[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 169 (Thursday, November 20, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S15300]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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   SENATE RESOLUTION 269--URGING THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA TO END THE 
         COMMERCIAL SEAL HUNT THAT OPENED ON NOVEMBER 15, 2003

  Mr. LEVIN (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Reed, Mr. 
Lautenberg, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Jeffords, and Mr. Kennedy) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 269

       Whereas on November 15, 2003, the Government of Canada 
     opened a commercial hunt on seals in the waters off the east 
     coast of Canada;
       Whereas an international outcry regarding the plight of the 
     seals hunted in Canada resulted in the 1983 ban by the 
     European Union of whitecoat and blueback seal skins, and the 
     subsequent collapse of the commercial seal hunt in Canada;
       Whereas the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 
     1361 et seq.) bars the import into the United States of any 
     seal products;
       Whereas in February 2003, the Ministry of Fisheries and 
     Oceans in Canada authorized the highest quota for harp seals 
     in Canadian history, allowing nearly 1,000,000 seals to be 
     killed over a 3-year period;
       Whereas harp seal pups can be legally hunted in Canada as 
     soon as they have begun to molt their white coats at 
     approximately 12 days of age;
       Whereas 97 percent of the seals culled in the 2003 
     slaughter were pups between just 12 days and 12 weeks of age, 
     most of which had not yet eaten their first solid meal or 
     learned to swim;
       Whereas a 2001 report by an independent team of 
     veterinarians invited to observe the hunt by the 
     International Fund for Animal Welfare concluded that the seal 
     hunt failed to comply with basic animal welfare regulations 
     in Canada and that governmental regulations regarding humane 
     killing were not being respected or enforced;
       Whereas the 2001 veterinary report concluded that as many 
     as 42 percent of the seals studied were likely skinned while 
     alive and conscious;
       Whereas the commercial slaughter of seals in the Northwest 
     Atlantic is inherently cruel, whether the killing is 
     conducted by clubbing or by shooting;
       Whereas many seals are shot in the course of the hunt, but 
     escape beneath the ice where they die slowly and are never 
     recovered, and these seals are not counted in official kill 
     statistics, making the actual kill level far higher than the 
     level that is reported;
       Whereas the commercial hunt for harp and hooded seals is 
     not conducted by indigenous peoples of Canada, but is a 
     commercial slaughter carried out by nonnative people from the 
     East Coast of Canada for seal fur, oil, and penises (used as 
     aphrodisiacs in some Asian markets);
       Whereas the fishing and sealing industries in Canada 
     continue to justify the expanded seal hunt on the grounds 
     that the seals in the Northwest Atlantic are preventing the 
     recovery of cod stocks, despite the lack of any credible 
     scientific evidence to support this claim;
       Whereas 2 Canadian Government marine scientists reported in 
     1994 that the true cause of cod depletion in the North 
     Atlantic was over-fishing, and the consensus among the 
     international scientific community is that seals are not 
     responsible for the collapse of cod stocks;
       Whereas harp and hooded seals are a vital part of the 
     complex ecosystem of the Northwest Atlantic, and because the 
     seals consume predators of commercial cod stocks, removing 
     the seals might actually inhibit recovery of cod stocks;
       Whereas certain ministries of the Government of Canada have 
     stated clearly that there is no evidence that killing seals 
     will help groundfish stocks to recover; and
       Whereas the persistence of this cruel and needless 
     commercial hunt is inconsistent with the well-earned 
     international reputation of Canada: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate urges the Government of Canada to 
     end the commercial hunt on seals that opened in the waters 
     off the east coast of Canada on November 15, 2003.

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, today I am joined by a number of my 
colleagues in submitting a resolution in the hope that the Canadian 
government will cease its support of the slaughter of seals. The images 
from this senseless slaughter are difficult to view but even harder to 
accept: skinning of live animals, some no older than 12 days, and the 
dragging of live seals across the ice using steel hooks.
  On November 15, 2003, the Government of Canada opened a commercial 
hunt on seals in the waters off the east coast of Canada. This hunt is 
supported by millions of dollars of subsidies to the sealing industry 
every year from the Canadian Government. These subsidies facilitate the 
slaughter of innocent animals and artificially extend the life of an 
industry that has ceased to exist in most developed countries. These 
subsides can not be justified and should be ended.
  Few would argue that this industry still serves a legitimate purpose. 
Two years ago, an economic analysis of the Canadian sealing industry 
concluded that it provided the equivalent on only 100 to 150 full-time 
jobs each year. In addition, the analysis found that these jobs cost 
Canadian taxpayers nearly $30,000 each. The report concluded that when 
the cost of government subsidies provided to the industry was weighed 
against the landed value of the seals each year, the net value of the 
sealing industry was close to zero.
  There is little about the Canadian sealing industry that is self-
sustaining. The operating budget of the Canadian Sealers Association 
continues to be paid by the Canadian government; their rent each month 
is paid by the provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador; seal 
processing companies continue to receive subsidies through the Atlantic 
Canada Opportunities Agency; Human Resources Development Canada, and 
other federal funding programs for staffing and capital costs. The 
sealing industry, through the Sealing Industry Development Council and 
other bodies, receives assistance for product research and development, 
and for product marketing initiatives, both overseas and domestically. 
All the costs of the seal hunt for ice breaking services and for search 
and rescue, provided by the Canadian Coast Guard, are underwritten by 
Canadian taxpayers.
  Many believe that subsidizing an industry that only operates for a 
few weeks a year and employs only a few hundred people on a seasonal, 
part-time basis is simply a bad investment on the part of the Canadian 
government. The HSUS has already called upon the Canadian government to 
end these archaic subsidies and instead work to diversify the economy 
in the Atlantic region by facilitating long-term jobs and livelihoods.
  The clubbing of baby seals can't be defended or justified, and Canada 
should end it just as we ended the Alaska baby seal massacre 20 years 
ago. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

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