A Canadian delegation is promoting the beleaguered seal industry in China this week in the wake of moves by the European Union to shut its doors to Canada's seal products.
Fisheries Minister Gail Shea is heading a delegation of seal industry representatives to promote not only traditional products such as fur and omega-3 oils.
The delegation attended the China Fur & Leather Products Fair to demonstrate how seal products can be used to make clothes and other textiles.
Shea said Tuesday she also met with Chinese government officials to discuss current research into using seal heart valves in humans, and about one day exporting seal meat to the country.
"Just by virtue of China's giant and growing population it's a potential market for a lot of different products," Shea told reporters at a trade show. "But we were here today speaking with government about the criteria around the import of seal meat. We'd like to get some seal meat into the market here, so it represents tremendous potential for the seal meat industry in Canada."
The Canadian seal industry took a hit last year when the 27-nation EU adopted a ban on Canadian seal products.
The ban does include exemptions for products from Inuit hunts, culls conducted only to manage marine resources and for travellers' personal imports.
The new regulations don't go into effect until August. In the meantime, the Canadian government has formally requested consultations about the ban at the World Trade Organization.
Late last year, Shea said Canada's hunt is sustainable and humane and derided what she called a "misinformation campaign" by non-governmental organizations that aim to stop the hunt.
"No more than any other industry, we will defend any Canadian industry we feel that has been unfairly attacked by non-government organizations, because I don't believe they've provided all of the information, or all of the facts, on the Canadian seal hunt," Shea said Tuesday.
Activists who oppose the seal hunt were dismayed last spring, when Governor General Michaelle Jean ate a bloody piece of seal heart during a trip to Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.
At the time, Jean defended the seal hunt as an ancient practice that is vital to the economies of many remote communities.
Shea reiterated that point Tuesday, saying the hunt "does provide income to those communities that are still remote and who have very little else to offer in terms of employment."
The majority of Canadian seal products already make their way to Russia and, to a much lesser extent, China, industry representatives say. But the growing Chinese consumer market still has lots of room for Canada's exports.
Bernard Guimont, president of Magdalen Islands Seal Products, said the delegation in China is prepared for any backlash against the industry similar to that from the EU.
"We are better prepared, in the sense that we have more education materials to explain the reasons behind our industry," Guimont told CTV News Channel in an interview from Beijing.
"Today the seal industry is in the fashion industry, is in the food industry, in the neutral-ceutical industry with the omega-3 oil, and with the heart valve replacement we're in the bio-medical sector. So today the whole animal is used and I think that this shows exactly what we have to do for the future."
