Being a Newfoundlander, the subject of the seal hunt has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.
I grew up during the time of the Greenpeace demonstrations when people were arrested on the water front of
St. John's harbour for chaining themselves to sealing vessels.
I wanted to use this page of the site as a disclaimer of sorts for what I believe and what has led me here.
I do not benefit in any way from this web site. I am not paid for it nor am I subsidized in any other way. I
do not participate in the annual seal hunt and am not related or in any way affiliated with anyone who does
but, in the past, I have twice participated in the inshore hunt. When I say the inshore hunt I mean from a
smaller open boat in open water. I believe the hunt could be improved but then again I don't think there is
much that can't be improved. Personally, I would like to see the meat utilized more and was happy to hear that
someone in Newfoundland is starting a seal meat processing business. I have never really cared either way if
the commercial seal hunt existed but have always believed in the right of an individual to hunt as long as it is
done in a sustainable and humane fashion. I believe the hunt is carried out in a humane manner but then again
I can't say this with 100% certainty because I have never witnessed it myself. That being said, I would certainly jump at the offer to
witness the hunt if it ever presented itself. I believe in the right of a people to protect themselves against
the defamation of others and this is the main reason I sit here typing this today.
If I can not take the information presented at face value and I have not witnessed it myself I look to the
integrity of the sides presenting the "evidence". While I do not believe any government exudes an overwhelming
amount of integrity I would say, at the very least, they are not making hundreds of millions of dollars off
the seal hunt like the protest groups involved. In legal circles this is what they would call motive and when I
coupled that with the past actions of all the groups in the anti-sealing industry it was not hard to judge their integrity or lack thereof.
As far as the fishermen go I would say this, I have traveled quite a bit and there is one quality you will find from
a fisherman and most other people who are raised in a small community. They are who they are. There are no put ons as we
like to call it. They are not trying to be something they are not. A disease which inflicts many that live in larger cities.
This quality makes them an honest people by nature and therefore trustworthy. This being said there are always the exceptions to the
norm which prevails in anything human beings are involved in or apart of.
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