Fur set to fly at Nanaimo open house
FurCanada’s open house will kickstart campaigns for a
seal, sea lion and sea otter commercial fishery in British Columbia.
By SeaWestNews
The fur is set to fly in Nanaimo this
weekend, with an open house to kickstart campaigns for a seal, sea lion and sea
otter commercial fishery in British Columbia.
FurCanada, a Vancouver Island company,
hopes the event on Dec. 14, will raise awareness about the overpopulation of seal
and sea lions which are decimating B.C.’s endangered and threatened chinook salmon
stocks.
Thomas Sewid, who is President of Pacific
Balance Marine Management, which is the organization leading the development of
the seal, sea lion and sea otter industry estimates that of the 27 million
chinook smolts produced a year in the Salish Sea (wild and hatchery) the pinnipeds
are consuming about 24 million of them.
The hunting of seals and sea lions has been
banned on Canada’s West Coast for more than 40 years. Fisheries and Oceans
Canada estimates there are 105,000 harbour seals in B.C. coastal waters,
roughly 10 times the number recorded in the early 1970s.
The agency has allowed a small-scale
“test” harvest carried out under the provisions of the Aboriginal
Fisheries Strategy, which gives some First Nations harvesting and management
rights for food and ceremonial purposes.
A University of B.C.-led study published
last year in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences also found
that “changes in the numbers of seals since the 1970s were associated with a
74-per-cent decrease in the maximum sustainable yield in chinook stocks.”
Unlike, The U.S. which has allowed a lethal
removal program allowing American native tribes to kill sea lions that are
threatening endangered salmon runs to extinction, Sewid’s group wants to
further develop a market for B.C. pinniped products in Asia.
“FurCanada is striving to turn Nanaimo into
a world recognized center for fur fashion. It only makes sense, seeing as we
have such a diverse First Nations community and our island home is located at
the doorstep to the monster Asian markets,” stated a company official, Calvin
E. Kania.
“Working not only with First Nations to
develop their fur markets, we also have been catering to the needs of those
interested in furs, taxidermy, skulls and tusks since 1986. Presently we are
purchasing furs from throughout Canada from First Nations harvesters, Inuit and
licensed trappers. We also purchase from fur farmers.
“This open house is to enlighten locals
that a vibrant fur garment manufacturing and other accessory facility is here
on your door step making products for locals and supplying international
markets,” he said in a press release.
Sewid, Hereditary Chief Roy Jones Jr. of
the Haida First Nation and Richard Harry C.E.O. of the Aboriginal Aquaculture
Association say they have identified numerous markets for all parts of seals
and sea lions from furs, human food consumption, pet food consumption and
medicinal needs from the Omega 3 fatty acids found in the oil.
“Our organization anticipates over 4000
B.C. jobs from seal and sea lion harvests, if the Canadian Federal Department
of Fisheries & Oceans allows a licensed harvest,” said Sewid.
Canada exports furs worth about $100
million to China, including products from the legal East Coast seal hunt.
The hunting and trapping industry in Canada
is worth about $1 billion.