Canada, Japan, and Norway consider horrific whale and seal hunting essential during pandemic
During Canada's yearly hunt, hundreds of thousands of seals are killed using clubs and guns. The vast majority of the animals killed are pups below the age of three months.
ARISTAS GEORGIOU: Animal rights groups have criticized the governments of Canada, Japan and Norway for continuing to allow commercial hunting of seals and/or whales as essential activities while their populations are subjected to lockdown measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Humane Society International (HSI) and Norwegian organization NOAH said it is “outrageous” that such practices should be permitted at this time, particularly given that they are often supported by public funds…
In Canada for example, the country’s annual commercial seal hunt will go ahead, a process that HSI describes as the “largest slaughter of marine mammals on the planet.” During the yearly hunt, which occurs in two main areas, off the country’s east coast, hundreds of thousands of seals are killed using clubs and guns. Harp seals—already at risk from climate change—are the main target, and the vast majority of the animals killed are pups below the age of three months…
Both Norway and Japan will allow commercial whaling operations to continue during the pandemic. Japan—which drew widespread criticism for leaving the International Whaling Commission in 2018—has awarded itself a quota of nearly 200 whales. Meanwhile, hunters in Norway will be aiming to kill more than 1,200 over the next few months…
“There is dwindling demand for the products of commercial whaling and sealing operations, and these inhumane industries are only viable because of tax-payers’ money, so it’s extremely difficult to see how these can in any way be considered ‘essential’ activities during lockdown,” Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International/U.K., said in a statement.
“It’s disturbing to think that while all over the world people are making extraordinary sacrifices to stop the spread of COVID-19, whalers and sealers are carrying on with their bloody business as usual, risking infection spread amongst crews and their families. We urge the Norwegian, Canadian and Japanese governments to call an immediate stop to these cruel and unnecessary hunts,” she said…
“These ongoing and cruel persecutions of marine mammals are increasingly out of step with modern scientific thinking, which shows that healthy marine mammal populations contribute to healthy marine ecosystems and the overall health of our planet. We need to look again very carefully at our relationships with these animals and appreciate their roles and not see them simply as commodities to be harvested,” Mark Simmonds, HSI’s senior marine scientist, said in the statement. SOURCE…
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