LEWISPORTE - Although no opening dates have yet been set for the 2008 seal harvest, quotas have been announced and they aren't sitting well with those involved in the industry.
With an estimated population of 5.5 million, the 2008 seal hunt quota of 275,000 isn't the news sealers wanted to hear.
Although the total allowable catch (TAC) has seen an increase of 5,000 over 2007, the Canadian Sealers Association was asking for a TAC of 300,000.
This allocation includes 2,000 seals for personal use, 4,950 seals for Aboriginal initiatives and a carry forward of 16,186 seals for those fleets who did not capture their quota from 2007. Once the carry forward is deducted, existing sharing arrangements remain in place, with the Front receiving about 70 per cent of the TAC and about 30 per cent for the Gulf. The 2008 hooded seal TAC has been set at 8,200 animals out of a herd of 600,000.
Local fisherman Clyde Noble is preparing his vessel to take part in the seal hunt again this year. Mr. Noble is relatively new to this fishery, this being his third year.
With an estimated population of 5.5 million seals, Mr. Noble described the quotas announced as less than a drop in the bucket.
With the quotas and the prices that are being offered for seals, Mr. Noble wonders if it is even worth it to be involved.
"The price is down on the seals, I'm hearing anywhere from $20 to $40 dollars, but you won't know the true price until you get out and get back," he said. "With the cost of fuel, if you are only going to get $20 a seal, if you get 500, you aren't even going to break even."
Another factor Mr. Noble said fisherpersons have to consider is the wear and tear on their vessel.
"When you look at it, pounding your boat through the ice is the same as running into rocks all day long," he said. "So if you are not going to get $80 or $100 for a seal, it is not worth going out for. It is hard on a vessel."
Despite that Mr. Noble said he still intends to take to the waters for the opening of this years seal hunt.
Opening dates for the 2008 harp seal hunt will be announced in the coming weeks, following consultation with industry.
Preparing for the hunt
Clyde Noble was busy last week doing maintenance on his vessel for the upcoming seal hunt. While the total allowable catch quotas announced are a consideration, Mr. Noble is more concerned about the price that will be set for seals this year, something he
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- Published on March 19th, 2008
- Published on June 28th, 2010
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Dave Cooper
Quotas, seal prices a concern for sealers
Although no opening dates have yet been set for the 2008 seal harvest, quotas have been announced and they aren't sitting well with those involved in the industry.
With an estimated population of 5.5 million, the 2008 seal hunt quota of 275,000 isn't the news sealers wanted to hear.
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Comments
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- gitte
- - June 29th, 2010 at 15:38:15
This is the kind of story that says it all loud and clear. Sealing just isn't worth it. This is also a story that is going to make it to every single member of parliament in Europe shortly...
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- Bridget
- - June 29th, 2010 at 15:38:15
Can government and sealers make it any more glaringly obvious that the seal hunt is clearly unsustainable? br br The President of the Canadian Sealers Association said himself that DFO set the quota higher than its own Science Division advised. br br Even so, the sealers are STILL saying that the quota is too LOW and they want to slaughter even MORE seals. br br How do you spell unsustainable? Ecological disaster? G-R-E-E-D-Y F-I-S-H-E-R-M-E-N. That's how I spell it. br br With the high kill levels of the past few years and catastrophic ice conditions in the past resulting in higher than average infant mortality rate, they are STILL quoting the magical number of 5.5 million? Suspicious, to say the least. br br When sealers begin complaining that it's not worth their while to go out due to low skin prices and cost of running their boats, etc., you KNOW it's time to start seriously considering licence buy-backs. br br If sealers think THIS is bad, they should know that this is just the beginning. It is going to get ALOT worse. Now is the time to lobby the government for a buyback before those bits of paper called sealing licenses aren't worth the paper upon which they're printed...
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- Mike
- - June 29th, 2010 at 15:38:14
Bridget, I'm sorry did I sound angry? I don't think so although it is a usual ploy of the anti's to cry anger when you have no other answer and you are trying to discredit someone. I believe I did present a logical argument when comparing the number of pups born a season to the number that die. Did you miss that? I can see how you may have in your apparent self-righteous cloud of indignation. I also pointed out that your side will condemn sealers and government as liars but yet when they say something that is agreeable to you, you will quote it like gospel or fully back it. In this you sound very confused and, like with everything else that you in particular say, contradicting yourself. Excuse me if I am critical of you but the moment you step into the public eye and declare yourself a champion of an issue you open yourself up to critical analysis. If I were you I would loose the oh poor me syndrome whenever someone questions what you say and actually comeback with an answer to their questions because until you do, you have little to no validity. Oddly enough, I have yet to come across anyone from your side of this issue who can do anything more than avoid questions and cry foul.
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- donny
- - June 29th, 2010 at 15:38:14
gitte thornberg from copenhagen: br Yeah I guess the seal hunters should get into something more profitable like fur farming. I was just on the website of the the European Fur Breeders Association and I understand over 10,000,000 animals are killed for fur on Denmark fur farms every year. That means a number of animals greater than the entire annual TAC for the seal hunt is killed on Denmark fur farms every couple weeks. I guess those animals aren't sacred to Europeans like seals are?
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- erleen
- - June 29th, 2010 at 15:38:14
I'm embarrased as a Canadian about the yearly hunt. The sealers go out, kill 250,000+ seals in 3 weeks and get to collect unemployment benefits when its all done. The hunt generates less than 1% of Newfoundland's GDP. I think the hunt looses more money in boycotts (seafood, tourism, business) than what they actually make. The meat isn't even eaten, they haven't been able to find a market outside of Canada despite spending millions (seal meat is gross!). I think seal penis was popular in Asia for a while until Viagra came out. The hunt doesn't help the underlying problem which is seasonal unemployment. The rest of Canada feels really sorry for that region and the people which is why it continues. The people continually try to play the victim when its really the young pups that don't have a chance to get away that are. They call it humane but yet they keep changing the story and the rules like this year. Activists aren't even allowed to observe the hunt or go anywhere near it. They don't want you to witness the truth. It's a national disgrace and unfortunately the people of NFLD buy into the propoganda instead of changing for the better. The only time the province makes the front pages is when this yearly massacre takes place (okay sometimes there is news when Danny Williams the Premier wants more federal money). What a legacy.
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- Mike
- - June 29th, 2010 at 15:38:14
Bridget Curran, br br I'm just going to call you spin doctor from now on ok? Even if there was a pup mortality of 100% in the gulf added to a normal pup mortality on the Front added to the total of seals killed last year by sealers there is still an increase to the Harp seal population as more seals were born then predicted to have died. This is why there has been little fluctuation in the predicted number of Harp seals which is in the 5.2-6.2 million range. br br In teh story, Mr. Noble admits that he is not sure what the price is going to be and in this has no idea how lucrative the hunt will be. In fact if he can produce top grade pelts he will get more than he is predicting he will. But all this doesn't stop you from taking a maybe and quoting it as gospel even though it is coming from a sealer. My how willing you are to believe a sealer when it works for your agenda. You see that is the difference between you and I, I never use anything from your side of the issue because I know you are full of it 100% of the time.
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- DAVID
- - June 29th, 2010 at 15:38:13
Re Seal Hunt. br br You all eat fish. All seals eat fish. Leave off from harvesting surplus seals and noboby will be eating fish including the seals. Save the seal harvesters, they are doing every body a favor, in fact alot of so called do gooders don't understand anything about the needs of down to earth people. The protesters are all in this for big money. br David donahue
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- frank
- - June 29th, 2010 at 15:38:13
I was amazed to hear that the peopl of New Bruinswick are so discusted with Paul Watson, the self made money scammer who tries to make people beleive that he is protecting the seals off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. He is scared to venture into his own province, or that of Quebec. br br When talking to some tourists from Germany, Poland, Portugal and England, they were quick to talk about the billion dollar fund raising campaigns in their country,s that have been stopped as Animal Rights groups were brain washing people about the barbaric people of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Bruinswick, plus Quebec. br br What many people don,t know about Animal Rights groups is their tendency to aggressively provoke people and run in front of media cameras. They are dangerous people, and someday soon there will be a tragedy. Will the organizing scammers protect them after?? Certainly not my friends. br They have their beer, drugs and freebies, handed out by organizers of the scamming groups. They have a life of royalty till the organizors leave town! After that, the supporters get their usual propoganda mail for handouts. They also leave behind their garbage for others to pich up after them. br br The Bleeding Hearts that love animals as everyone else do, are playing an unjust role in not knowing their wealthy organizers, and blaming innocent people who are making an honest living for their families. br br Frank Blackwood, Ontario
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- Bridget
- - June 29th, 2010 at 15:38:12
Mike from St. John's, NL: Why so angry? Have I touched a nerve? Of course, when you don't have a logical argument, resort to personal attacks, calling me names and saying I am full of it . Full of what, exactly? Full of compassion? Full of commonsense? Full of the truth? Yes, I think I've touched a nerve... br br Gitte, you've got that right - take it all to Europe, because Europeans are capable of seeing through the government propaganda and sealing industry misinformation and are able to think for themselves rather than using the mantra If the government says it, it must be true...If the government says it, it must be true...
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