Looking at these historical hunts, the line between commercial and
non-commercial subsistence hunts could easily be drawn. The seal hunts in the
Bering Sea as well as in eastern Canada and in the Arctic serve as representative
examples. Bering Sea and Newfoundland seal hunts were driven by international
market demands. This means that it was the demands of people elsewhere in the
world that motivated the seal hunts. The conduct of these hunts served no other
reason than to fulfil these demands, playing into the pockets of large businesses who
aimed to fill these as quickly as possible by killing as many seals as possible in the
shortest possible period of time. We have to remember that the peaks of these
extremely large-scale hunts occurred when (1) modern technologies such as highpowered rifles, hydrocarbon-fuelled engines or industrial processing methods found
their way into contemporary societies; (2) the industrial revolution was in large
demand of fuel; (3) environmental considerations and knowledge were little to
non-existent; and (4) a regulatory framework that aimed to protect species (and
people) were either non-existent or only emerging. The keywords here are therefore
‘industry’ and ‘markets’ as prime motivators. Aboriginal sealing, be it in the Bering
Sea or in Arctic Canada, played hardly any role in these developments. Therefore, its
impact on the dwindling seal populations was negligible.
In contemporary seal hunts, this distinction cannot be drawn that easily anymore.
Inuit sealers all over the Arctic are fully integrated into market-based economies and
everything they do has been influenced by modern-day technologies and socioeconomic mechanisms. In the case of the Inuit, for example, the sale of seal skins and
other seal products is in fact a sale for domestic and international markets. Currently,
the subsistence seal hunt in Greenland numerically trumps the commercial seal hunt
in Canada. Either way, both in Greenland and in Canada, much of the seal is also
used for subsistence purposes. In one way or another, money is involved and money
earned from the sale of seal products oftentimes directly flows back into fuel and
other goods so that it is possible to conduct sealing. After all, in modern-day
subsistence hunts, Inuit sealers rely on modern technologies such as snow-mobiles
or rifles. With the emergence and, arguably, ultimate success of the anti-sealing
movement in the 1960s, buyers abstained from buying any seal products,
irrespective of whether they were hunted by Inuit or not. This led to the collapse
of most markets for seal products, heavily affecting Inuit as well. Although bodies
like the European Communities and their seal products ban in 1983 aimed to exclude
Inuit from any ban, the overall markets for seal products collapsed. Inevitably, Inuit
sealing experienced a massive drop, leading to increased suicide rates and other
signs of social instability.
This example shows how intertwined the pathways of commercial and subsistence sealing are. In contemporary Canadian sealing, seal products from the Arctic
use the same trade routes as seal products from commercial hunts in Atlantic Canada.
The more the markets for seal products are in decline, the more Inuit sealing is
affected, too. This is why Inuit and non-Inuit sealers have formed alliances to
revitalise international markets for seal products.
One of the main anti-sealing actors in this was Greenpeace. During the 1970s, the
organisation massively campaigned and lobbied against Newfoundland sealing, yet
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3 Marine Mammals and Humans
non-commercial subsistence hunts could easily be drawn. The seal hunts in the
Bering Sea as well as in eastern Canada and in the Arctic serve as representative
examples. Bering Sea and Newfoundland seal hunts were driven by international
market demands. This means that it was the demands of people elsewhere in the
world that motivated the seal hunts. The conduct of these hunts served no other
reason than to fulfil these demands, playing into the pockets of large businesses who
aimed to fill these as quickly as possible by killing as many seals as possible in the
shortest possible period of time. We have to remember that the peaks of these
extremely large-scale hunts occurred when (1) modern technologies such as highpowered rifles, hydrocarbon-fuelled engines or industrial processing methods found
their way into contemporary societies; (2) the industrial revolution was in large
demand of fuel; (3) environmental considerations and knowledge were little to
non-existent; and (4) a regulatory framework that aimed to protect species (and
people) were either non-existent or only emerging. The keywords here are therefore
‘industry’ and ‘markets’ as prime motivators. Aboriginal sealing, be it in the Bering
Sea or in Arctic Canada, played hardly any role in these developments. Therefore, its
impact on the dwindling seal populations was negligible.
In contemporary seal hunts, this distinction cannot be drawn that easily anymore.
Inuit sealers all over the Arctic are fully integrated into market-based economies and
everything they do has been influenced by modern-day technologies and socioeconomic mechanisms. In the case of the Inuit, for example, the sale of seal skins and
other seal products is in fact a sale for domestic and international markets. Currently,
the subsistence seal hunt in Greenland numerically trumps the commercial seal hunt
in Canada. Either way, both in Greenland and in Canada, much of the seal is also
used for subsistence purposes. In one way or another, money is involved and money
earned from the sale of seal products oftentimes directly flows back into fuel and
other goods so that it is possible to conduct sealing. After all, in modern-day
subsistence hunts, Inuit sealers rely on modern technologies such as snow-mobiles
or rifles. With the emergence and, arguably, ultimate success of the anti-sealing
movement in the 1960s, buyers abstained from buying any seal products,
irrespective of whether they were hunted by Inuit or not. This led to the collapse
of most markets for seal products, heavily affecting Inuit as well. Although bodies
like the European Communities and their seal products ban in 1983 aimed to exclude
Inuit from any ban, the overall markets for seal products collapsed. Inevitably, Inuit
sealing experienced a massive drop, leading to increased suicide rates and other
signs of social instability.
This example shows how intertwined the pathways of commercial and subsistence sealing are. In contemporary Canadian sealing, seal products from the Arctic
use the same trade routes as seal products from commercial hunts in Atlantic Canada.
The more the markets for seal products are in decline, the more Inuit sealing is
affected, too. This is why Inuit and non-Inuit sealers have formed alliances to
revitalise international markets for seal products.
One of the main anti-sealing actors in this was Greenpeace. During the 1970s, the
organisation massively campaigned and lobbied against Newfoundland sealing, yet
52
3 Marine Mammals and Humans