Canadians often fail to realize the difference between trophy hunting and hunting for food. These two types of hunting are prevalent in Canadian society and history, but one places trophies on a wall, while another puts food on the table. The slaughter of animals purely for the purposes of adding another bearskin rug or mounted set of antlers to a wooden hunting shack is not okay in my mind, but hunting to put food on a table is another story.
While a small percentage of seal hunting is done by Inuit people today, this practice has been tradition among many indigenous cultures, including those of Canada and the United States. In Canada, there has been a great deal of outrage over the traditional Inuit ritual of seal hunting. Many agencies see this as inhumane, uncivilized, or completely unnecessary. In other words, many people in Canada associate seal hunting with traditional Inuit practices, and view consumption of seal meat as barbaric.
Don Cherry, Canadian celebrity and host of Hockey Night in Canada’s “Coach’s Corner,” expressed this view during a Saturday night broadcast last week. He referred to colleague Ron MacLean as “a savage [and] a barbarian,” for eating a seal burger from a restaurant in St. John’s. This view is not uncommon among Canadians, but is deeply problematic — associating one of the oldest, most sacred practices of the Indigenous Inuit peoples of Canada with plain savagery.
Though Cherry’s views might echo those of most Canadians, seal hunting should not be associated with barbarism is any manner. Just as other hunting industries are regulated, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) heavily regulates the seal hunting industry to maintain humane standards and allow for the protection of the seal population.
When it comes to other animals like deer or lambs, rarely are pictures of their cuteness shoved in our faces.
Misconceptions abound in regards to this practice, starting with viewing the hakapik — a club used to kill seals — as an inhumane ways to hunt these animals. This is addressed on the Government of Canada website, which states that the hakapik is “at least as humane as, and often more humane than, the killing methods used in commercial slaughterhouses.” Yet, when it comes to traditional Inuit hunting practices that have been passed down through generations of hunters, we still associate seal hunting with cruelty.
Seals are cute. They present an awful picture when dragged over the ice, but so do lambs or piglets — all of which are main portions of the food industry. Most animals are cute, but the cuteness of seals is used to prove that only barbarians could kill something so sweet. When it comes to other animals like deer or lambs, rarely are pictures of their cuteness shoved in the faces of the public.
Hunting is an time-honoured way of providing food for one’s family, and there’s no reason for us to think differently about the hunting that occurs today. People who hunt for food rather than for trophies often fill their freezers with game meat, and teach their children to do the same.
When hunting is used as a way to feed a family, or simply a way to put meat on the table, I support it. Properly purchasing licenses (the profits of which may be used to fund habitat preservation efforts), shooting only game in season, and following the regulations established by the DFO all make for environmentally sustainable and humane hunting.
In all respects, the seal hunting industry in Canada falls under this category.
