Fisheries and Aquaculture
January 11, 2008

Provincial Government Says Much Progress Has Been Made on the Seal Hunt

The Provincial Government says it is pleased with the progress that has been made on the seal hunt during the last two years. The province has made it a priority to proactively address the misinformation on the industry and the efforts have achieved positive results at an international level. In Budget 2006 and again in Budget 2007, $100,000 was allocated to address the misinformation being spread in relation to the harvest.

"Our government has been very active in addressing issues raised on the sealing industry in the global arena," said the Honourable Tom Rideout, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture. "We have been very successful to date with preventing a ban of sealing products from occurring in the European Union (EU) and we�ve been very surprised by the recent display of an unnecessarily negative attitude in the face of all the positive work that has been done.

"We were astounded and surprised at the view taken by the Canadian Ambassador for Fisheries Conservation recently when he made the remark that we�re 10 years too late for the fight," said Minister Rideout. "It is the view of our government that it is never too late and this is quite a defeatist attitude for an ambassador to take when the issue is still very much ongoing and we have had a number of successes to date. The EU decided not to proceed with a ban on sealing products, their own agency confirmed that the harvest is humane, Canadian fisheries ministers agreed to work together on communicating the facts on the harvest and the Federal Government has agreed to refer the issue to the World Trade Organization."

In 2006, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador hosted a delegation of Members of the European Parliament. At that time the parliamentarians were given an opportunity to visit a seal processing facility and hear first-hand from a sealer and processor about the possible impacts of banning the import of sealing products into the EU.

"We were very pleased when the EU decided not to proceed with the proposed ban and rather decided to refer the matter for further study," said Minister Rideout. "However, we continue to address the fact that certain member states are considering implementing bans within their individual countries."

The sealing harvest was studied by the European Food Safety Association during 2007. That group determined that the harvest was humane provided that Federal Government regulations were followed.

"It has always been the position of the Provincial Government that the harvest must be conducted in a humane manner and federal regulations must be followed. We considered the outcome of the European Food Safety Association to be an endorsement of that position and the harvest overall," said Minister Rideout.

The provincial Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture has been actively pursuing the seal hunt file with the Federal Government and successfully advocated for having the proposed ban in Belgium referred to the World Trade Organization, as a violation of international trade agreements.

The Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture also raised the issue of the seal harvest with the Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers at their annual meeting in November 2007. At the time all ministers present, including the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, agreed that the council should work together to get the facts out to the world regarding the Canadian sealing harvest.

Also in 2007, the Provincial Government participated in a visit to a number of European countries with sealers from the across Canada. Countries visited included, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria.

Early in 2007, Premier Danny Williams met with a number of journalists from the European Union to ensure they were getting all the facts of the industry from the perspective of the province. The journalists represented the United Kingdom, Italy, Austria and Poland.

In 2006, the Provincial Government was successful in having Costco return seal oil capsules to the shelves of the St. John�s location. That same year, Premier Williams made a very successful appearance on Larry King Live to address misinformation being put forward on the industry.

"Clearly a great deal of work has been done on the seal harvest by our government, at an international level," said Minister Rideout. "Also, these efforts have clearly met with a great deal of success. We must keep in mind where the sealing industry might be today if these efforts had not been undertaken by our government."

The sealing industry provides important employment opportunities in rural and coastal areas of the province at a time of year when limited opportunities are available. "Our government will continue to support this important industry and the opportunities it provides to our people," said the minister.

-30-

Media contact:
Lori Lee Oates
Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture
709-729-3733, 690-8403
oatesll@gov.nl.ca

2007 10 11                                                   10:00 a.m.


SearchHomeBack to GovernmentContact Us


All material copyright the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. No unauthorized copying or redeployment permitted. The Government assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of any material deployed on an unauthorized server.
Disclaimer/Copyright/Privacy Statement