Here is an excerpt from a study conducted by researcher Danita Burke which examines the question: In what way is the EU seal product import ban contributing to the stigmatisation of sealing and sealers? (see further below for the audio clip at CBC NL) It argues that the 2009 ban legitimatised the widespread stigmatisation of sealers and seal products generated and advocated by anti-sealing activists.
Danita Burke
Dr. Burke is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark and the founder of the Women in the Arctic and Antarctic, which is a networking and information sharing platform that aims to help promote women doing research and representation in/on the Arctic, Antarctic and Circumpolar North.
Seal hunting is a polarising topic, and the European Union’s 2009 ban is arguably the most high-profile and impactful statement against the practice of seal hunting on the world stage. At the same time, the stories and experiences of sealers, their families and their communities experiencing cultural and economic violence, psychological abuse and forced assimilation were, and continue to be, overshadowed by the narratives and content generated globally by anti-sealing activists.
Read full article here.
Related: Listen to Danita Burke with host Paula Gayle on The Broadcast talk about how the Baltic states in Europe are feeling the effects of seal over populations feeding on fish stocks and if the EU will finally lift the ban on importing Canadian seal products.
You can listen here: