firstly :eek: . My initial reaction to this is negative, for all the obvious reasons, but further reflection makes me wonder if my reaction is justified. If the cull is necessary, and the same number of seals will die whether or not it’s government sanctioned hunters or tourists, then does it make a difference?
I still consider it wrong. Will a tourist be able to execute the kill as humanely as a professional? on the other hand though, is this any different to any form of hunting i.e. deer hunting? Is it only the ‘cuteness’ of the prey that makes this so emotive?
I dunno, clubbing small mammals over the head doesn’t seem to be much of a vacation to me - I do enough of that around the house.
Seriously, it kind of creeps me out. I’m not getting into the debate on the morality of the seal hunting industry, but I assumed that most seal ‘hunters’ did it for the money. This program implies that some people derive pleasure out of beating small animals to death. (or the people who came up with this program felt that people would). That kind of bothers me. I mean, I don’t think we have a tourist industry where the rubes from the east coast line up to have their shot at putting a bolt into a steer’s brain at the local slaughterhouse. Then again, we do have hunting tourism in my state, and I suppose if you stretch the concept of ‘hunting’ to ‘beating small animals to death’, I guess its no worse than some of the hunting trips people take to other parts of the world. My first reaction pretty much echoes yours tho.
What of it? There’re strict guidelines (…and strict in Norway means STRICT) and I suppose only experienced hunters will be interested anyway – it sure doesn’t interest me the slightest. I think £110 sounds very cheap for a seal fur and all that meat, but of course you have to cut it up yourself. How’re they going get it home? A dead seal is heavy!
As for Greenpeace, they lost all creditable a long time ago.
Btw. I don’t know but the picture looks like a seal baby as seen in the Brigette Bardot campaign. Those seals don’t live in Canada - not Norway. I assume the cull will be grown seals.
maybe I should read the entire article before I respond (stopped at the first break). I guess they are shooting them, so it creeps me out a little less (my biggest creep factor was that people would pay money for the opportunity to club a seal), but it still seems too much like hunting puppies to me. Then again, I have met people who I swear would probably apply for a permit if the state announced a puppy season…
In order to hunt in Norway, you need to pass a test including a 16 hour practical course and a theory test. Foreign hunters will also need to hunt together with an experienced Norwegian hunter. Most of the hunting in Norway isn’t done by professionals anyway, it’s done by people who have hunting as a hobby, so the choice isn’t between a professional or a tourist, but between a Norwegian with hunting as a hobby or a foreigner with hunting as a hobby.
I don’t see hunting seals as morally different from hunting moose, deer or any other wild animals. If the populations of wild animals become too large we get all kinds of problems, not only for human beings but also for other animal species and the environment as a whole. If there aren’t enough predators to keep the numbers down, human hunters are needed to do the job. Since Norwegian hunters haven’t been able to hunt enough seals to meet the desired quotas lately, I see no problem with allowing foreign hunters to participate.
As i suspected - it’s the relative cuteness of the prey that causes me to have reservations. If seals looked like tarantulas it would be a different kettle of fish I suspect. At least i know im irrational.
I wouldn’t even agree with that - your average adult deer is cuter than your average adult seal - most adult seals are rather ugly, smelly beasts. After a complete read of the article, I assume that they are culling adults from the (pack? herd? pod?)
(And now, to complete my 180% turn…)
I was thinking about this after sleep and coffee and I was able to form rational thoughts - the cuteness shouldn’t really factor in anyways; if this is part of intelligent, responsible resource management (note that native norwegians have not been able to meet the quota for the hunt, which the article indicates is a cull), it is the right thing to do. I assume that without this cull, the seal population would get too big and many seals would starve and/or strip the area of resources used by other species. In the long run, the hunt is good for the individual seal that survives the hunt.
I don’t doubt that the deep-sea trawlers decribed in your cite have a far greater impact on fish stocks than seals. If the Norwegian government didn’t put a lot of thought, effort and diplomacy into regulating fishing, I’d certainly see reasons for serious complaint. I’m in no way an expert on the topic, but judging from the webpages of the Minstry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs and their various subagencies they seem to be on the job. But it’s certainly possible to regulate fishing and still look at other aspects of the coastal environment. You can allow seal hunting and still do other kinds of management of fish resources.
Besides, seal is a harvestable resource in its own right. If the populations can sustain some hunting, and if there’s a demand for seal skin and/or meat, I don’t see any problems with a controlled level of hunting.
Well, it’s not my cup of blood, but from friends who hunt I understand that the main appeal isn’t the actual killing, it’s the challenge and test of skill to see if you manage to get close enough to the prey to get a clean shot before it discovers you and gets away. Of course, “hunting” with a camera would cover most of that aspect, so I assume there’s some appeal in actually killing the animal as well - or at least in eating it afterwards. The way I see it, people who hunt are doing an important job in keeping animal populations at sustainable levels. If nobody were willing to do it as recreation, we’d have to pay people to hunt.