from the responsible ministries in Spain and Pakistan on this issue. Up to the point of
writing, neither Spain nor Pakistan have become party to the CCAS.
The adoption of the CCAS marked the end of an era concerning legislation for
sealing: it was the last of its kinds that linked the sustainable use of seals with their
conservation—a feature that had marked the sealing regimes of the twentieth
century. The resistance against sealing and whaling, paired with the increasing
strength of the environmental movement, prompted states to take different routes.
This means that the CCAS was the last regime that considered the seal as an
exploitable resource. Over the course of the 1970s, the discourse on seals and sealing
had changed to such a level that seals had become a species that could not longer be
used for human consumption. Paired with concerns over the population status of
harp seals—presumably caused by overhunting by commercial sealing in eastern
Canada—and the shifting of seals into a human-like stage (anthropomorphisation),
public opinion turned against sealing and sealers and pressed states to take action to
ban the marketing of seal products. This process, however, would take well into the
2000s before it was an internationally established practice, as we will see in the
following section. The first step was nevertheless taken by the European Economic
Communities (EEC), out of which would evolve the European Union (EU) in 1993,
by banning the trade in products stemming from harp and hooded seal pups in 1983.
6.4.4 Seals in the Mediterranean and in the Wadden Sea
Seals in the Mediterranean and in the Wadden Sea, the southern edges of the North
Sea, have been put under different modes of protection. At the core of seal protection
in the Mediterranean stands the Barcelona Convention, the 1976 Convention for the
Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution,
22 which was renamed to be
the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region
of the Mediterranean in 1995. In light of the drastic declines of the Mediterranean
monk seal (Monachus monachus) throughout the 1970s, the parties to the Barcelona
Convention, which, as the name implies, primarily dealt with pollution of the
Mediterranean Sea, decided to take action. In 1987 the parties initiated an Action
Plan for the Management of the Mediterranean Monk Seal which aimed, for
instance, to reduce adult mortality and to establish marine protected areas for the
seal. However, despite these efforts, one of the primary threats to the species are
deliberate and unreported killings by local fishers. Also in 2019, the Mediterranean
monk seal remains critically endangered, pointing towards the fact that protective
measures have not been successful.
The situation is somewhat different in the Wadden Sea. Here, grey and harbour
seals have been hunted since the ninth century. Ultimately, this, paired with other
factors, led to significant declines of these species in the area, which led to the
22 Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution, 16 Feb 1976 (1102
UNTS 27).
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6 The International Legal Framework for Seals
writing, neither Spain nor Pakistan have become party to the CCAS.
The adoption of the CCAS marked the end of an era concerning legislation for
sealing: it was the last of its kinds that linked the sustainable use of seals with their
conservation—a feature that had marked the sealing regimes of the twentieth
century. The resistance against sealing and whaling, paired with the increasing
strength of the environmental movement, prompted states to take different routes.
This means that the CCAS was the last regime that considered the seal as an
exploitable resource. Over the course of the 1970s, the discourse on seals and sealing
had changed to such a level that seals had become a species that could not longer be
used for human consumption. Paired with concerns over the population status of
harp seals—presumably caused by overhunting by commercial sealing in eastern
Canada—and the shifting of seals into a human-like stage (anthropomorphisation),
public opinion turned against sealing and sealers and pressed states to take action to
ban the marketing of seal products. This process, however, would take well into the
2000s before it was an internationally established practice, as we will see in the
following section. The first step was nevertheless taken by the European Economic
Communities (EEC), out of which would evolve the European Union (EU) in 1993,
by banning the trade in products stemming from harp and hooded seal pups in 1983.
6.4.4 Seals in the Mediterranean and in the Wadden Sea
Seals in the Mediterranean and in the Wadden Sea, the southern edges of the North
Sea, have been put under different modes of protection. At the core of seal protection
in the Mediterranean stands the Barcelona Convention, the 1976 Convention for the
Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution,
22 which was renamed to be
the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region
of the Mediterranean in 1995. In light of the drastic declines of the Mediterranean
monk seal (Monachus monachus) throughout the 1970s, the parties to the Barcelona
Convention, which, as the name implies, primarily dealt with pollution of the
Mediterranean Sea, decided to take action. In 1987 the parties initiated an Action
Plan for the Management of the Mediterranean Monk Seal which aimed, for
instance, to reduce adult mortality and to establish marine protected areas for the
seal. However, despite these efforts, one of the primary threats to the species are
deliberate and unreported killings by local fishers. Also in 2019, the Mediterranean
monk seal remains critically endangered, pointing towards the fact that protective
measures have not been successful.
The situation is somewhat different in the Wadden Sea. Here, grey and harbour
seals have been hunted since the ninth century. Ultimately, this, paired with other
factors, led to significant declines of these species in the area, which led to the
22 Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution, 16 Feb 1976 (1102
UNTS 27).
144
6 The International Legal Framework for Seals