- WASHINGTON -- The biggest
seal hunt for more than half a century will start today in Newfoundland
out of public view because, the Canadian authorities allegedly refused
to co-operate with animal rights activists wishing to document the slaughter.
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- Campaigners estimate that today and tomorrow, more than
140,000 baby harp seals will be either clubbed or shot to death by 3,500
fisherman in a hunt driven by an increased worldwide demand for seal pelt
products.
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- This year's seal hunt in Canada, in which 350,000 animals
will be killed, has created the sort of international controversy last
seen two decades ago when a global outcry against the slaughter in effect
ended the seal skin market. Celebrities such as Brigitte Bardot led the
campaign, which said baby seals were often being skinned alive by hunters.
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- The Canadian federal authorities say new regulations
mean white-furred seals not yet weaned from their mothers are no longer
killed and the animals are treated in a more humane way. They say the seal
population can tolerate a high quota of animals to be killed.
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- Campaigners say the federal Department of Fisheries and
Oceans (DFO) which oversees the hunt off the Newfoundland coast, is trying
to stop the public from witnessing the hunt. Rebecca Aldworth, a campaigner
with the International Fund for Animal Welfare said it had applied to the
DFO for the necessary permits but the department had not provided them.
"We had a lot of people who wanted to come and see this," she
said. "But the DFO says you have to have a permit to go on the ice.
We called them last Thursday but they did not return our calls. The office
will not be open again until Tuesday and there is a two day wait for the
permits. By then the vast majority of the hunt will be over." She
added: "I think it is very deliberate. This is public space but the
DFO treats it as though it is the property of the seal hunters. Our point
is that if you go out and see for yourself there is no way you could come
back and support the hunt."
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- The hunt in eastern Canada traditionally takes place
in two phases, the first in the Gulf of St Lawrence, which finished 10
days ago, and the second, bigger hunt that takes place on the so-called
"front" up to 100 miles off the Newfoundland coast.
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- The fishermen who participate in the hunt say the seal
pelts bring a much needed boost at a time of year when finances have run
low.
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- Campaigners say few fishermen will earn more than a few
hundred dollars from the hunt.
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- The Canadian government has accused the campaigners of
deliberately misleading the public. After several groups, including the
Humane Society of the United States, took out full-page newspaper adverts
with the message "O Canada. How Could you ... Again?", John Efford,
the Canadian Minister of Natural Resources, said the activists were trying
to harm the welfare of the fishermen.
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- "It's not misleading, it's absolutely wrong,"
Mr Efford, a former Newfoundland fisherman, told The Globe and Mail. "It
can't be any more wrong to say we're killing baby seals when we're not."
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- A spokesman for the Prime Minister, Paul Martin, said
many environmental groups had stopped protesting against the hunt. "They
realise that with so many seals, it's kind of hard to say this is something
that has to stop," said Mario Lague. "The bottom line is this
is an industry that is environmentally responsible."
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- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=510729
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