Seals, Stigma and Survival

The piece is the first in a series of overview pieces on the 2024 public consultations feedback provided for a fitness check of the EU seal product ban. According to the European Commission‘s statement on the purpose of the fitness check:

Seals are hunted in parts of the world for commercial, subsistence and cultural reasons. In 1983, following people’s concerns about animal welfare, the EU banned the import of certain seal pup skins. In 2009, a general ban on placing seal products on the EU market was introduced, with two exceptions. This initiative will assess if the rules in place remain fit for purpose, focusing on their socio-economic impact and their impact on seal populations.

The consultation process ran from 15 May 2024 – 07 August 2024.

There appears to be a fair number of contributors from across Europe who are supporters of the general anti-sealing cause, as well as key anti-sealing advocacy groups namely Sea Shepherd and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW); suggestions of organizational support include frequent references to the need to free Paul Watson during his 2024 legal troubles in Greenland and to the IFAW website statistic that 90 per cent of sealers have been stopped since the 2009 EU ban it had a leading role in instigating.

However, there are dissenting voices in the feedback, predominately from the Nordic region and Canada. The following is a selection of comments from Finnish-based contributors who express support for an EU review and amendment of its seal product ban (In English). As the below comments illustrate there is a lot of support from Finnish contributors for amendment to the EU ban, with a particular focus on the negative impact of seals on the Finnish marine ecosystem and the fishing industry, the historical and traditional importance of sealing in Finland, and issues with the selective recognition of the cultural and economic importance of sealing and seal products by the current EU regulation.

Many of the Finnish contributors to the EU public consultation process submitted their feedback in Finnish, with the EU website providing English translations (see above). However, the EU site explicitly states that they cannot assure 100 percent accuracy of translations of consultation feedback. In case of any translation errors, of those who originally submitted comments in Finnish, here are copies of those submissions:

Some of the feedback submissions included attachments. Please see the attachments below.

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Author: Danita Catherine Burke

Methodology: Screen shots of public consultation comments and downloadable attachments were obtained from the “Trade in seal products – fitness check of EU rules” public consultation feedback. The consultation feedback is open access. You can find out more about the consultation process here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/14031-Trade-in-seal-products-fitness-check-of-EU-rules/public-consultation_en. Search term used: Finland.

During a search using the term “Greenland”, a source of Finnish origin was revealed that did not show up during the search using the term “Finland” – feedback (reference F3470120). This reference is included in the slideshows above.

During a search using the term “fund”, a source from the Åland Islands based NGO Archipelago Pares rf was located. The Åland Islands is an autonomous region in Finland. This information (reference number: F3481949) has been added to the slideshow and the attachment to the body of this piece.