the seal trade ban marks a larger paradigmatic shift in the Russian position is too
early to ascertain. However, the EU Seal Regime may in fact be a direct reason for
this shift.
The adoption of the EU Seal Regime has set important precedents for the
international trade in seal products. While apparently rooted in the European public’s
opposition to sealing, it remains questionable in how far it contributes to higher
animal welfare standards in the seal hunt. While, naturally, with reduced markets
also the number of seals that is being killed decreases, the individual seal that is still
subject to seal hunts in Canada or elsewhere does not benefit from it. This is to say
that the regime does not motivate commercial sealers to apply higher animal welfare
standards other than those provided for in domestic legislation (for example in the
Canadian Marine Mammal Regulations). Since this is the case, the EU Seal Regime
can hardly be interpreted as a regime based on moral reasons, but instead as a regime
that aims to principally oppose, and ultimately end, the seal hunt conducted for
purposes other than subsistence sealing. However, as I explained above (see Sect.
3.3), the differentiation between subsistence and commercial sealing is somewhat
ambiguous, which points to either lack of knowledge of EU decision-makers on the
realities of sealing or to a deliberate ethnicity-based view.
38
Either way, the EU Seal Regime has not missed its mark. Especially Canadian
commercial seal hunts have drastically decreased with the closure of the EU market.
Secondly, other countries have followed suit, having implemented similar regimes,
taking the EU Seal Regime as a sort of blue print: the Russian Federation, along with
Belarus and Kazakhstan put a trade barrier in place in 2012; Taiwan, inspired by the
EU Seal Regime, banned the trade in marine mammal products in 2013; Switzerland
banned seal products in 2017; and India banned commercial seal products in 2018.
Along with Mexico, which had already banned seal and other marine mammal
products as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2006, important
markets for seal products have now been closed.
Questions and Research Tasks
• How are seals being dealt with in your country (provided that there are seals
where you live)?
• Can a principal opposition to the utilisation of a species be based on moral
concerns?
• Does a blanket ban on seal products improve animal welfare in seal hunts?
Discuss this issue with your colleagues, bearing in mind other options of
regulating the seal trade.
• How can sealers be motivated to stick to high animal welfare standards?
38 Sellheim (2016b).
6.8 Summary and Conclusion
155
early to ascertain. However, the EU Seal Regime may in fact be a direct reason for
this shift.
The adoption of the EU Seal Regime has set important precedents for the
international trade in seal products. While apparently rooted in the European public’s
opposition to sealing, it remains questionable in how far it contributes to higher
animal welfare standards in the seal hunt. While, naturally, with reduced markets
also the number of seals that is being killed decreases, the individual seal that is still
subject to seal hunts in Canada or elsewhere does not benefit from it. This is to say
that the regime does not motivate commercial sealers to apply higher animal welfare
standards other than those provided for in domestic legislation (for example in the
Canadian Marine Mammal Regulations). Since this is the case, the EU Seal Regime
can hardly be interpreted as a regime based on moral reasons, but instead as a regime
that aims to principally oppose, and ultimately end, the seal hunt conducted for
purposes other than subsistence sealing. However, as I explained above (see Sect.
3.3), the differentiation between subsistence and commercial sealing is somewhat
ambiguous, which points to either lack of knowledge of EU decision-makers on the
realities of sealing or to a deliberate ethnicity-based view.
38
Either way, the EU Seal Regime has not missed its mark. Especially Canadian
commercial seal hunts have drastically decreased with the closure of the EU market.
Secondly, other countries have followed suit, having implemented similar regimes,
taking the EU Seal Regime as a sort of blue print: the Russian Federation, along with
Belarus and Kazakhstan put a trade barrier in place in 2012; Taiwan, inspired by the
EU Seal Regime, banned the trade in marine mammal products in 2013; Switzerland
banned seal products in 2017; and India banned commercial seal products in 2018.
Along with Mexico, which had already banned seal and other marine mammal
products as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2006, important
markets for seal products have now been closed.
Questions and Research Tasks
• How are seals being dealt with in your country (provided that there are seals
where you live)?
• Can a principal opposition to the utilisation of a species be based on moral
concerns?
• Does a blanket ban on seal products improve animal welfare in seal hunts?
Discuss this issue with your colleagues, bearing in mind other options of
regulating the seal trade.
• How can sealers be motivated to stick to high animal welfare standards?
38 Sellheim (2016b).
6.8 Summary and Conclusion
155