April 2nd, 2006

Filed under:
Canada, Flora and Fauna
38 Comments »

Why Do They Club Seals?

Earlier this month, somebody said I was from “a nation of seal clubbers”. That’s a fair comment, ’cause they sure club up a storm on the East Coast. It got me thinking, though. Why aren’t we “a nation of seal killers”? Why do they club seals?

I’m lazy, but the folks at Slate aren’t. One of their Explainer podcasts this week addressed this very question.

It’s safe and easy, and it preserves the seal’s valuable pelt. Federal laws in Canada give a sealer three ways to hunt his prey. He can shoot a seal with a rifle or shotgun–provided it’s above a minimum calibre or gauge; he can break its head with a blunt club (like a baseball bat) that must be at least 2 feet long; or he can smash in its brains with something called a hakapik–a 4- or 5-foot wooden pole with a bent, metal spike affixed to the end.

They go on to explain that it’s quite tricky to shoot a seal from a boat that’s bobbing up and down (the seal may be bobbing as well). Plus, should you not kill it with the first shot, the seal’s liable to jump into the water, and there goes your $70 (that’s it?) pelt. So, clubbing’s the preferable method.

We were discussing this subject at a party last night, and my friend said he’d heard that it costs more to police the seal hunt than the hunt generates in revenue. I searched around, trying to verify that fact, and only came up with this article. It’s from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, but cites an independent study (PDF). Unfortunately, it uses old data discussing subsidies which were phased out in 2000.

One point which is relevant is that the hunt only accounts for the equivalent of 100 to 150 full time jobs. We’re not talking about logging in BC or the cod fisheries here–this is a highly niche activity.

So, in summary, here are the facts I’ve gathered:

  • On average, clubbing a seal is probably more humane than shooting it.
  • While it’s clearly an animal rights issue, there’s no environmental case for opposing the hunt. This year the seal quota is less than 2% of the entire population, which has exploded in recent years.
  • As an industry, it’s small potatoes.

Regardless of how you feel about whacking seals, it seems obvious to me that the international perception of Canada’s seal hunt isn’t worth the few million dollars it may generate in GDP. Plenty of other resource workers across the country have had to retrain–can’t we do the same with a few hundred seal hunters?

Comments: 38 Responses so far

Neal
April 3rd, 2006
1:21 pm

It would be more sporting to hunt polar bears with a club. Even baby ones.

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-j.
April 3rd, 2006
1:35 pm

Or better yet, leave them all alone. It’s not like there are no available substitutes for seal pelts; the demand for them is quite simply unjustifiable.

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BB
April 3rd, 2006
3:06 pm

yes. hoorah. thank you, darren.
$70/body, indeed.

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Andrea
April 3rd, 2006
3:22 pm

Your post prompted me to Google for a guy with whom I went to high school. He was in all my honours classes and really not the type to get into trouble. He served time in prison for his plans to stop the seal hunt. I found the following article, which he seems to have written. I was an environmentalist in high school, but I don’t remember him being one. As I recall, he was shaping up to become an accountant.

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Neal
April 3rd, 2006
5:03 pm

Here in Albuquerque there’s a local group that traps and relocates prairie dogs that would otherwise be killed by development. They contacted the air force base here a while ago because the base had a town of about 100 prairie dogs that were “in the way”. The group asked for permission to get on base so they could move the dogs, but they were not allowed. A few weeks later the air force hired a contractor, who poisoned the dogs for $300/dog.

This is how America spends its taxes.

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Myles
April 4th, 2006
10:51 pm

Time for the quarterly disjointed rant…

“The Department of Fisheries and Oceans claims Canada’s seal hunt population is at its healthiest level in years. A week ago, Ottawa raised this year’s seal hunt limit to 325,000, up 5,000 from last year.

The seal population’s size is estimated to be at least five million — and roughly three times higher than seal populations in the 1970s.” Sympatico 2006

I wish people (especially some famous ones whose opinions seem to be more worthy than yours and mine) would take a look at the fishing policies of some European countries that like to vacuum every fish out of the ocean on the east coast.

I guess if you’re a cute mammal, your emotional worth is valued higher than say a tuna or a cow. There are much worse things to go after than those poor buggers trying to scrape a living out of a pretty harsh environment. I’m sure that seal hunting is one of many jobs that those guys hold down during the year. I don’t think they can all be retrained to get oil field jobs (ie Fort Mac or Hibernia).

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Darren
April 4th, 2006
10:56 pm

Hmm…my math is off, there. I for some reason thought there were 20 million seals, not five.

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John Aitek
December 17th, 2007
8:50 pm

Why hunt these seals anyway? It’s cruel.

I’m sure most people wouldn’t like it if I harvested babies for sale to pedophiles, no matter how lucrative it may be.

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Kris
January 26th, 2008
2:00 pm

Wow, I cant believe you’re comparing harvesting babies to clubbing seals. For one, an overpopulation of seals is detrimental not only to the fish stocks, (particularly cod, which is a suffering species on the East Coast.) but also to themselves. You can draw comparaisons to the overpopulation of wild geese in Peru. The seal hunt isnt just about getting 70$ a pelt. Its about controlling the population of marine life and our environment as well as canadian heritage. I think all these bandwagoners from the south need to be more openminded, and maybe focus their efforts on something a little more pressing, like I dont know, Darfur for example?

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jenny
March 4th, 2008
7:00 am

i think that seal clubbing is horrible for the poor things. whats the point. they havent done anything to anyone. if your so worried about the marine population then move some to another place.

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Lacey
March 18th, 2008
7:33 am

I am not a fan of killing innocent animals by any means (mainly for pelts) but there are realities of life that must be faced. Moving to another place will not help to control a population. Once a population rises above carrying capacity it will not be able to support its self. The seals may in fact eat them selves out of house and home one could say. I am not up to date on all the population statistics, but I took a class on marine mammals in university a few years ago and we covered a lot of controversial topics which really opened up my eyes. There are 2 sides to every story and people seem to just get caught up with the cute and cuddly animals and forget about population dynamics.

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Joshua
April 14th, 2008
4:52 pm

“Move some to another place”?

So, we’re going to move 300 000 seals to another ecosystem. Ignore the cost for a moment … you’re either going to disrupt another ecosystem if the seals take, or the seals are going to die anyways in the new environment. NOW think about the cost, and you’ll realize that it’s pointless AND expensive.

PETA likes to talk about seal hunting like it’s all about the pelts. I live in Newfoundland, and it’s not all about the pelts. I read a statistic that pointed out that zero dollars comes from the export of seal meat … which conveniently ignores the fact that Canadians are perfectly capable of chewing solid foods.

How many Church and other organizations have I seen around St. John’s organizing Seal Flipper Dinners? Admittedly, I haven’t yet eaten seal, but I haven’t yet eaten a lot of things … mostly because the opportunity hasn’t come up. If an opportunity came up, you bet my bib would be on. I may just use one of PETA’s articles for that purpose.

So we get the meat, and we get the oil, which is useful as well. We have 300 000 seal pelts laying around, and there’s a market for them. If PETA wasn’t on our case for selling them, another group would be on our case for wasting them.

It would be interesting to see the Seal Hunt shut down, or the market for seal products disappear. Many would probably stop hunting seals, but at least here in Newfoundland (can’t speak for the St. Lawrence) many would keep on hunting. We’d just have a lot more sealskin rugs kicking around.

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Crysta
May 7th, 2008
4:01 pm

people kill deer and all of these other animals and it is not made a huge issue. probably because it is the way they kill them people shoot most animals and dont make them suffer and if they skin them they make sure that they are dead first. i have been doing alot of research on seal clubbing for a school report and they way that those sick bastards kill them is just sick. like they club them a couple of times skin them when they are ALIVE and leave them there unskinned to eventually die a super painful death. i dont know how people could be so heartless and greedy to do that. who ever kills seals makes me sick and honestly i hope yu die and long harsh painful death and i hope it is soon because yu dont deserve to live!

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Crysta
May 7th, 2008
4:03 pm

THE WAY THAT THEY KILL THEM IS THE WORST THING I DONT THINK IT WOULD BE THAT HUGE OF A ISSUE IF THEY KILLED THEM NORMALLY AND DIDN’T SKIN THEM ALIVE…..AND THEY GET ALOT OF MONEY FOR THEIR FURS.

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Leone
June 16th, 2008
5:08 am

you people make me sick
i hope someone comes and clubs you to death you sickos

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lauren
July 24th, 2008
7:36 am

how can you harm an innocent baby seal so what they are taking the fish
1-they need to eat
2-why do it
my motto is “don’t eat fish and save a seal” because i don’t like fish to begin with so i probably have saved a seal.

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kayla
July 24th, 2008
7:39 am

why would you hurt a seal that has done nothing to you. it makes me sick!!!

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MikkyM
August 26th, 2008
1:20 am

It is so sick wat they r doing! it makes me sick just thinking about it! (COUGH&SPEW) It is sssoooooooo grooosssssss! $70 is hardly anything. WHY WHY DO THEY DO IT!

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christine
August 27th, 2008
12:09 pm

i think anyone who has the heart to do such a thing should die and burn in hell and they can die the same way these poor seals die. i’d be the first to do it too. i don’t care if it’s a sport, if ur helping the damn marine life, how much money u make or how much u think u are able to justify such a thing. you are all scum bags and please don’t try and respond to my comment about why it’s right. i don’t care. no matter what anyone says, it’s not right. anyone who thinks it’s right can die too.

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Chad
August 29th, 2008
6:40 am

Holy crap.
When it comes to management of cute furry mammals, the ignorance, willful closed-mindedness, irrationality and utter stupidity of some knows no bounds.
Seals are a natural resource like fish or timber. They are useful and they grow back.

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trisha Reply:
April 15th, 2009 at 2:52 pm

you no wat you have a sick mind if you think that it is okay to hunt poor baby seals. someone should come up to you and hit you in the head with a club so that you can die painfully. :)

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none
September 8th, 2008
12:54 am

I will club one of the clubbers’ babies to death and skin them alive if I ever have the chance to.

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Kate
September 23rd, 2008
3:16 pm

Ok, I understand the fact that people need to hunt in order to eat amongst other things. But, what I don’t get is why these hunters have to bludgeon these defenseless baby seals to death. Now, it seems to me that it would make more sense to hunt the older seals and allow the baby ones to grow and reproduce. If people continue to hunt these seals, their numbers will dwindle and eventually they will become extinct. I am in no way endorsing seal hunting and I am very much for it coming to a stop. Canadians and others to the north are no different from the rest of us who live all over. They can go to the store and buy food, they don’t need to act like cavemen and go out everyday to hunt for their food. Yes the amount of jobs available is a problem for all of us, but I didn’t think being a barbaric hunter qualified as a job.

As for your comment Chad, seals are -not- a natural resource that just simply grows back. By the sounds of it, there are enough people out there hunting these seals and their population may be under control now, but just a short time in the future, people will start to kill more and more seals as the need for food grows with families growing the way they are now and the species will die out. They won’t have time to reproduce, especially since it is the babies who are being hunted.

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unknown
October 15th, 2008
11:37 am

Basically myself and 3 others have been patrolling various areas of the seal region for the last 3 years..

we are a covert operation set up by ourselves and we hunt down small groups of humans who club the seals.

we club the humans and leave them for the seals.

the seals thrive in our areas due to this.

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trisha Reply:
April 15th, 2009 at 2:49 pm

you go for it because talking about it makes me sick and i have joined a petition against it too. :)
i hope that people will start to understand that you don’t need to hunt seals when you can hunt ducks, turkeys and fish.etc

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Chad
October 19th, 2008
5:09 am

“As for your comment Chad, seals are -not- a natural resource that just simply grows back.”
Yes they are, read the article.
Less than 2% of the total seal population is harvested, the overall population is increasing, not decreasing. None of the hunted seals are in any way shape or form endangered or threatened.
Seals are a natural resource in exactly the same way as any other animal species.

You asked why they’re clubbed? Because it’s a quick, clean, efficient and painless method of killing the seal. If there’s a better way to hunt seal I’ve not heard of it.

Just because it’s cute and furry is no reason to take it off the menu or give it special treatment.
Concern would be better directed towards species that are actually threatened in some way or harvested inhumanely.

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Rachel
October 31st, 2008
3:55 pm

Um, excuse me but I’m a 13 year old using this article for school and it’s just wrong. I’ve read a lot of articles about seal clubbing and it makes me nauseated. Thank you.

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Ted
November 4th, 2008
8:17 pm

I’m going to put this up now. This is the link to the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Management and it deals directly with the seal hunt.
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/seal-phoque/faq_e.htm

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lol
November 25th, 2008
7:17 pm

Actually only about 200 canadians hunt seals… and clubbing is the most effective way, would you rather hit a seal in the leg with a gun and have it swim away and morbidly die in the water? Gosh go read the fucking top article before you post. You know how baby seals they kill? 2 fucking percent HOLY SHIT! And Gosh they already outlawed kill the babys, stfu they only kill adults. the fucking 12 year old girls need to stfu. And in no way are these seals comparable to humans. We have much larger issues to solve, how about the human race’s problems? fuck that seals. Geeze, just let those 200 guys do what they do, it will all come back to them anyway.

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Es84
December 9th, 2008
10:46 pm

“I guess if you’re a cute mammal, your emotional worth is valued higher than say a tuna or a cow. There are much worse things to go after than those poor buggers trying to scrape a living out of a pretty harsh environment. I’m sure that seal hunting is one of many jobs that those guys hold down during the year. I don’t think they can all be retrained to get oil field jobs (ie Fort Mac or Hibernia)”.
All I have to say is, thank you, Myles

“I will club one of the clubbers’ babies to death and skin them alive if I ever have the chance to” wow, it’s a sad day indeed when an animal life is put above a human one..

At least all of the seal is used up and nothing goes to waste, I think the poachers in Africa hunting Elephant and Rhino are way more cruel and selfish, but, Elephants and Rhino’s aren’t fuzzy and cute so, no one cares…

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ES8
December 24th, 2008
10:08 am

Seal clubbing is plain wrong. For starters, who are we to appoint ourselves judge jury and executioner to control the seal population.

Second of all, SCREW the fishing industry - the seals and other mammales have more right to those fish than the human race do.

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datos Reply:
January 5th, 2009 at 5:29 pm

they are all sick. they should be skinned themselves and then clubbed 2x and left them bleeding, cut their dicks and feed them to the sharks

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snowsnow
February 22nd, 2009
10:58 am

what a stupid argument about how the cod is going extinct… you really think that’s because overpopulated seals are eating them and has nothing to do with commercial fishing? if any animal is overpopulating the earth it’s probably people…

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Mike Hunter
March 24th, 2009
9:52 am

What is the big deal? You see a baby seal and *whack* just like in the Sopranos. One good shot usually does the trick, if not a few more hits will do the job. Just don’t get to excited, don’t wanna ruin the fur. We are not hunting these animals into extinction. It’s a controlled hunt for extra income.

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Ralphy
April 9th, 2009
12:36 pm

“Now, it seems to me that it would make more sense to hunt the older seals and allow the baby ones to grow and reproduce.”

They don’t hunt baby seals. That ended a long time ago.

“Canadians and others to the north are no different from the rest of us who live all over. They can go to the store and buy food, they don’t need to act like cavemen and go out everyday to hunt for their food.”

How do you know this? Have you ever visited an outport community? This isn’t southern Ontario. There’s no chain supermarket or Wal-Mart in any of these places. You might as well tell the Kung or Hadza people to buy a car to get to work.

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Gary
June 3rd, 2009
11:50 am

The argument about guns vs clubs makes NO sense. The argument against guns is that from a moving boat it is hard to shoot a seal. That would be a fair argument if you were also trying to club the seal from a moving boat. Do not compare shooting from a boat to clubbing a seal at your feet. The argument to defend not shooting a seal, instead of clubbing it, should be made based on standing right in front of the seal.

In my book either is wrong but if you can walk up and bash something with a club then you should be capable of killing it with one shot from a gun.

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T
September 10th, 2009
12:46 pm

what. the. fuck.
i am just amazed that people wouldn’t have a problem with this in any way.
WAKE UP, how the hell could you be okay with that shit happening?
i think you are a disgusting person and a waste of air if you support this… obviously…
and as for the seal murderers, i only hope they soon succumb to a fate half as terrible as the one that they inflicted on many innocent living breathing beings.

that’s all.

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T
September 10th, 2009
12:48 pm

and i agree with whoever posted that i hope someone clubs all of you who don’t have a problem with it and harvests you for your pelt, motherfuckers.

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