EU seal ban causing more harm than good, says Swedish researcher

A Swedish researcher says the European Union's ban on the import and sale of all seal products has caused more harm than good, and now is the time to lift the 15-year-old ban. 

Sven-Gunnar Lunneryd, who researches aquatic resources at the Swedish University for Agricultural Sciences, says ending the ban would help seal hunters and restore depleted fish stocks. 

His research demonstrates that in the Baltic Sea, where the grey seal population has recently increased rapidly, having a negative impact coastal fisheries in the region. 

"We maybe need to half the seal population to get the chance for depleted fish stocks to recover," said Lunneryd. 

Lunneryd said seal hunters can help decrease the seal population and that lifting the ban would give them a financial incentive to do so.

He also said it's unethical to hunt seals and throw out the carcass, so it's important that seal hunters can sell their catch. 

"Seal hunting is not an easy task. It costs a lot of money to perform," said Lunneryd. "There needs [to be] some economic compensation to the hunters for doing the hunt in [an] efficient way."

The anti-sealing movement

In 2009, the EU was motivated by animal welfare groups to ban the import and sale of seal products, including oil, meat and furs. 

Danita Catherine Burke, author of the book Cultural Violence, Stigma and the Legacy of the Anti-Sealing Movement, said that the anti-sealing movement has been detrimental to Newfoundland and Labrador. 

She said misrepresentations of the seal-hunt in documentaries in the 1960s spearheaded the anti-sealing movement. For example, the biggest misconception is that seals were skinned alive, she said. 

"It's left a sour taste and a negative legacy that's lasted to this day," said Burke. "We cannot seem to get past that monumental piece of misinformation."

Burke said it's important to talk about the impacts of the anti-sealing movement right now. 

"Newfoundland and Labrador is such a unique place with all of this wind energy talk for the first time, and as long as I can remember we have leverage with the European Union and the European market," Burke said.

"They need us. So we should be asking for something in return. And I think an easy and first fundamental step would be asking them to withdraw from their moral outrage." 

Seal and inuit culture

Lunneryd said the Inuit in Greenland and Canada are suffering because of the ban. 

Inuk elder Danny Pottle said he saw the impacts of the anti-sealing movement in his community while growing up in Rigolet.

"It had a devastating impact, really, on our community and our society in general," said Pottle. "Inuit relied on the sealing industry and the sale of seal products, namely the pelts, to supplement our income."

He said bans on seal products meant they no longer had a market for their products. 

"People don't hunt like they used to anymore," said Pottle. "There's not a market anymore and because it's not promoted and accepted as a sustainable human harvest." 

Pottle said that the anti-sealing movement created a falsehood that white-coat, or baby seals, were hunted. However, he said, he was taught by his elders to never hunt young seals and to also utilize every part of the seal out of respect for the animal. 

"You waste nothing, you utilize every part of the seal," said Pottle. "You should always adhere to your values and your belief systems and that we're here to take care and utilize the resources of seals in particular, to help nurture us, to help feed us and sustain us." 

The Indigenous exception 

European Parliament press officer Enrico Lampitella said that the European commission has noted concerns "by some member states around the Baltic Sea and by the recognised bodies in Canada, regarding the socioeconomic impact of the regulation on their territory."

As a result, the commission launched a fitness check of the seal product trade ban and is calling for evidence in its Have Your Say portal until Aug. 7. The commission will also consult the public, states impacted, Greenland, Canada and stakeholders. 

European commission environment spokesperson Adalbert Jahnz said there is an exception for products harvested by Inuit or other Indigenous communities. According to the commission's website, seal products with documents attesting they benefit Indigenous communities are allowed to be traded. 

He also highlighted a recent report on the implementation of the Trade in Seal Products regulation, that states "the exports of seal products from Canada to the EU are insignificant," despite that "recognised bodies" in Canada consider the EU's regulation as a total ban on the trade of seal products and say that the Indigenous community exception is not well known, therefore the ban still impacts communities.

"Greenland continues exporting seal products to the EU, mainly to Denmark. A small number of imports from Greenland and Canada were not reported by the relevant EU competent authorities," reads the report.

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