McCartney Protests Seal Hunt
Because there has been so much discussion on the Seal Hunt in the past, I figure this article would be of interest.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/nl/story/nf_mccartney_seal_20060301.html
McCartney, wife to make seal floe visit
Last updated Mar 1 2006 06:45 AM NST
CBC News
Rock legend Paul McCartney and his wife Heather are expected in the Maritimes later this week to observe harp seal pups before the start of the annual hunt.
The Humane Society of the United States, which has emerged as one of the sharpest critics of the hunt, announced the visit, details of which have not been disclosed for security reasons.
"They are coming later this week and they are going to observe the newborn harp seals on the ice floes off the east coast of Canada to draw attention to the fact that in just a few weeks the world's largest slaughter of marine mammals – Canada's seal hunt – is about to begin," said Rebecca Aldworth, director of Canadian wildlife issues for the society.
Aldworth said the couple will call on the federal government to end the seal hunt, which is expected to begin in late March this year.
The former Beatle and his wife, known for their animal-rights activism, are expected in Canada on Thursday and Friday.
Canadian officials haven't yet confirmed the date for this year's hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which is usually between mid-March and mid-April.
Indeed, ice conditions have been so poor in the gulf that authorities are considering cancelling it altogether.
The hunt off the northeast coast of Newfoundland generally follows, but is harder for observers to witness because of its remoteness.
Sealers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence are neither surprised nor concerned about the McCartneys' protest.
Jean Claude LaPierre, a spokesman with the Magdalen Islands seal hunters' association, said he does not expect the visit will influence the federal government at all.
He said protesters are using pop stars like McCartney to fill their coffers.
LaPierre said ice floes are forming off the Magdalen Islands. He said hunters will not stand for protesters getting in their way.
Last year, Paul McCartney – who has been engaged in animal-rights causes for decades – wrote an open letter to then prime minister Paul Martin that asked him to ban the hunt.
"We wanted to put you on notice that if Canada moves forward with another hunt next year, we will do all we can to focus attention on this unjustified, outdated and truly horrific practice, including, potentially, visiting the seals and the ice," the musician wrote.
The McCartneys are among a long list of celebrities, including Martin Sheen, Richard Dean Anderson, Mick Jagger and Pierce Brosnan, to publicly oppose the hunt.
Protests over the commercial hunt peaked during the 1970s when actress Brigitte Bardot hugged pups on the Maritime ice floes.
The United States banned the import of seal products in 1972 and the European Union implemented a partial ban in 1983. Canada banned the killing of harp pup seals – whitecoats – in 1987.
Ottawa estimates the harp-seal population is at 5.9 million, up from two million in the 1970s.
Technorati Tags
Seal Hunt, Green Party of Canada, Green Party, Paul McCartney
::
5 Comments:
-
Leave the sealers alone, they've got families to feed! I'm sure not one of them takes pleasure in killing these seals!
By
NoTransitory, at 4:57 PM
-
During their recent visit to Canada, the McCartneys engaged in illegal activities, but compassionate Canadian authorities will not charge the 2 clueless folks from England
By
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
McCartneys won't be charged
Singer and wife illegally touched harp seal pup
Graeme Hamilton, National Post, Saturday, March 04, 2006
Federal fisheries officers have decided against charging former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and his wife even though their petting and poking of a seal pup off the Magdalen Islands on Thursday was technically illegal.
Canada's Marine Mammal Regulations state: "No person shall disturb a marine mammal except when fishing for marine mammals under the authority of these regulations."
Photographs show Sir Paul and his wife, Heather, patting a white-coated seal pup as they visited the ice floes to protest against the Canadian seal hunt. At one point, the pup took exception to Mrs. McCartney's caresses and snapped at her.
Roger Simon, area director for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in the Magdalen Islands, said the offence was so minor it does not warrant taking the couple to court.
"It's almost like saying you're going 51 kilometres in a 50-kilometre zone," Mr. Simon said.
"If a fishery officer had been present, something like a warning would have probably been issued, saying, 'Well, if these pups are still nursing, we suggest that you don't pet them -- just watch them.' "
A court would have to be shown that the seal had been harmed by the pop star and his wife, Mr. Simon said, and research has shown casual interaction with humans does no lasting damage to young seals.
"She may have bothered [the pup] but I don't think she harmed him," he said, adding that Canada has better uses of its tax dollars than a McCartney trial.
"When disturbance is of such a minor nature, you wouldn't bring someone to court on something like this," he said. "Somebody would say that the Canadian government and the Canadian taxpayers must have better things to do than haul Paul McCartney into court because he touched a seal."
Mr. Simon said Mrs. McCartney was fortunate it was a harp seal pup she stroked and not a grey seal. "The pup you saw yesterday that snapped doesn't even have any teeth," he said. "A grey seal would probably still be grabbing on to her nose. They're a bigger, more vicious animal."
After 20 years working with seals, Mr. Simon has seen a lot of celebrities come and go. "Last year we had MacGyver [televison actor Richard Dean Anderson], we had Loretta Swift [Hot Lips Houlihan from television's M*A*S*H*] one year. One year we had Bobby Kennedy, Jr.," he said. But he was particularly unimpressed with Sir Paul's understanding of the seal hunt. He expected the ex-Beatle would be out of his league in his televised debate with Danny Williams, the Newfoundland Premier.
"Poor Paul, in a debate, would be hard-pressed because he doesn't know very much about the subject," Mr. Simon said. As an example, he noted that Sir Paul suggested to local reporters that the seal hunt be replaced by whale-watching tours. "We're surrounded by ice, and this isn't a whale area. This is where whales pass but never stop, so it wasn't very well-documented or researched," Mr. Simon said.
He called Sir Paul's seal-hunt knowledge "a crash-course, HSUS brainwashing thing." The HSUS is the Humane Society of the United States, which organized the McCartneys' visit.
FISHERIES ACT
Prohibitions (7)
No person shall disturb a marine mammal except when fishing for marine mammals under the authority of these regulations.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=3822bca5-58ba-45f6-91f6-d77fe99291c0 Guenter, at 3:14 PM
-
That's a great story. Waiting for more. »
By
, at 5:04 PM
-
Very cool design! Useful information. Go on! » »
By , at 8:09 PM
-
Looking for information and found it at this great site... film editing schools
By , at 8:13 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home
Stephen Eli Harris :: permalink
