Marine & wildlife NEWS - November 2010

Seal
Coral by Ahmed Hany

Seals - Europeans to say no to products that stem
from cruel and unnecessary hunts

MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) have voted overwhelmingly to ban trading in seal products. The temporary suspension of the EU regulation banning the trade in seal products has thus been revoked by the European Union's General Court in Luxembourg.

90 MEPs voted against the ban or abstained, 550 voted in favour. The trade will be stopped next year.

Robbie Marsland, UK Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said “This ban is about the right of Europeans to say no to products that stem from cruel and unnecessary hunts”. The law was mainly directed at Canada who culls almost 30,000 seals per year.

The EU ban prohibits the trade in products from all commercial seal hunts, including those in Canada, Namibia and Norway, but does not affect sealing by Inuit and other indigenous peoples. Inuit communities in the Arctic were exempted from the new rules as it contributes to their subsistence and survival.

"This is a political issue that now has its time," said Arlene McCarthy, the Labour MEP. "After a 40-year campaign, Europe has a chance to introduce a ban in all 27 states."
Lesley O'Donnell, the EU director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said the vote "hammered the final nail in the coffin of the sealing industry's market in the EU. The world is uniting in opposition to commercial sea hunts. A complete collapse of Canada's commercial seal hunt may now be inevitable."

Source: The Guardian, Wild Life Extra, EUGC, and other sources

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