The following email was recieved by me:

HOW YOU CAN HELP SEA SHEPHERD STOP THE NEEDLESS SLAUGHTER OF OVER 1 MILLION
SEALS!

John Efford - Newfoundland Member of Parliament for
Bonavista-Trinity-Conception

Member of Parliament John Efford has led the call for the extermination of
the seals. This is reflected in the following statement made by the former
Newfoundland Fisheries Minister John Efford to the Newfoundland Legislature:

ôMr. Speaker, I would like to see the six million, or whatever number is
out there, killed or sold, or destroyed or burned. I do not care what
happens to them. The fact is that the markets are not there to sell more
seals. What they (the fishermen) wanted was to have the right to go out and
kill the seals. They have that right, and the more they kill the better I
will love it.ö

John Efford's Phone Number is 613-992-4133. His Fax Number is 613-992-7277

John Efford's E-Mail Address is: Efford.J@parl.gc.ca

We need to keep reminding Mr. Efford that people are opposed to the
slaughter of seals.

E-mail him and e-mail him often to protest his contemptible attitude towards
the harp seals. I have had quite a few debates with Mr. Efford over the
years, we are not going to change his attitude but we certainly can annoy
him.

Thank you for your support in this effort to save the lives of millions of
seals.
- Captain Paul Watson

I don't know what the right number is when you call from outside canada, you'll have to check out your self.

What is this guy's problem with Seals?

How about this.....
Mr. Speaker, I would like to see John Efford, or whatever his name is, killed or sold, or destroyed or burned. I do not care what
happens to him. The fact is that he is a worthless piece of ****. What they (the assassins) may want is irrelevant; they have been paid to end the pointless life of this sub-human, and the more pain they inflict on him during said execution, the better I will love it.

Ok.... seriously, I'll be trying to bug this moron with e-mails/phone calls (well, maybe not phone calls; but I'll see if I can't get a real cheap international phone card).

Originally posted by Kurmudgeon
Ok.... seriously, I'll be trying to bug this moron with e-mails/phone calls (well, maybe not phone calls; but I'll see if I can't get a real cheap international phone card).

A few years back you could send free faxes via some websites.
Don't know if this is still possible.

Bonavista-Trinity-Conception is, or was, a predominantly fishing region. The seals have become so numerous there that there's little to no chance of a recovery of fish stocks due to the voracious appetites of the seals themselves.

His remarks, I suspect, are primarily based on a financial aspect of the community, or lack of it.

There a lot of seals dying of hunger, I mean a lot. With such a limited food supply and the appetites, there simply isn't enough food for all the seals. I posted once before about in Nova Scotia, I've personally seem them run over by trucks and cars on the causeway. They're quite a hazard. Folks around that region just call them speed bumps now. And in various other areas, its quite common to see seals dead and washed up on shore from starvation.

Once the seal hunt was banned, the seal population exploded, and still continues to explode. They are literally everywhere.

I'm not justifying his actions or his words. What I am saying though is that anytime there is human intervention into nature, nature generally fights back and adjusts itself to achieve a balance, often with equally "inhumane" results.

The media and "alerts", and even a celeb or two, will jump on some bandwagon of the moment and the media is all over it. What they do not show you is the aftermath of what happens when humans tamper with something and nature has to re-adjust itself all over again.

Thanks for the info Robert I didn't know that.

Isn't there a natural predator for the seals (non-human)?

Polar bears mainly, and some sharks/whales. But there's a ton of seals floating around. You can even sit on the shoreline and see lots of them. And, of course, there's a few carcasses as well that wash up routinely. Then the seagulls have a feast.

1Vegan, just so you know, I am not saying that the seal hunt should be re-instated. I am saying that nature continually adjusts itself. Anytime a balance is upset, be it by man, or otherwise, nature just reacts and re-adjusts itself.

Just got an article from someone that says.:

"People stunned to find World Wildlife Fund supports seal killing.

Seals that are killed are 14 days to a year old. The scull of the animals is smashed with clubs and rifle handles. In 2001 a independent team of veterinarians have found that four out of ten seals is still alive when the skin is peeled of.

Some organisations call the wwf hypocrites, because the (Dutch) side uses images of young seals."

Sorry for the lousy translation.