Well folks, I read through all 23 pages.
I'm from Nova Scotia. You know a place where there is an ocean and we are being over run with seals. I dive on the wrecks here and they are not swarming with fish. We do not have to compete with fishing charters for real estate on these wrecks because there are no fish on the wrecks. You may see one after a dozen dives on a wreck. You do however get dive bombed by 800lb seals as they call these wrecks home. Are the seals the fault of the decline of the fisheries? No! But what does an 800 pound seal eat in a day and multiply that by hundreds.
I don't blame people for being against the seal hunt. It's not pretty. Having pure white ground and spilling blood on it makes it look even more graphic. Try putting a white sheet down in a beef slaughter house.
Last year Sir Paul McCartney and his whacko ex Heather Mills came to NFLD to protest. They went out on the ice flows for some photo ops and as Heather approached one of those cute cuddly White Coats it lunged at her and nearly bit her nose off.
People on the East Coast do rely on the hunt to provide food for their families. There is a large population of lower income and uneducated families. When I say uneducated I refer to schooling degrees and not mental capacity. They do what they need to make money. It is not illegal nor should it.
I have no problem with people wanting to protest. You see how heated it gets on this board and now put people face to face in a dangerous environment and you will get conflicts and this is why there are laws to govern the protestors. Try having someone come to your workplace and turning an already dangerous job into a greater danger so they can make their point.
Let’s say you are diving a deep war wreck where people died on. The dive spot is open to recreational diving and you have every right to document it for National Geographic who is paying you to do so. However you have protestors who feel you should not be there because it is a grave site. As you are diving these protestors are underwater distracting you from doing your job and endangering your safety, while on the surface a zodiac is ramming your larger fishing boat distracting your support system and then saying they were rammed.
Think of the situation in which it would affect you. If it then still seems right than it may be. If it doesn't then take a second look at the position.
My last and final statement is this.
If these groups took half of the money the piss away on trying to create controversy and run ships and put out expensive add space, bill boards and actually spent the money creating shelters, spaying the stray animals, supporting the non profit organizations that don't get enough government assistance, then this would be a much better place for many animals. These groups have lost their way!!! They spend more effort and money stirring the pot than they do helping the animals.
JK
