Meanwhile, Ottawa has put the anti-sealing vessel the Farley Mowat on the block. The ship, registered to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and formerly known as the Ocean Warrior, was seized by Fisheries authorities off Cape Breton last April. Members of the crew were charged with interfering with the seal hunt.

Where is Danny Williams applauding the seal hunt so the cod fishery isn't overrun?

Oh wait...all the cod fisherman are now working the oilfields that deliver a surplus budget.

Cheers

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief

1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group "True North"

For a second there I thought it was fat Al Gore's arse sticking up in the air over the seal hole.
I hope the winners of the Earth Hour contest trip to Churchill get to witness the cute cuddly polar bears doing what polar bears do.

Please let Bridget Bardot and Pam Anderson be mistaken for healthy calfs on the ice floe, in some horrible, pre-dawn sealing mishap.

"Please let Bridget Bardot and Pam Anderson be mistaken for healthy calfs on the ice floe, in some horrible, pre-dawn sealing mishap." (A.Cooper)

Heather McCartney would be so jealous!

millions of shark and large fish ..tuna swordfish and many others caught for sport, millions of tons to the dinner plates of the world daily! and no one cares ...why this?

Just ordered my wifes sealskin jacket, 750 bucks.

Feels good to know a Newfie who got laid off from Syncrude, can still pull down a paycheque, from REAL work!!

SEALHUNTERS ROCK!!!!!

"People" "care" because seals are fuzzy and whiskery and doe-eyed and cute. Wouldn't you like to take one home and have it live in your bathtub? Two so they wouldn't be lonely. Splish splash.
In reality, seals have vicious little temperments (like Heather McCartney) and teeth like stiletto ice-picks. I'm a city girl, I don't want them skinned alive, but aside from that...

Never ate a seal. Like the fur coats though.

I put this in same pile as... Greenpeace Stopped the Whale Hunt... right, you are aware my little green friend that whales are still hunted by 7 nations including Canada, right? No stoppage. Every year since the "IWC 1986 moritorium on whaling" but you knew that, being all well edumacated and all.

Back to the seals ... In the words of Ben Grim
It's clobbering time!

Yeah, I have eaten seal meat. It tastes awful and cooks worse. I can't even feature it as bait. Polar bears eat it but I have walked around places in fear of getting eaten by Nanook my big white brother, so I am happy they have to live off seal meat. I like caribou, and char is the best fish I have ever had - from its death to my mouth in as long as it took to carve off a big bleeding piece.

Hey Newf,
Don't club that seal,
Not that cute one
that looks like Avril Lavigne ...

Where can a person show their patriotism and order some seal products?

We never ate seal meat as kids in Alberta, what I do remember were the incredibly warm and dry sealskin boots we wore. They must have been inexpensive and readily available otherwise we wouldn't have had boots.

Is that polar bear's name "Knut", by any chance?

The true test of Canadian manhood. How you handle your seal beater, proclaims Your personel Elan.

"Don't club that seal,
Not that cute one
that looks like Avril Lavigne ... "

...all the more reason to club it...

Paul Watson says Greenpeace exploited the baby seals "the seal is very easy to exploit as an image" in this 1978 CBC interview (Watson with Barbara Frum)
1:10 to 1:50 in particular, but listen to the whole thing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_gTBDFTXE0

Exactly, Kate. My only issue - that seal looks like a whitecoat pup, and those haven't been allowed to be killed in over 25 years. The radicals at PETA and the Sea Shepard Society don't let a little thing like that (aka 'truth' and 'facts') get in the way, though, and every picture they put up in their propaganda is a tiny whitecoat pup with big, round eyes. They should be ashamed of themselves.

ROTFLMFAO! Stop! You guys are killing me (like a baby fur seal) with some of these comments -- look, now I've got coffee all over my screen!

The sheeple are cute and fuzzy, like baby fur seals, and I've got a Louisville slugger and too much time on my hands.

Quit laughing.

He's married to Heidi Klum.

We were in PEI when a boat came in dragging a huge tuna behind it. A busload of Japanese tourists, wanted to buy the whole tuna on the spot.

So why the big deal about seals? It's not like they are endangered, and without them, the polar bears are going to have to start eating imported penguins!

I'm against seal hunting now. Why? Danny Williams. Take that Danny boy!

We're hearing the same BS about the Grizzly hunt in the Great BS Forrest here in BC. What you are not told is bear mortality facts. More bears die in non-hunted areas than in parks for example. That is because big daddy bear kills BoBo whenever he has a chance. To avoid Daddy, Momma bear takes little BoBo down to civilization which Daddy avoids. Momma and BoBo are victims of people bear encounters.
And by the way, trapping and relocation also has a high non-survival rate. May as well shoot them anyway. Poor BoBo.

Misteak in sentense 3. Should read: "More bears die in non-hunted areas such as parks for example than in areas where they are hunted."
Sorry.

And to boot, Big Bad Hunter is actually saving BoBo by trophy hunting Daddy Bear.

And once again Fisheries Minister Shea and others in the Conservative government will beat their chests loudly about how wonderful the seal hunt is...

...and once again they will alienate 100's of thousands of female voters...

...and so one again they will not win a majority in the next election.

The stupidity of the people managing the Conservative Party brand never ceases to amaze me.

Well that didn't take long. Ms. Shea was quoted today as saying "Our government will continue to defend the rights of Canadian sealers to provide a livelihood for their families through our lawful, sustainable and humane hunt."

What a bullshit stupid statement.

I rest my case.

For my fellow Frank Zappa fans:

Dreamed I was an eskimo
Frozen wind began to blow
Under my boots and around my toes
The frost that bit the ground below
It was a hundred degrees below zero...

And my mama cried
And my mama cried
Nanook, a-no-no
Nanook, a-no-no
Don't be a naughty eskimo
Save your money, don't go to the show

Well I turned around and I said oh, oh oh
Well I turned around and I said oh, oh oh
Well I turned around and I said ho, ho
And the northern lights commenced to glow
And she said, with a tear in her eye
Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow
Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow

(well, right about that time people
A fur-trapper (who was strictly from commercial)
Had the unmitigated audacity to jump up from behind my igloo (peekaboo) )
And he started into whippin on my favorite baby seal
With a lead-filled snowshoe)

I said, with a
Lead-
Filled
With a lead filled snowshoe
He said, peekaboo
I said, with a
Lead-
Filled
With a lead filled snowshoe
He said, peekaboo
He went right upside the head of my favorite baby seal
He went whap with a lead-filled snowshoe, and
He hit him on the nose and hit him on the fin, and he
That got me just about as evil as an eskimo boy can be. so I bent down
And I reached down, and I scooped down and I gathered up a generous
Mitten-ful of the deadly yellow snow

The deadly yellow snow, from right there where the huskies go!

Whereupon I proceeded to take that mittenful of the deadly yellow snow
Crystals and rub it all into his beady little eyes with a vigorous
Circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined
To take the place of the mudshark in your mythology
Here it goes,the circular motion, now rub it!

(here fido)

And then
In a fit of anger
I pounced

And I pounced again

Great googly moogly!

I jumped up and down on the chest of the him

I injured
The fur trapper

Well he was very upset, as you can understand
And rightly so, because the
Deadly yellow snow crystals had
Deprived him of his
Sight

And he stood up, and he looked around, and he said

I can't see
I can't see
Oh, woe is me
I can't see

Well.....you know
I can't see
Nothin

He took a dog-doo snow cone and stuffed it in my right eye
He took a dog-doo snow cone and stuffed it in my other eye
And the husky wee-wee
I mean the doggie wee-wee
Has blinded me
And I can't see
Temporarily

Well, the fur-trapper stood there, with his arms outstretched across the
Frozen white wasteland, trying to figure out what he was going to do about
His deflicted eyes. and it was at that precise moment that he remembered
And ancient eskimo legend, wherein it is written (on whatever it is that
They write it on up there) that if anything bad ever happens to your eyes
As the result of some sort of conflict with anyone named
Nanook,
The only way you can get it fixed up is to go

Trudging across the tundra
Mile after mile
Trudging across the tundra

Right down to the parish of st. alphonzo

tj: while there is some validity to what you say, whichever party outlaws sealing will loose every seat in the Atlantic provinces for at least a decade.

In addition, were the CP to do such a thing, far more voters would abandon the party because it more than any other is held to a higher standard and indeed campaigns that it has principles that it will not violate - one of which is to not bring in laws for political gain that have no basis in fact.

Well put Gord. The CPC will never appeal to 12 year olds and that is what drives most of the Henny Penny variety of "Anti's" and fear mongers.
The Bear population has doubled each decade in the past two and there are more dead people to prove it than ever. Yet the usual suspects are outraged whenever a cop has to shoot a bear in someone's back yard.
But reality just doesn't matter. Same with the seals.

Never ate a seal. Like the fur coats though.

I prefer the bindings myself. Saskatchewan makes the best on them.

Yes, indeed Gord. I am one such voter you describe. Perhaps I would not abandon the CPC over the issue, but it would be one check mark in the "against" column.

TJ, what is right is right. And, there is nothing wrong with the seal hunt insofar as it is a sustainable hunt with no impact on short, medium or long term seal populations. Many folks provide themselves with a livelihood through the seal hunt. This livelihood is available because there is a demand for products produced by the seal hunt. And, therein lies the beauty of the reasonably-regulated free market system.

Government of any stripe should not be injecting themselves into the issue beyond only the most basic of oversight and regulation.

But reality just doesn't matter. Same with the seals.
Posted by: Gunney99 at March 24, 2009 1:00 AM

Amen, Gunney. And, I'd add AGW to that list.

It would seem that you are the one that is in the minority, TJ.

Online Poll at Macleans
http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1481046/?view=results

How do you feel about Canada's annual seal hunt?
I have no objections whatsoever 41%

It's ugly and brutal, but that's no reason to ban it 27%

It's cruel and inhumane, and should be banned 25%

I don't care 7%

Sorry Gord and others, but I disagree.

The Conservatives gain nothing useful from running around praising the seal hunt.

It's just plain foolish, and it reveals an elementary lack of understanding as to how to manage a brand.

It is no different than if the beef industry were to invite visitors to tour their slaughterhouses every weekend, only to wonder why less people were eating beef.

Do you think those in the beef industry would be so stupid? Of course not.

...and once again they will alienate 100's of thousands of female voters...

Oh please....this woman and her daughter see right through this highly 'emotionally' based stance on this, not any crueler than boiling live lobster, never hear about a "stop steaming lobsters to death" campaign.

When does the "stop the scalping of the corn cob" campaign start?

Shouldn't the bear drink a coke at the end?

So how does one get seal blood off of a polar bear hide? Just asking.

btw, the best was to get away from an attacking polar bear is to climb the nearest tree.

TJ:

By the logic of your last post the seal industry should not be shuttered just as the beef industry is not closed, but rather the public should be banned from witnessing the process.

You will be pleased to know that such a ban has been in place for years now. Only people with permission are allowed to be there - just as in beef et al abbattoirs.

btw, the best was to get away from an attacking polar bear is to climb the nearest tree.

Posted by: Texas Canuck at March 24, 2009 9:04 AM

ROFLMAO......unfortunately,probably not one eco-nut will get the joke.

And as you know,I don't have to out run the bear,just whoever is with me.

...and once again they will alienate 100's of thousands of female voters...

Is that so?

Well, banning is the only way to go, I guess.

"Honey, I forbid you to vote in future elections"

The real "solution" would again be a cartoonish dumb down:

Bring in the geneticists and start cross breeding seals with coakroaches and snakes. No more problemo.

Then again, I doubt Paris or Lindsay would wear coats that are slimy and have antennas sticking out of them.
"Where's my coat?"...."It's hiding under the stove again, dear."

Yup, nothing says "conservative" like a heavily subsidized, politically-motivated "hunt" which loses millions each year in public taxpayer costs for the sole reason being to let lazy, otherwise unemployable illiterates on the east coast qualify for "lotto 10/42" on your dime…

The government used to run coal mines out east just to keep the union hacks employed. That wasn't "conservative" either.

Geez, I saw the title of this post and thought you were talking about the ice running through this guy's veins, Kate.

Sorry Gord Tulk et. al. but you miss my point.

I'm not talking about the seal hunt per se. I'm talking about the fact that, like clockwork, every year that it occurs you can be guaranteed that the Fisheries Minister will stand up, pound his/her chest loudly, and proclaim what a wonderful thing the hunt is.

And you can be guaranteed that the quote will end up on the front page of the the newspaper.

It's idiotic on the part of the Conservatives.

As long as inexperienced rookies are in charge of the Conservative brand the party will never get a majority.

What do they do with all those seal carcasses? They should be taking them and giving them to the polar bears and the Inuit. What can the green meanies say about that.

Re: If seal meat didn't taste like rancid codfish, it would be on thje menu of your favorite sushi bar."

I know things that taste a lot worst than seal, yet men kill for it!

Seal skins make darn good winter boots. All the rage these days is sheep skin boots, what is the difference - people may find lamb tasty, but it isn't like sheep eat our fish.

"If seal meat didn't taste like rancid codfish, it would be on the menu at your favorite sushi bar."

Absolutely!!

You have enunciated the core sophistry inherent in neurotic urban guilt syndrome.

Animal welfare is as thin as taste texture and looks.

Nothing wrong with seal meat if you trim off most of the fat

dan

One of my favorite seasons......The seasonal mocking of the Seal Hunt Protesters!

I'm hoping for charges being laid and Convictions this time .... recalling last years confrontations with Green peeze.

WAIT A MINUTE.

Seal is delicious. It truly is.

If someone tasted seal that tasted bad, they tasted bad seal.

Rancid sirloin doesn't taste good either.

Fresh seal flipper, properly prepared, is a lovely meal.

Enough with the 'rancid cod' (etc) statements. Simply not true.

TJ,
The Liberals also supported the seal hunt. Nice try to make it partisan though. The seal hunt exists because it must, not because there is a Tory or Grit in charge.

The 'women won't vote Tory because of the seal hunt' line was just hilarious.

I think you need a nice plate of flipper to kick start that brain, it is a terrible thing to waste.

Hugh when I read comments like yours then I have faint hope that the Conservatives will ever get a majority.

Keep your head in the sand if you wish.

Hugh - "The seal hunt exists because it must."

Fu*king Duh. Same idea as the traditional Pogey payments exist because dey must?

Club a Newfie. Save a Seal.