Animal 0 Posté(e) le 26 février 2011 Déclaration de Gail Shea, ministre des Pêches et des Océans - La chasse au phoque au CanadaLe 23 février 2011OTTAWA – L’honorable Gail Shea, ministre des Pêches et des Océans, a fait aujourd'hui la déclaration suivante :« Notre gouvernement appuie les activités économiques légitimes des Canadiens, ce qui inclut les 6 000 familles canadiennes qui tirent une partie de leur revenu annuel de la chasse au phoque.La chasse au phoque au Canada s'est ouverte sur l'île Hay, en Nouvelle‑Écosse, ce qui signifie que les groupes internationaux qui s’y opposent ont intensifié leurs campagnes annuelles. Notre gouvernement n’hésitera pas à contrer leur action en rétablissant les faits.La valeur de la chasse au phoque peut sembler négligeable aux yeux de certains, mais elle constitue chaque année une importante source de revenu pour des milliers de familles canadiennes vivant dans les collectivités côtières et nordiques éloignées. Nous allons continuer à nous assurer que ces Canadiens peuvent chasser le phoque d’une manière sûre, durable et dénuée de cruauté.À cette fin, le ministère des Pêches et des Océans réglemente et surveille la chasse au phoque pratiquée sur l'île Hay, et ceux qui enfreignent les règles doivent répondre de leurs actes. Les méthodes de chasse sont fondées sur les recommandations d’un groupe de vétérinaires indépendants.Il est strictement interdit de chasser les blanchons.J’ajouterai que la population de phoque gris connaît une croissance exponentielle et dépasse maintenant les 350 000 individus. La chasse commerciale reste bien en deçà des niveaux de chasse durable fixés par les experts scientifiques.Qu’il s’agisse de conserver les marchés traditionnels, d’ouvrir de nouveaux créneaux, ou de s’assurer que les Canadiens connaissent la vérité à propos de la chasse au phoque, le gouvernement Harper continuera de défendre les chasseurs de phoque du Canada et leur droit à gagner honnêtement leur vie. » http://nouvelles.gc.ca/web/article-fra.do?m=/index&nid=591259 Partager ce message Lien à poster Partager sur d’autres sites
Animal 0 Posté(e) le 26 février 2011 L'autre côté de la médaille... A Dark Day for Hay Island Grey SealsFebruary 25th, 2011Photo HSI/R. AldworthToday was a truly awful day for grey seals. The sealers descended on Hay Islandearly this morning and swung their clubs and hakapiks and shot their riflesuntil all moulted pups were dead. Not content with that, they then shot at leastone adult grey seal.DFO was up to its old tricks trying to restrict observation of the Hay Islandslaughter and as a result, by the time I got on the island, the sealers hadfinished their killing spree. The carnage that I witnessed was heartbreaking. AsI walked across the island I saw small pups lying next to pools of blood wheretheir nursery mates had been slaughtered right in front of their eyes. I saw amassive bull that had been shot, lying close to a female and a whitecoat. I sawa group of sealers laughing and smiling as they worked over a pile of carcasses,getting them ready to winch onto one of the sealing boats.Photo: HSI/R. AldworthThankfully, these unfortunate pups did not die without witnesses. Humane SocietyInternational was on the island, as was media. I have watched the video footageof HSI and reviewed their photographs and it was a horrible flashback to 2008when I first witnessed the slaughter of grey seals on Hay Island. Relentlessrepeated clubbing of terrified weeks-old pups in front of their nursery mates,whitecoats crawling through pools of blood, cuddling up to dead seals, notunderstanding what was happening…but there was something different this year –the testing of the low-velocity ammunition that the director of the FurInstitute of Canada/wildlife pathologist Daoust had wanted to conduct, claiminghe thought this would be a more humane killing method. Well, from what I've seenand heard, it's definitely not humane. Seals had to be shot multiple times, orclubbed after being shot. One pup flailed about crying out in pain after beingshot the first time and had to be finished off. One sealer leisurely followed agroup of terrified pups as they attempted to escape. He took his time, advancingafter them as they jostled against each other in panic to escape, before finallyshooting one. I saw a picture of one sealer tormenting a terrified pup as it satnext to a dead pup. What sort of sick demented soul enjoys tormenting animals inthis manner? `Sick' and `demented' are two very apt words to describe NovaScotia sealers.Photo: ACASC/B. CurranMy government has betrayed Nova Scotians again. The provincial government mustgive permission for a slaughter to occur on Hay Island and each year they givethat permission despite the clear evidence of cruelty and unsustainability. HayIsland is a provincial nature reserve – it does NOT belong to commercialindustry. Hay Island is held in trust for us by the government. The governmenthas betrayed that trust time and time again. Nova Scotians should be outragedabout this and demand their government respect their wishes and protect greyseals in this province.It is a comfort to know that most pups born on Hay Island this year escapedharm, having moulted and left the island before the sealers arrived. It is alsoa comfort to know the grey seal hunt in Nova Scotia is just about finished. Killnumbers have been decreasing in past years. Baby seal killer Robert Courtney'soriginal claims of a buyer for the full quota of 1,900 never materialized. Ifhe'd had a buyer he would've been over to the island the moment DFO announcedthe official start date. He wasn't held up by weather every day – there was awindow of opportunity and he didn't take it. It was a repeat of 2009 — nomarkets, no buyer, so a buyer was manufactured thanks to funding from the FurInstitute of Canada (and the federal government) to facilitate a "commercialharvest" and dubious scientific studies. They needed to kill 100 seals for theirexperiment this year, and they killed approximately 100 seals. What acoincidence.Photo: ACASC/B. CurranGail Shea recently said, "To this end, the Hay Island grey seal harvest isproperly regulated and effectively monitored, and those who break the rules areheld to account." Reviewing the HSI video shot today, I saw violations of theMarine Mammal Regulations and saw no sealers "held to account" for thoseviolations. Shea is misleading the public into believing seals are hamperingfish stock recovery and growing exponentially. Neither is true. Shea has thenerve to call us liars while she continues to spread untruths to Canadians. Sheis the ultimate hypocrite and should be removed from her position immediately.There is no future for the sealing industry in Canada. It is finished. But thegovernment fights on, with an endless supply of taxpayer dollars, lavishingmillions on a crumbling industry that employs a tiny fraction of the populationof the country, putting our international reputation, tourism industry and freetrade talks with the EU at risk. To continue killing seals flies in the face ofscience, logic and compassion. There is simply no logic to it. It is a grudgematch, nothing more. The Canadian government simply does not want to admitdefeat and do the decent thing.Tonight I reflect with sadness upon those poor souls slaughtered so mercilesslytoday on Hay Island and vow that in the coming year I will work harder than everto ensure this never happens again.http://antisealingcoalition.ca/blog/2011/a-dark-day-for-hay-island-grey-seals/ Partager ce message Lien à poster Partager sur d’autres sites