Abstract
Seal hunting in Canada is a historically controversial topic. Animal rights groups have campaigned that Atlantic Canadians inhumanely slaughter thousands of âbabyâ seals every year. The work of these animal rights groups has led to changes in national fisheries regulations and markets. The market changes have greatly affected the livelihoods of many Atlantic Canadians, but even more so of the Inuit who also hunt seals in Canadaâs Arctic regions. Animal rights groups largely excluded and ignored the Inuit who depended on the larger Atlantic Canadian seal market. However, Inuit have recently mobilized though social media to reclaim the narrative surrounding seal hunting. Their campaign has helped change national policy. The Government of Canada has since created a scheme to increase market access to Inuit-harvested seals. Yet, little information is available for this scheme and its effectiveness needs to be further investigated.
Highlights
Seal hunting in Atlantic Canada has been highly controversial since the 1970s (Chaussade, 1978; Thornton, 1978; Sumner, 1983)
The narratives put forth by the Animal Rights (AR) groups contributed to this marginalization when they failed to distinguish the Atlantic seal hunt from the Inuit seal hunt
Though Greenpeace has formally apologized to the Inuit for causing such harm, other AR groups have refused (Kerr, 2014; Watson, 2016)
Summary
Seal hunting in Atlantic Canada has been highly controversial since the 1970s (Chaussade, 1978; Thornton, 1978; Sumner, 1983). While the majority of sealersâthose from fishing communities in QuĂŠbec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotiaâhunt seals when their main fisheries are out of season, Indigenous groups such as the Inuit, who have hunted seals for over 3000 years regardless of imposed seasons, were severely affected (Lafrance, 2017). In 1987, DFO banned the commercial harvesting of newborn harp seals (whitecoats) and newborn hooded seals (bluebacks) and put restrictions on the size of vessels allowed to hunt.
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