The following is being distributed at the request of the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission:

Sealing the Future is the first major international forum to bring together sealers and sealing community representatives, producers, researchers and policy-makers from around the world to exchange their knowledge and views on the conservation and sustainable use of seals today and in the future. The conference gathers people from the entire circumpolar region, North America, northern Europe, from the White Sea to the Russian Far East, and from Latin America and southern Africa.

Sealing the Future is arranged by NAMMCO - the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission - and is hosted by the provincial Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. NAMMCO is an intergovernmental body for cooperation on the conservation, management and study of marine mammals in the North Atlantic and was established in 1992 by Norway, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The conference is co-sponsored by the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Nordic-Atlantic Cooperation and the High North Alliance.

The conference begins on Tuesday, November 25 with opening addresses by the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the R. John Efford and the Minister of Fisheries, Hunting and Agriculture of the Government of Greenland, the Paviaraq Heilmann. In addition, the President of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Aqqaluk Lynge, will give an opening presentation on the impacts on Inuit communities in Greenland and Canada of the collapse of sealskin markets in the 1980s, and the prospects for these communities to revitalise their local sealing economies.

Sealing has long been an important part of the economy and culture of many communities around the world, and most seal stocks harvested today are abundant and healthy, providing a basis for continued sustainable use. Conference theme sessions begin on Tuesday,November 25 with a series of presentations on sealing past and present by researchers, community representatives and sealers from around the world.

Case study sessions focussing on product development and marketing of seal oil, meat and sealskin products will be central to the programme on Wednesday, November 26 providing an opportunity to discuss the potential and prospects for maintaining and enhancing the economic viabilty of sealing in the future.

A common concern in many regions where seals are utilised for their skins, meat and blubber has been the impact of external political factors on international markets for seal products. In recent decades, politically-motivated prohibitions against the import of seal products into the European Union and the US have created impediments to the sustainable use of seal stocks and have had direct economic and social consequences for many sealing communities. How best to address such barriers to international trade will be the subject of a special panel discussion to conclude Wednesday's focus on products and markets.

The final day of the conference, Thursday November 27, will examine current approaches to managing seals and sealing, with presentations by representatives of administrations and institutes from around the world responsible for the formation of national management policies. These will be followed by presentations from a number of experts from different fields exploring in general the various factors which inform and influence management policies.

The conference will conclude with a general discussion on the future of sealing and international cooperation on the conservation and management of seal stocks.

The Conference Exhibition will provide a concrete, informative framework for the event, with producers, communities and organisations displaying their products and information. Video screenings in coffee and lunch breaks will also supplement the main programme of lectures and discussions.

An International Seal Fashion Show on the evening of Wednesday November 26 will be the special feature of the Conference Dinner arranged and hosted by the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. This gala evening will include dinner and an international fashion show featuring designers from Greenland, Norway, Iceland, Namibia, and Canada who will present their latest collections of seal fur, leather and suede fashions. Dinner Speaker will be Brian Tobin, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

A Media Room will be available during the conference (Bonavista Bay Room). Members of the medias are exempt from Conference fees but must register and show their media credentials. Registration will take place from 1400-1900 on Monday, November 24 and from 0800-0900 on Tuesday, November 25.

An informal pre-Conference reception for participants will be held at the Delta St John's on Monday, November 24 from 1900-2030. Members of the media are also welcome to attend, but must be registered and issued with a media badge beforehand.

For further information, contact the NAMMCO Secretariat (Kate Sanderson, General Secretary), which will be located from Friday, November 21 at the Delta St John's Hotel and Conference Centre - Placentia Bay Room - Tel. (709) 739-6404 Fax: (709) 570-1620.

Sealing the Future
NAMMCO International Conference & Exhibition
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25
CONFERENCE OPENING

0900 Introduction
Kate Sanderson, General Secretary, NAMMCO

0905 Official Opening
Arnor Halldorsson, Chairman of the Council of NAMMCO

0910 Opening Addresses
R. John Efford, Minister of Fisheries & Aquaculture, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador; Paviaraq Heilmann, Minister of Fisheries, Hunting and Agriculture, Home Rule Government of Greenland

0930 Keynote Address
Collapse of the Arctic Sealskin Market: Aqqaluk Lynge, President,Inuit Circumpolar Conference

1000 Coffee

1. SEALING PAST & PRESENT
Chair: Milton M.R. Freeman, H.M.Tory Professor of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Canada

1030 Chair's opening remarks

1.1 KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS

1035 The origins of Newfoundland commercial sealing:Shannon Ryan, Department of History, Memorial University of Newfoundland

1105 The socio-economic basis of subsistence sealing in Arctic Canada and Greenland: Grete K. Hovelsrud-Broda, Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA and George W. Wenzel, Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

1135 Seals and sealing in the Russian Far-East: History, present status and prospects for the future: Valeriy A. Vladimirov, Marine Mammal Lab, All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) and Yuri Ponomarev, Magadan Fish and Game Inspection (Okhotskrybvod)

1205 Questions & Discussion

1215 Lunch

1.2 SEALING AROUND THE WORLD TODAY

1400 The importance of marine mammals to Alaska's indigenous people: Carl Jack, Subsistence Director, Rural Alaska Community Action Program (RurAL CAP)

1415 Sealing activities of the Inupiaq communities of the Arctic Coast of Alaska: Ben Hopson, Jr., Sealer from the North Slope of Alaska & Interim President of Indigenous Survival International

1430 Norwegian sealing today - on thin ice?:Bj�rne Kvernmo, Norwegian Sealers' Association

1445 Russian sealing in the North-East Atlantic and the Kara Sea - the past and the future: Vladimir Potelov, SevPINRO Marine Research Institute, Arkhangelsk

1500 Questions & Discussion

1515 Coffee

1545 The sealing community of Newfoundland: Mark Small, Canadian Sealers Association

1600 The challenges to Inuit sealing communities in Canada: Okalik Eegeesiak, President, Inuit Tapirisat Canada

1615 Testimonial: Lasarusic Epoo, seal hunter from Northern Quebec

1630 The Cape fur seal harvest in Namibia: Aldert Brink, Sea Lion Products

1645 Sealing in Greenland: Representative of the Greenland Hunters and Fishermen's Organisation (KNAPK)

1700 Questions & Discussion

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26

2. PRODUCTS & MARKETS

2.1 Seal Oil and Meat
Chair:Kjartan Hoydal, Secretary, Nordic Atlantic Cooperation

0900 Chair's opening remarks

KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS:

0905 Seal meat, oil and carcass components - potential and problems for product development: Fereidoon Shahidi, Dept of Biochemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's

0935 The Orsoq seal oil research project: Eva Bonefeld J�rgensen, Center of Arctic Environmental Medicine, Dept of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, University of �rhus, Denmark

1005 Questions & Discussion

1015 Coffee

1030 Seal oil: case studies - David Hiscock, Gateway Maritime, Newfoundland; Marit Eriksen, Davinor, Norway; Aldert Brink, Sea Lion Products, Namibia

1100 Questions & Discussion

1130 Seal meat: case studies - John Ackerman, Indian Bay Frozen Food, Newfoundland; Willem Burger, Namibia Venison and Marine Products

1200 Questions & Discussion

1230 Lunch

2.2 SEALSKIN
Chair: Alison Beal, Executive Director, Fur Institute of Canada

1400 Chair's opening remarks

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION:

1405 The international market situation for fur: Leif Boe Hansen, President & CEO, Saga Furs of Scandinavia & Chairman of the Board of the International Fur Trade Federation

1435 Sealskin: case studies - Knut Nygard, Rieber Skinn, Norway; Karl Sullivan, Terra Nova Fishery, Canada; Robert Trudeau, Government of the Northwest Territories, Canada; Eggert J�hannson, Iceland

1520 Questions & Discussion

1540 Coffee

2.3 OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SEAL PRODUCTS
Chair:Steen Christensen, Ministry of Business and Industry, Denmark

1610 Chair's opening remarks

1615 The major barriers to trade in seal products today: Craig Boljkovac, Acting Research Director, Inuit Tapirisat Canada

1630- 1730 Panel Discussion
Panellists: Okalik Eeegesiak, President, Inuit Tapirisat Canada; Tina Fagan, Executive Secretary, Canadian Sealers Association; Leif Boe Hansen, Chairman, International Fur Trade Federation; Reidar Hindrum, Nordic Council of Ministers; Ben Hopson Jr., Interim President, Indigenous Survival International; Einar Lemche, Greenland Home Rule Government; Aqqaluk Lynge, President, Inuit Circumpolar Conference.

1930 for 2000: Conference Host Dinner and International Fashion Show, Delta St. John's

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 27

3. MANAGING SEALS & SEALING FOR THE FUTURE
Chair: Jean-Eudes Hache, former Assistant Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries & Oceans, Canada

0900 Chair's opening remarks

3.1 SEAL MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE

0905 Canada: Jaque Robichaud, Director General, Resource Management, Dept of Fisheries & Oceans

0920 Namibia: Ekkehard Klingelhoeffer, Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources

0935 Peru: Milena Arias-Schreiber, Deputy Director of Marine Mammal Research, IMARPE

0950 Questions & Discussion

1020 Coffee

1045 Norway: Jan Frederik Danielsen, Adviser, Ministry of Fisheries

1100 Greenland: Amalie Jessen, Head of Office, Department of Fisheries, Hunting & Agriculture

1115 Uruguay: Alberto Ponce de Leon, Marine Mammal Dept, National Institute of Fisheries

1130 Russian Federation: G.V. Gusev, International Fisheries Policy Division, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Food

1145 Questions & Discussion

1215 Lunch

3. 2 PERSPECTIVES ON MANAGEMENT

1330 The harp seal - The challenge of managing a valued resource and formidable predator: Rob Coombs, Dept of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Government of Newfoundland & Labrador

1350 Do more seals mean lower TAC's?: Doug Butterworth, Dept of Applied Mathematics, University of Capetown, South Africa

1410 Fish, turnips and conservation: Seals and the human ecology of North Atlantic coastal communities: Niels Einarsson, Dept of Fisheries Studies, University of Akureyri, Iceland

1430 Questions & Discussion

1440 Coffee

1510 Concepts and standards for the killing of animals: Egil Ole �en, Norwegian College of Veterinary Medicine

1530 The need for consistency and cooperation in seal management: Rune Fr�vik, Secretary, High North Alliance

1550 Questions & Discussion

4. SEALING THE FUTURE

1600 Concluding discussion chaired by Jean-Eudes Hach�, with summaries from Session & Panel Chairs.

1715 Closing of Conference