[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
______
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.
____________________