A report from Global Action Network

Montreal - 15 March 2005 Global Action Network joined animal protection and environmental groups around the world holding demonstrations to protest Canada’s annual seal hunt. Events were scheduled in 55 cities in Canada, the United States, Mexico, South America, the Middle East and Europe. Many groups gathered in front of Canadian embassies and consulates in 27 countries to protest the cruel and needless slaughter of harp and hooded seals in Canada.

Protests in Canada took place in Ottawa, Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver, and Kelowna, BC.

Global Action Network bussed 100 activists from Montreal who joined another 50 Ottawa protestors on Parliament Hill to take their message to the seat of government.

A WSPA-sponsored rally in downtown Toronto saw a crowd of more than 200 people turn out to voice their protest against Canada's commercial seal hunt.

40 People from the Nova Scotia Humane Society and ARCH targetted the Halifax office of Geoff Regan, Canada's Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Notably, staff had vacated the office for the day.

Vancouver saw a crowd of 50 people organised by the Vancouver Humane Society protesting outside their local Department of Fisheries and Oceans office.

In Kelowna, The Responsible Animal Care Society and Youth Against Animal Abuse held a protest march for the seals that began at the office of MP Werner Schmidt.

Internationally, protests attracted hundreds of concerned citizens, who collectively represented the majority of Canadians, Americans and Europeans who, according to polls, are opposed to the Canadian seal hunt. In anticipation of the international day of protest, the Canadian government even sent out a travel advisory to all consulates, embassies and Canadian travellers warning them that regular access to consular services would be impossible on this day. Many consulates reacted by closing for the day in an effort to escape the international controversy that the seal hunt has become.

Boycott Announced

Numerous organizations highlighted a pending boycott of Canadian seafood during the International Day of Action. “If the hunt is not called off, we will join a powerful network of organizations launching an international boycott of Canadian seafood,” said Regina Flores of Global Action Network. Sealing is an off-season activity conducted by commercial fishermen from Canada’s East Coast. They make, on average, one twentieth of their incomes from sealing – the rest from commercial fisheries. Canadian seafood exports to the United States, in particular, are worth over 3 billion dollars annually to the Canadian economy, dwarfing the few million dollars from the seal hunt. And this connection between the commercial fishing industry and the seal hunt in Canada gives American consumers the power to end this brutal slaughter. We will be asking Americans, restaurants and seafood buyers not to buy Canadian seafood products until the hunt is ended.

Media Coverage

Internationally, media coverage was excellent with most major news agencies, television and radio stations and newspapers providing balanced reporting on the issue. Media coverage in Canada, however, was innacurate and biased towards the sealing industry's point of view.

A Canadian Press (CP) story that was picked up by a number of newspapers across the country exemplifies this trend of Canadian media trying to portray the anti-sealhunt movement in a negative light. The particular article didn't touch on any of the issues surrounding the hunt, such as cruelty, economics or sustainability, didn't mention the fact that protests happened in 55 cities worldwide and summarised protestors efforts being "met with locked doors, catcalls and scattered indifference." While ignoring several major components of the story is simply poor reporting, the CP writer added insult to injury by categorising what was the largest series of global protests against the hunt in 20 years, as trivial.

Take Action

The largest commercial slaughter of marine mammals in the world will begin in days. By the end of this year's hunt, more than 300,000 seals will have been brutally killed - many of them only weeks old. Some of them will have been skinned while still conscious. Go to our seal campaign page to find out what you can do to stop this atrocity.