Remarks on Eskimo Sealing and the Harp Seal Controversy

• Published in: ARCTIC
• Main Author: Foote, Don Charles
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 1967
• Subjects: Glaciation; Canada; Greenland; Arctic; eskimo*; Harp Seal; Alaska
• Online Access: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/66353

Considers the importance of the seal harvest to Eskimos of Alaska, Canada and Greenland and gives statistics on catches, prices, incomes and costs of modernization of the seal-hunting industry. The catastrophic decline of sealskin prices and buyers boycott beginning 1965 as a result of the controversy over killing methods of harp seal pups has destroyed a viable industry badly needed in an economically depressed region. Eskimos seldom encounter harp seal pups, and use humane killing methods.