Save the Seals, One Email at a Time

Hon. Joyce Murray - Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
Hon. Justin Trudeau - Prime Minister
Mr. Clifford Small - Fisheries Critic, Conservative Party
Mr. Gord Johns - Fisheries Critic, NDP

Subject:

Dear [Decision Maker]

Message: [Edit below]
I am aware that Fisheries Minister Murray has proclaimed her staunch support for commercial seal slaughters and for the use of public funds to prop up this dying 'industry', as she hosts fishermen and sealers at a conference in Newfoundland and excludes animal protection organizations from the discussion. I want Minister Murray to know that I oppose sealing, public funding of sealing, and her pandering to fishermen who hate seals and heartless sealers who bash in the heads of seals and shoot them without any compunction. Fishermen continue to malign seals and sea lions while demanding ever higher fishing quotas. They do not realize that predators like seals are keys to a healthy ecosystem. Unlike fishermen, who seek the biggest, most robust catch, seals and sea lions pick off the weak and old fish, helping to strengthen the fish population. Fishermen claim that seals and sea lions are overpopulated. Are they your source of truth on this matter, or do you listen to scientists who dedicate their lives to studying marine mammal populations? I recommend that you watch the short film, Seals and Sea Lions: Scoundrels or Scapegoats? to hear from scientists directly. (https://youtu.be/UQhhZbKLAx0 ) I oppose the Minister's weak regulation of the fishing industry. Fishermen should not have a say in fishing quotas; science based on the Precautionary Principle should be the only influence on fishing quotas. Fifty years ago, Canada ended commercial whaling. Prior to this, whalers were making a living shooting explosive harpoons into the bodies of these intelligent, social animals. After the commercial whaling industry ended, commercial whale watching became a lucrative industry; in fact, a much more lucrative industry than whaling ever was. Not only did whalers make a living killing whales, but they also helped to rid the oceans of these massive competitors to the fishing industry. Many whale species were nearly driven to extinction. Still, that did not stop fish populations from plummeting, too. Since the invention of factory trawlers, purse seining, long lining, and other destructive fishing practices, fishermen have done an excellent job of decimating fish populations by themselves. It is time now to end sealing, to create a Marine Mammal Protection Act modeled after the one that the United States has had for 50 years, and to regulate and reduce fishing to allow fish populations to rebound.

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