Commercial seal hunt is on its way
Dr. George Voskopoulos
April 19, 2007
Once again seals are being slaughtered. Once again we feel guilty of an incredible waste. The “war” between activists and pro-seal hunters has been going on for years.
Yet, we should look at the issue through the lenses provided by our causational logic.
Seal hunt is one of the most savage commercial-oriented human activities. Yet, all of us who have taken a critical stance against this slaughter should ask ourselves why it is happening. Do we really think that seal hunters are by definition evil persons?
The obvious answer is no. Seal hunt has not simply been a way of life but a way of earning a living. That is true. Thousands of families in Canada live on this cruel activity, we should not forget this. So our approach should be oriented towards providing sustainable ways of making a living to those people. Human beings should be a priority of our critique and that is why we need to devise plans for an overall solution.
Yet, our logic should not overlay the dictates for sustainable development and preser-vation. It is not just seal hunters those who should look for alternative ways o earning a living but the Canadian government. This is who we should put the pressure on and the one responsible for the ongoing slaughtering.
In Europe governments have taken measures to limit or ban the import of seal prod-ucts but still North America has to do a lot more. Having in mind the catalytic and unfortunately obvious changes in climate, seal hunting has no long-term future anyway. Obviously most Europeans see things differently and this is a good sign. Policies in Europe are friendlier to fauna and flora and this is important, as the European Un-ion is a huge market with tremendous potential.
Yet, things should start changing drastically very soon. These changes relate to our attitudes vis-à-vis the environment in general and the way we manage our commercial activities. In the meantime people should take their personal responsibility as human beings, peoples as collectivities and consumers and intensify their pressure on gov-ernments.
Yet, we should look at the issue through the lenses provided by our causational logic.
Seal hunt is one of the most savage commercial-oriented human activities. Yet, all of us who have taken a critical stance against this slaughter should ask ourselves why it is happening. Do we really think that seal hunters are by definition evil persons?
The obvious answer is no. Seal hunt has not simply been a way of life but a way of earning a living. That is true. Thousands of families in Canada live on this cruel activity, we should not forget this. So our approach should be oriented towards providing sustainable ways of making a living to those people. Human beings should be a priority of our critique and that is why we need to devise plans for an overall solution.
Yet, our logic should not overlay the dictates for sustainable development and preser-vation. It is not just seal hunters those who should look for alternative ways o earning a living but the Canadian government. This is who we should put the pressure on and the one responsible for the ongoing slaughtering.
In Europe governments have taken measures to limit or ban the import of seal prod-ucts but still North America has to do a lot more. Having in mind the catalytic and unfortunately obvious changes in climate, seal hunting has no long-term future anyway. Obviously most Europeans see things differently and this is a good sign. Policies in Europe are friendlier to fauna and flora and this is important, as the European Un-ion is a huge market with tremendous potential.
Yet, things should start changing drastically very soon. These changes relate to our attitudes vis-à-vis the environment in general and the way we manage our commercial activities. In the meantime people should take their personal responsibility as human beings, peoples as collectivities and consumers and intensify their pressure on gov-ernments.
Print
Email
