Chapter 7 HUNTING FOR SECURITY: CHANGES IN THE EXPLOITATION OF MARINE BIRDS IN NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

• Main Authors: W. A. Montevecchi, H. Chaffey, C. Burke
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.492.7441; http://play.psych.mun.ca/~mont/pdfs/Hunting chapter_final.pdf

North American wildlife exploitation, as exemplified in the seabird and seaduck hunts of Newfoundland and Labrador, was a basic means of food security in coastal communities. Patterns of need and exploitation changed radically since the arrival of Europeans who perceived abundant and inexhaustible wildlife populations. These perspectives often combined with adversarial approaches of securing livelihoods by “conquering ” the wilderness and its aboriginal inhabitants. Unrestrained harvesting and notions of free public access were the antithesis of aristocratic land ownership in Europe that often denied people in need access to wildlife. The new North American ideals also ran counter to conservation initiatives such as hunting restrictions that were viewed as unacceptable government control. Technological improvements in transportation and in fishing and hunting capabilities (e.g. longer ranging, faster vessels, automatic weapons) helped to secure food over larger spatial scales and to bolster larger economies. Improved technology also created breakpoints in wildlife exploitation that led to over-harvesting. Conservation legislation developed gradually, but lagged behind the decimations of many wildlife populations. The reality and often finality of overexploitation were realized slowly, though not usually heeded. In the case of marine birds, unsustainable cumulative mortality from hunting, fishing, and oil pollution eventually resulted in the implementation of comprehensive conservation laws and regulatory policies. Through the twentieth century, hunting for food security shifted to essentially recreational forms of hunting. Yet many households in coastal communities still supplement (at times substantially) family provisions with wildlife. Overall, interest in