sealers, a failure to monitor the hunt by authorities, high wounding rates in seals that were shot or clubbed, wounded seals left to suffer for protracted periods of time, and sealers failing to ensure animals were dead in 66 percent of cases. The report concluded that both clubbing and shooting of seals should be considered unacceptable.
- A recent scientific opinion by the Panel on Animal Health and Welfare requested by the European Commission concluded, "When seals are hit or shot, but are not dead, they may have to be hit or shot again or may be moved or skinned whilst conscious, resulting in avoidable pain, distress, fear and other forms of suffering" and "seals should be protected from acts that cause them avoidable pain, distress, fear and other forms of suffering."
- Nations around the world have taken action to end their trade in seal products or announced their intention to do so, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Italy, Panama, Mexico and the United States.
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Humane Society International is the international arm of The Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest animal protection organization - backed by 10 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty -- On the web at www.humanesociety.org.
