Tag Archives: Gil Thériault
Sealing industry protests lack of talks on EU ban at summit in N.L.
Implemented by the EU in 2009, the trade ban on seal products, based on ethical concerns, deprived thousands of seal hunters in Eastern Canada of their most important market. The sealing industry, whose biggest footprint is in Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador, has never recovered. Gil Thériault, the head of the association representing Quebec’s seal hunters, said planning two days of bilateral meetings in Newfoundland and Labrador, “the very place Ottawa abandoned,” and not bringing up the seal products ban “sends a message of complete disregard for people in coastal communities.” According to groups representing seal hunters and processors, the EU embargo is the result of an extremely effective lobbying campaign from animal-rights groups, who depicted the hunt as an inhumane slaughter. Sealers say that’s false and that the hunt is sustainable and conducted without cruelty. >>click to read<< 10:53
P.E.I. bait company puts seal meat plans on ice, fearing U.S. fallout
Bait Masters Inc. started producing bait sausages in its $1.4-million facility in Nine Mile Creek in April 2021, using a mix of fish, fish oil and other organic matter inside a biodegradable casing. In March, the company did a test run of sausages using a seal-mackerel mix and the results were promising. However, as word spread that the bait would contain seal byproducts, that triggered some red flags in the fishing industry because of U.S. rules around the seal harvest, laid out in the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. Prevost received an email that was being circulated to people in the lobster industry, warning of the implications if seal were to be used in trap bait. Photos, >click to read< 07:29
P.E.I. company adding seal meat to produce ‘Cadillac’ of baits
Bait Masters started producing bait sausages in its $1.4-million facility in Nine Mile Creek in April 2021, using a mix of fish, fish oil and other organic matter in a biodegradable casing. Now the recipe is changing. “Part of that decision came from fishermen who requested it, and part of it came from the abundance of seal, and needing to find a use for… the product,” said co-owner Mark Prevost. “So far, I think seal would probably be one of the higher end as far as quality goes, with oil and fat. I would consider it the Cadillac of all the baits that we’ve tried to make. Photos, >click to read< 07:47
