Dear Editor,
If you are a Newfoundlander living in an Outport (which I am) who has taken his living over the years directly from the sea (Fisher or plant worker - which I have) you must be frustrated to the point of banging your head off of the wall (which I am). For the past 14 years I have taken 100 per cent of my employment from the sealing industry. The past 14 years have no doubt had its good and bad years which I can except because other industries go through the same thing, especially within the fishery. When it comes to the sealing industry let’s take a look at why we are where we now find ourselves today.
To say there are no markets or that people don’t want our seal products I feel is a false statement. As a matter of fact I know it’s couldn’t be further from the truth. The problem is freedom of choice. Let me explain what I mean by that. If I walk into a store of what ever kind, let’s say a clothing store to buy a new coat. I am offered a selection to choose from of many different kinds. It is my choice to then select a coat from that selection that I feel good about. I try on some coats and eventually find one that’s looks and feels good but there’s something I don’t like, it was made in China or some other country. I don’t buy it. Why? The reason is that I would rather support a Canadian product. So I put the coat back on the rack and select a product made in Canada and feel good about what I’ve done. Did I do anything wrong? No, I made a choice and that choice was mind. The big thing is the fact that I had that choice and that’s what’s wrong with regards to seal furs. It’s not that people don’t want it, it’s that people aren’t given that choice.
Customers in the EU or Russia that may buy a Seal skin product are not given the opportunity to make up their own mind because their governments have made the decision for them when it comes to seal products and that’s wrong. Why is it wrong? It’s wrong because of the fact that Canada holds trade agreements with these same Governments. Our sealskin products should be given the same opportunities as other products which are traded between our countries. The only reason that seal products are the targets is because of the deep pockets of animal rights groups whom have feathered their nests and become extremely rich and powerful through lies and presentation of misinformation pertaining to the harvesting of seals. These deep pocketed activists/terrorists (because that’s what they are) have scammed millions, if not billons of dollars over the years on the backs of sealers and the sealing industry. They have taken more money from the sealing industry then we could ever hope to make as sealers and seal producers. They are on a mission of control and one of the things they want to control is the consumers right of choice.
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