Tag Archives: Seal Harvest
Fishers suffering from seal boom, Senate committee hears in Newfoundland and Labrador
The Canadian sealing and fishing industries have been left to sink or swim while booming seal populations on the Atlantic Canada coast deplete fish stocks and disrupt marine ecosystems, the Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans heard on a recent fact-finding mission. The committee took its in-depth study on the effects of Canada’s seal populations to Newfoundland and Labrador from September 11 to 13, 2023. Fact-finding activities in Elliston, South Dildo, Port de Grave and St. John’s, capped off by day-long public hearings in the provincial capital, provided senators with a detailed picture of the province’s rich history with the seal fishery and the serious challenges domestic sealers and fishers are facing today. >>>click to read<< 11:46
Sealing was a dangerous job
I always remember a picture of my great-grandfather standing next to a pile of harp seal pelts on the heaving and unpredictable ice floes in the frigid North Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland. Most of the fishermen, who became sealers for just a few weeks every spring, wore only the clothes and footwear that they had on when they arrived at the fleet,,, It was risky business, but the fishermen were typically poor and had big families to feed, so many jumped at the chance to join the seal fleets, despite the significant hazards involved. more, >click to read< 09:44
