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Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. #2112091
08/20/10 02:44 PM
08/20/10 02:44 PM
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Cape Breton Island Nova Scotia
Mira Trapper Offline OP
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EU seal ban suspended‏



Sent: August 20, 2010 1:35:06 PM


NOTE: While the vegans, who promote fossil fuel-based clothing for use
in cold weather, are clearly NOT happy [http://blog.peta.org/archives/2010/08/eus_ban_on_seal_fur_suspended.php
], the suspension of the EU ban on Canadian seal pelts is a win for
those supporting natural fibers and sustainable/humane hunts. In
Canada, a recent poll revealed strong support for seal hunting and use
of the pelts for cold weather clothing [http://www.fur.ca/view_news.php?id=111
]

And it is important to note that a similar ban on seal products, and
all marine mammal products, has been in place in the US since 1972.

For background info on utilization management of seals, visit http://www.furcommission.com/resource/pressMMPA.htm

================

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/08/19/nl-seal-ban-819.html

EU seal ban suspended

Inuit leaders question legality of ban on Canadian seal products

Last Updated: Friday, August 20, 2010 | 6:05 AM ET
Comments385Recommend143

CBC News

A harp seal looks toward a seal boat in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near
P.E.I. in March 2005. A European Union ban on seal products has been
suspended after Inuit leaders and other groups challenged its
legality. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

A European Union ban on seal products was temporarily suspended
Thursday, the day before it was set to take effect, because of a legal
challenge by Inuit leaders.

The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, representing Canada's 53,000 Inuit, and
other Inuit organizations in Greenland and Norway filed a legal
challenge against the EU's ban earlier this year, calling it illegal
and immoral.

The Canadian Seal Marketing Group and the Fur Institute of Canada are
also involved in the challenge.

The EU's General Court, based in Luxembourg, agreed to impose a delay
on the ban in order to properly consider the legal challenge, saying
the delay was in the "interest of the proper administration of justice."

Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea told reporters in St. John's on
Thursday that the European Court of Justice granted an injunction to
several organizations that have launched a legal challenge of the ban,
which was to take effect Friday. (CBC)

"I'm pleased to report that we have just learned this morning that the
petition launched by the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami for an injunction has
been granted," Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea announced in St.
John's.

"This means that the ban does not come into force tomorrow."

Inuit leaders were pleased with the news.

"The … [court] has decided there's more time required to properly
review our request," said Mary Simon, president of the Inuit Tapiriit
Kanatami, told CBC News. "To us, that is a very important decision
because it is rare that the European Union court would suspend an EU
legislation."

"To us, it makes it clear that the EU court is taking our legal case
seriously."

Simon expects the court case will be heard in the fall or early winter.

Inuit exemption part of ban

The proposed EU ban does exempt trade in seal products that come from
aboriginal groups, but Simon said the Inuit fear their sales will
still plummet when the ban comes into effect.

"When the market collapses, our market collapses with it," she said.
"This has a very direct impact, and therefore, this Inuit exemption,
or so-called Inuit exemption, won't work for us."

Animal welfare advocates said the temporary court setback ultimately
won't change the fate of the seal hunt.

"The EU court may wish to look more closely at the ban, but the court
of public opinion around the world is clear: the seal slaughter is
uniquely cruel and no market wants the pelts," said Dan Mathews of
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

"At the end of the day, this is a consumer issue and seal skin has a
worse stigma with the public than herpes."

Ban a disgrace: Harper

Before news of the injunction emerged, Prime Minister Stephen Harper
spoke out against the scheduled ban, saying the federal government is
"very strongly in opposition" to it.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke out against the EU ban on seal
products while he was in Miramichi, N.B., before it was suspended. (CBC)

Harper said it's "flagrant discrimination" against the Canadian
sealing industry, which he described as a sector that employs "hard-
working people who are also of modest means."

"It is a disgrace that they're treated this way in some countries
based upon no facts or information whatsoever. So, we strongly object
to the decision," Harper told reporters at a government announcement
in Miramichi, N.B.

Last November, Canada made an official complaint to the World Trade
Organization about the European ban.

Stockwell Day, who was trade minister at the time, said last year that
Ottawa had formally requested WTO consultations on the ban, the first
stage of the world body's dispute-settlement process.

Day said the regulation, adopted by 27 European countries in 2009, was
a violation of the EU's trade obligations.

Canada, he said, is arguing that the seal hunt is "a legitimate
economic pursuit" and that the EU ban is based "neither on science nor
on facts."

Canada exported about $5.5 million worth of seal products to the EU in
2006 when the price of pelts peaked at over $100, but the market has
been cut in half in recent years with about $2.5 million worth sent to
the region in 2008.

While there are about 6,000 licensed seal hunters on the East Coast,
only a few hundred took part in last season's hunt. About 67,000 seals
were taken — most of them harp seals off Newfoundland — even though
the catch limit was about 350,000.

The Newfoundland government says the industry injected about $24
million into the provincial economy in 2008.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/08/19/nl-seal-ban-819.html#ixzz0xAE8Pjl5


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Mac Leod Motto
Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: Mira Trapper] #2112094
08/20/10 02:45 PM
08/20/10 02:45 PM
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Canada continues fight as start of EU seal ban delayed

Mike De Souza, Postmedia News · Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010

OTTAWA — Canada will challenge the European Union’s ban on Canadian
seal products by seeking a special panel review at the World Trade
Organization, the Harper government announced Thursday.

“The government is very strongly in opposition to this decision of
Europe,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said after making an unrelated
announcement in New Brunswick. “This is flagrant discrimination
against the Canadian seal industry — against Canadian sealers — an
industry of modest means that employs people who work hard.”

The European Union ban, which provides exemptions for some of the
products from traditional Inuit hunts and other similar categories,
was to have come into force Friday but has been suspended because of a
court decision on a challenge launched by an Inuit group.

Mr. Harper suggested that the sealers were no different than workers
from other agricultural businesses that produce animal products.

“It is a disgrace that they are treated this way in some countries,
based on no rational facts or information whatsoever,” he said. “So we
strongly object to the decision. We will continue to defend our
sealers. As you know, we’ve made appeals through international
processes and we will continue to seek trade opportunities for our
sealers in other parts of the world.”

Government officials told reporters at a technical briefing in Ottawa
that the dispute settlement panel process could take more than a year
to resolve, leaving an impact on the industry for at least another year.

They explained that thousands of hunters used to actively get licences
and participate in the hunt in the Atlantic region, but numbers have
dwindled to the hundreds this year because of a variety of factors,
including the recession and reduced ice flow cover from above average
temperatures.

Total sales to Europe represent about $2.5-million, according to the
government, but as much as 90 per cent of that amount was en route to
Russia, which would still be allowed to purchase the products in the
future.

Although the challenge through the WTO could wind up costing more than
the losses in exports from the ban, the government said it was
protesting the ban in principle to avoid a precedent that could affect
other Canadian products. Previous bans on beef with growth hormones
and genetically modified products were also overturned following
similar challenges by the Canadian government.

Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea said in March that the government
is working with industry to diversify products resulting from the
hunt, ranging from oil, meat and even a new research project on
potential heart valves that could be transplanted in humans. The
government was also in discussions to explore new markets such as
China, she said.

Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/news/Canada+continues+fight+start+seal+delayed/3418469/story.html#ixzz0x4vrVl5S


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Mac Leod Motto
Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: Mira Trapper] #2112220
08/20/10 04:06 PM
08/20/10 04:06 PM
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Mira - I am aware that the skins are used in Europe but are there other uses for seal products?

Clark


Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen. -Albert Einstein
Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: Clark] #2112230
08/20/10 04:13 PM
08/20/10 04:13 PM
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Originally Posted By: Clark
Mira - I am aware that the skins are used in Europe but are there other uses for seal products?

Clark


The oil is used for omega three capsules. Meat is used by the people who hunt seals. The whole seal could be used thus improving the marketability of seal products. ARA folks have gradually choked off all the uses that seal culls were known for and now complain that it is cruel to only use pelts which also have diminished prices because of ARA focus in destroying that market to.

Last edited by Mira Trapper; 08/20/10 04:13 PM.

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Mac Leod Motto
Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: Mira Trapper] #2112261
08/20/10 04:35 PM
08/20/10 04:35 PM

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Maybe I will still have a shot at my dream trip of seal clubbing.

Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: ] #2112322
08/20/10 05:05 PM
08/20/10 05:05 PM
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Originally Posted By: Hupurest
Maybe I will still have a shot at my dream trip of seal clubbing.

LOL "dream"


Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: ] #2112793
08/20/10 11:11 PM
08/20/10 11:11 PM
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Mira Trapper Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: Hupurest
Maybe I will still have a shot at my dream trip of seal clubbing.



It would be great if you Americans lifted the seal product ban into the US . Seal skins are one of the most luxurient furs that are found in the market place.


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Mac Leod Motto
Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: Mira Trapper] #2118324
08/25/10 05:31 PM
08/25/10 05:31 PM
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AR tolerance does not extend to Native cultures (AARE)‏

5:00 PM

Albany Animal Rights Examiner
Animal Rights Activists and Tolerance
By Patrick Battuello
August 23rd, 2010 6:41 am ET
http://www.examiner.com/animal-rights-in-albany/animal-rights-activists-and-tolerance

Animal rights activists are vulnerable to the charges of intolerance
and disrespect towards other cultures and traditions. As an example,
the Inuit subsist primarily on the meat of seal, walrus, whale,
caribou, and fish largely because grains, fruits, and vegetables are
scarce in the Arctic regions. Still, their tradition holds that the
meat (and the blood that they drink) keeps them warm and is essential
for vitality. According to Kristen Borre (Seal Blood, Inuit Blood, and
Diet), the Inuit believe they have an unwritten contract with the
seals which allows them to kill and eat to satisfy their hunger:
"...both hunter and seal are believed to benefit: the hunter is able
to sustain the life of his people by having a reliable source of food,
and the seal, through its sacrifice, agrees to become part of the body
of the Inuit."

We live, however, in an era of easy transportation, efficient
agriculture, and global commerce. There is no need to slaughter
animals for food. Animal rights advocates are admonished to be
tolerant, but tolerance has its limits. Society is not tolerant of
unprovoked attacks on another person (and clearly not tolerant of
premeditated murder). To an animal rights activist, slaughtering
animals for meat is unprovoked, premeditated murder. Moral consistency
demands there be no exceptions. Setting aside the relative quality of
life between a factory-farmed animal and one taken in the wild, the
end result is still the same. Sentient animals have an interest in
living (like humans, an innate will to survive). Both the Smithfield
pig and the Alaskan seal are willfully killed. And, I'm sure, neither
are interested in satisfying another's hunger.

The Inuit (like Native Americans from our past) have a respect for
nature (including the animals that they use). This spiritual bond,
however, does nothing to alter the reality of a bloody, premature
death for the seals and walruses. Either all deliberate killing of
animals for food is wrong, or none of it is. The animal rights
position says that culture and tradition do not supersede an animal's
interest in not being murdered.


These ARA philosophers are ignorant cheese heads who would fail miserably if their food was not provided to them on a daily bases.


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Mac Leod Motto
Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: ] #2118422
08/25/10 06:32 PM
08/25/10 06:32 PM
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Originally Posted By: Hupurest
Maybe I will still have a shot at my dream trip of seal clubbing.


You and me both Hup. I know some luremakers that would give their eye teeth for a few gallons of seal oil.


Never argue with a fool - they will drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: bad karma] #2118667
08/25/10 08:39 PM
08/25/10 08:39 PM
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Originally Posted By: bad karma
Originally Posted By: Hupurest
Maybe I will still have a shot at my dream trip of seal clubbing.


You and me both Hup. I know some luremakers that would give their eye teeth for a few gallons of seal oil.



Be glad to set up those deals for you and Paula but your government banned such a common sense approach to seal management years ago. Both you and I would face the wrath of the the US laws if we made that exchange. Most likely would face more jail time then a child molester would in todays world.


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Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: Mira Trapper] #2119439
08/26/10 10:35 AM
08/26/10 10:35 AM
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The United States banned seal products entry in 1972 and still haven`t made any attepmt to correct their wrong.


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Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: Mira Trapper] #2119445
08/26/10 10:43 AM
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We in the US are probably just lucky that we can OWN sealskin products from seals taken in Alaska by Natives.

Thanks Donnie, for pointing out the progress in Europe. I sure hope they don't figure some way to go ahead with reinstating their ban.

Pete

Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: Pete in Frbks] #2119484
08/26/10 11:05 AM
08/26/10 11:05 AM
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Originally Posted By: Pete in Frbks
We in the US are probably just lucky that we can OWN sealskin products from seals taken in Alaska by Natives.

Thanks Donnie, for pointing out the progress in Europe. I sure hope they don't figure some way to go ahead with reinstating their ban.

Pete



One of the finest coats available to man is sealskin and mukuluks made of sealskin are superior to any other product in my estimation. The only fault I ever had with the seal cull is under utilization as all of the seal can be used instead of just the pelt. Lure makers would dearly love to get seal meat for bait jars and oil for lures.


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Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: Mira Trapper] #2119638
08/26/10 01:35 PM
08/26/10 01:35 PM
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Originally Posted By: Mira Trapper
Originally Posted By: Hupurest
Maybe I will still have a shot at my dream trip of seal clubbing.



It would be great if you Americans lifted the seal product ban into the US . Seal skins are one of the most luxurient furs that are found in the market place.



Oh yeah. In Russia I tried on a bunch of seal coats...it was amazing. Adult seals don't look soft and fluffy but they are, with a sleek guard hair top-cover. The spots on some of them are really cool too.

Go go natives! Kick vegan butt! grin

Re: Seal Product ban suspended in Europe. [Re: bad karma] #2119645
08/26/10 01:40 PM
08/26/10 01:40 PM
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Originally Posted By: bad karma
Originally Posted By: Hupurest
Maybe I will still have a shot at my dream trip of seal clubbing.


You and me both Hup. I know some luremakers that would give their eye teeth for a few gallons of seal oil.

I don't know about pulling my teeth but I would like a couple gallons to play around with...


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