It is with a heavy heart and an upset stomach that I write that Canada’s seal slaughter begins today. This year’s quota, as established by the Canadian government, is set at 294,000 harp seals pups and 8,200 hooded seals. This staggering figure is an increase from 2008′s already-tragic quota, which claimed the lives of over 220,000 seal pups. The seal culling is the largest slaughter of marine mammals on the planet.
Just days ago, Vladimir Putin announced an end to the annual spring massacre in the northern White Sea region of Russia. Annual quotas set by the Russian government previously permitted the killing of up to 35,000 baby seals in the White Sea. Putin called the clubbing of baby seals a “bloody trade” that “should have been banned long ago.”
A 2005 letter from the U.S. Department of State to Senators Collins and Levin stated our own government’s position: “The United States has made known to the Government of Canada its objections and the objections of concerned American legislators and citizens to the Canadian commercial seal hunt on numerous occasions over recent years.” So why does the seal slaughter continue in Canada? While this practice should have ended well before Obama entered office, some of the blame certainly lies with our current administration.
More than 150 restaurants in the area, including Central Michel Richard, CityZen, and PS 7’s, boycott Canadian seafood because of the cruel killing of Canadian seals committed each year. Yet our own President, as recently as March 4th, served Canadian salmon to 200 White House guests. With the seal slaughter occuring within the same month as Obama’s fish feast, the timing of this dinner seems particularly insensitive.
So what can you do?
- Educate yourself on the hunt.
- Tell the President that you want the White House to ban all Canadian seafood.
- Sign a petition.
- Support local restaurants that ban Canadian seafood.
- Donate to the cause or buy items whose proceeds go to fight the seal hunt.
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