By Molly Lovell
Editor
     A Maine animal protection organization is trying to get local restaurants and other businesses to boycott Canadian seafood in an effort to stop the Canadian government’s sanctioning of the slaughter of seal pups.
     Last year Maine Friends of Animals, or MFOA, teamed up with an organization called the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in an effort to stop the annual slaughter of more than 300,000 harp or hooked seal pups.
     Sea Shepherd is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and conservation of marine wildlife. According to their Web site, they have an international support base of more than 35,000 people.
     “Being a state that’s closest to the hunt, we felt that we should be involved as much as possible with the effort to stop the killing of seals,” said MFOA district coordinator Don Kimball. “This is the twenty-first century and to beat a baby seal to death in front of its mother to get the fur is not acceptable.”
     Kimball approached Lois Porta, owner of Lois’ Natural Marketplace in Scarborough and convinced her the cause is one worth fighting for.
     Porta said she was “thrilled” when Kimball approached her with the idea. “The more community support we can have to help protect animals, the better.”
     Kimball said 2,000 establishments nationwide have agreed to boycott Canadian seafood.
     Porta said she was aware of such seal slaughtering practices but did not know about MFOA’s efforts to stop it. “We get information about things that are animal safe, and dolphin safe and we use that information to make the best decisions we can as to what foods we’re going to buy and where we’re going to buy them,” she said.
     Porta has never carried Canadian seafood but said she was glad to know about MFOA’s efforts. “Now that we know about it we won’t make a mistake and purchase something we might regret,” she said.
     In addition to having a background of being friendly to the environment, Kimball’s proposal piqued Porta’s interest because she helped rescue a seal that had washed up on Higgins Beach this past spring. “It feels good to do whatever you can,” she said. “It’s important to recognize the part we all play in this ecosystem and seals play a vital part,” Porta said.
     According to Sea Shepherd’s Web site more than 320,000 seals were killed in March and April last year. Most of those were pups less than two months old. A post mortem survey indicates that 42 percent of the seals were alive when they were skinned.
     Kimball said MFOA is not only encouraging the boycott of the country’s seafood, but they are also discouraging tourism in Canada. Every year Kimball travels to Canada with a motorcycle tour but said he will not be taking the trip this year. He wrote a letter to the place where he usually stays on Cape Breton Island explaining why he wouldn’t be coming this year, but got no response.
     Kimball said it’s important to spread MFOA’s message to some of the large seafood importers such as those who work at the pier in Portland. The decision on their part not to buy Canadian seafood should be a “no brainer,” Kimball said, “unfortunately, they don’t want to listen.”
     According to Kimball, such importers haven’t been cooperative and when he asked one man why he wouldn’t consider boycotting Canadian seafood the man said he liked killing seals.
     Kimball said he understands that some of these importers might see MFOA’s efforts as a threat to their way of life. “There are some good old boys who don’t want to change, but when it comes to cruelty, culture is no excuse,” he said.
     As a business owner Porta recognized that cost is always a factor in making such a decision. “But at what price is something worth?”
     Kimball said one argument Canadians could make is that there are people who wouldn’t be able to subsist without the seal hunting. Kimball, however, said the government could take the money they are using to sponsor the seal hunts and put it toward an economic recovery plan. The country could even encourage tourism by holding trips where people could witness the birth of seals.
     “Everybody can win here,” Kimball said.
      Anyone interested in signing a petition in support of boycotting seal slaughtering in Canada can visit the MFOA Web site at Mfoa.net, as well as Sea Shepherd’s Web site at Seasheperd.org.
     In addition to signing the petition people can get involved by writing their Maine representatives about a joint resolution that’s before the Maine legislature calling on the Canadian government to end its sanctioning of the seal hunt.
     The organization’s Web sites also contain the contact information for Canadian officials.