Seal bounty and seal protection laws in Maine, 1872 to 1972: Historic perspectives on a current controversy

Natural Resources Journal

Volumn 46, Issue 4, 2006, Pages 881-924

  Lelli, Barbara ^b   Harris, David E ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE   (United States)

^b NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

COASTAL PROTECTION; CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT; LAW OF THE SEA; NATURAL RESOURCE; PINNIPED;

MAINE; NORTH AMERICA; UNITED STATES;

HALICHOERUS GRYPUS;

EID: 34447520441     PISSN: 00280739     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (317)

1. STATE OF ME., DEP'T OF SEA & SHORE FISHERIES, SEAL DAMAGE REPORTS (1947) [hereinafter SEAL DAMAGE REPORTS] (available at Maine State Archives, Marine Resources Box 190, Control No. 25090516).
2. Legis. Rec. 847 (1945).
3. CBC/Radio-Canada, Harp seal hunt a "stain" on Canada, McCartney says (Mar. 2, 2006), http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/ 2006/03/02/mccartney-060302.html (last visited Oct. 26, 2006).
4. News24.com, End seal massacre, begs [French film star Bridget] Bardot (Mar. 23, 2006), http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/ 0,,2-10-1462_1903125,00html (last visited Oct. 26, 2006).
5. In 2002, 314,540 seals were landed in Canada, including 312,367 harp seals, 150 hooded seals, 1,474 ringed seals, 126 gray seals, 334 harbor seals, and 89 bearded seals.
6. FISHERIES RES. MGMT. - ATL., FISHERIES & OCEANS CAN., ATLANTIC SEAL HUNT 2003-2005 MANAGEMENT PLAN 24 (2003) [hereinafter CANADIAN SEAL HUNT PLAN], available at http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/seal-phoque/reports-rapports/ mgtplan-plangest2003/mgtplan-plangest2003_e.pdf.
7. The plan allows sealers to kill 975,000 harp seals. Id. at 1.
8. Norway also sanctions a seal hunt. See MINISTRY OF FISHERIES, REPORT No. 27 TO THE STORTING 3 (2003-2004), available at http://odin.dep.no/filarkiv/202967/marinem̄mal≻mmary_final.pdf [hereinafter REPORT TO THE STORTING].
9. CANADIAN SEAL HUNT PLAN, supra note 5, at 14.
10. Id. at 26.
11. Words like bounty and cull have become pejorative. See, e.g., Peter J. Corkeron, Fishery Management and Culling, 306 SCIENCE 1891, 1891 (2004) (Norwegian fishery management system).
12. D.W. Johnston et al., An Evaluation of Management Objectives for Canada's Commercial Harp Seal Hunt, 1996-1998, 14 CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 729, 734 (2000).
13. See infra note 196.
14. See SHERYL FINK & DAVID LAVIGNE, SEALS AND SEALING IN CANADA 6 (2005), available at http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/dimages/ custom/2_Publications/Seals/sealsandsealing2005.pdf.
15. See id. at 8.
16. The Canadian seal hunt is actively opposed by many organizations. See, e.g., Int'l Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), http://www.ifaw.org (last visited Oct. 26, 2006);
17. Greenpeace, http://greenpeace.org and http://greenpeace.ca (last visited Oct. 26, 2006);
18. Sea Shepherd Conservation Soc'y, http://www.seashepherd.org last visited Oct. 26, 2006).
19. 16 U.S.C. §§ 1361-1421 (2000).
20. Bounties are used to reduce or eliminate animal populations perceived as harmful to people and property. See Adrian Treves & K. Ullas Karanth, Human Carnivore Conflict and Perpectives on Carnivore Management Worldwide, 17 CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 1491, 1492-93 (2003).
21. Bounties have fallen into disfavor as a management tool in the United States because they have a mixed record of success, can be expensive, and are often opposed by conservation and animal welfare groups. Id.
22. However, in the first half of the twentieth century they were used aggressively and contributed to the extermination of wolves (Canis lupus) as well as black and grizzly bears (Ursus americanus and arctos) in parts of their former habitat. See Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Eradication of the Wolf (n.d.), www.wildrockiesalliance.org/issues/wolves/articles/ history_of_bounty_hunting.pdf.
23. STEVEN KATONA ET AL., A FIELD GUIDE TO WHALES, PORPOISES AND SEALS FROM CAPE COD TO NEWFOUNDLAND 211 (4th ed. 1993).
24. Id.
25. Steven Jeffries et al., Trends and Status of Harbor Seals in Washington State: 1978-1999, 67 J. WILDLIFE MGMT. 207, 207-08 (2003).
26. A number of other governments have subsidized the mass killing of seals, including Ireland (bounties for gray seals and harbor seals until 1977), Iceland (bounty for gray seals until 1982; for harbor seals between 1982 and 1990), and eastern Canada (gray seals culled from 1967 to 1984; bounty for harbor seals from 1976 to 1990). See SCI. ADVISORY COMM. OF THE MARINE MAMMALS, PROTOCOL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS TO CULL MARINE MAMMALS 2 (1999), available at http://www.cull.org/cullprotocol.pdf [hereinafter SCI. ADVISORY COMM.].
27. One irony produced by the disparate management of seals in the United States and Canada is that organizations in the northeastern United States rescue, rehabilitate, and release harp and hooded seals back into the wild, while the same animals may be hunted and killed during the Canadian Atlantic seal hunt. See, e.g., Univ. of New Eng., Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center, http://www.une.edu/cas/msc/bio2.asp (last visited Oct. 26, 2006).
28. See, e.g., Ketil Skogen, Adapting Adaptive Management to a Cultural Understanding of Land Use Conflicts, 16 SOC. & NAT. RESOURCES 435 (2003);
29. Dana Blumenthal & Jean-Luc Jannink, A Classification of Collaborative Management Methods, 4 CONSERVATION ECOLOGY 13 (2000), available at http://consecol.org/vol4/iss2/art13.
30. See, e.g., KATONA ET AL., supra note 17, at 211.
31. Gulf of Me. Council on the Env't, Knowledgebase, http://www.gulfofamine.org (last visited Oct. 26, 2006).
32. Here (Figure 2) we divided the coast of Maine into three sections running from southwest to northeast. These are the Southern Coast region, the Midcoast region, and Downeast. The Southern Coast region stretches from Kittery, Maine, on the New Hampshire-Maine border (43.09°N, 70.74°W) to Brunswick, Maine (43.87°N, 69.95°W), the Midcoast region includes the coast from Brunswick to the Penobscot River just west of Castine, Maine (43.37°N, 68.81°W), and the Downeast section runs from Castine to the Canadian border at Eastport, Maine (43.89°N, 67.00°W). Whereas the Southern Coast region is renowned for its sand beaches, the coast of Maine becomes increasingly rocky as one proceeds north and east ("Downeast"). See Maine Resource Guide, http://www.maineguide.com/region (last visited Oct. 26, 2006).
33. KATONA ET AL., supra note 17, at 203-17.
34. MARIANNE RIEDMAN, THE PINNIPEDS: SEALS, SEA LIONS, AND WALRUSES 50-83 (1990).
35. The Phocidea are one of three families of the order Pinnipedea, which also includes the fur seal and sea lion (family Otariidea) and the walrus (family Odobenidae). Id. at 56-58.
36. Id. at 14 (the largest pinnipeds, such as elephant seals and walruses, weigh up to four tons);
37. KATONA ET AL., supra note 17, at 205 (harbor seals).
38. Id.
39. DAVID M. LAVIGNE & KIT M. KOVACS, HARPS AND HOODS: ICE-BREEDING SEALS OF THE NORTHWEST ATLANTIC 100-02 (1988).
40. See P. Michael Payne & Lawrence A. Selzer, The Distribution, Abundance, and Selected Prey of the Harbor Seal, Phoca vitulina concolor, in Southern New England, 5 MARINE MAMMAL SCI. 173, 181 (1989).
41. Ronald A. Kastelein et al., Food Consumption and Body Mass of Captive Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina), 31 AQUATIC MAMMALS 34, 36 (2005).
42. GORDON T. WARING ET AL., U.S. ATLANTIC AND GULF OF MEXICO MARINE MAMMAL STOCK ASSESSMENTS - 2005, at 169 (2006) (Nat'l Oceanic & Atmospheric Admin. Technical Memorandum No. NMFS-NE-194), available at http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nefsc/publications/tm/tml94.pdf.
43. DAVID T. RICHARDSON, FINAL REPORT: ASSESSMENT OF HARBOR AND GRAY SEAL POPULATIONS IN MAINE 1 (1976).
44. P. Michael Payne & David C. Schneider, Yearly Changes in Abundance of Harbor Seals, Phoca vitulina, at a Winter Haul-Out Site in Massachusetts, 82 FISHERY BULL. 440, 440 (1984).
45. David E. Harris et al., Long-Term Observations of a Harbor Seal Haul-Out Site in a Protected Cove in Casco Bay, Gulf of Maine, 10 NE. NATURALIST 141, 144 (2003).
46. RICHARDSON, supra note 34, at 1.
47. Harris et al., supra note 36, at 143-44.
48. ARTHUR E. SPIESS & ROBERT A. LEWIS, THE TURNER FARM FAUNA: 5000 YEARS OF HUNTING AND FISHING IN PENOBSCOT BAY, MAINE 2-4, 27-34 (2001).
49. DAVID T. RICHARDSON, FINAL REPORT: FEEDING HABITS AND POPULATION STUDIES OF MAINE'S HARBOR AND GRAY SEALS 9 (1973).
50. James R. Gilbert et al., Changes in Abundance of Harbor Seals in Maine, 1981-2001, 21 MARINE MAMMAL SCI. 519, 529, tb1.5 (2005).
51. Id. at 528-29.
52. Gray seal males grow to eight feet (244 centimeters) in length and weigh 990 pounds (450 kilograms), whereas females reach about seven feet (213 centimeters) and 594 pounds (270 kilograms). KATONA ET AL., supra note 17, at 212.
53. RIEDMAN, supra note 27, at 142.
54. See generally Caihong Fu et al., Why the Atlantic Cod (Gadus; morhua) Stock off Eastern Nova Scotia Has Not Recovered, 58 CAN. J. FISHERIES & AQUATIC SCIS. 1613 (2001);
55. G.A. Chouinard et al., Covariation Between Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Abundance and Natural Mortality of Cod (Gadus morhua) in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, 62 CAN. J. FISHERIES & AQUATIC SCIS. 1991 (2005).
56. FARLEY MOWAT, SEA OF SLAUGHTER 326-45 (1996);
57. LAVIGNE & KOVACS, supra note 30, at 100-02.
58. WARING ET AL., supra note 33, at 169-70.
59. Id.
60. See also RICHARDSON, supra note 34, at 15 tb1.3.
61. WARING ET AL., supra note 33, at 169.
62. Id. at 176.
63. See LAVIGNE & KOVACS, supra note 30, at 12 (harp seals), 17 (hooded seals).
64. SPIESS & LEWIS, supra note 39, at 69-71.
65. W. Nigel Bonner, Man's Impact on Seals, 8 MAMMAL REV. 3, 5(1978).
66. David E. Harris et al., Harp Seal Records from the Southern Gulf of Maine: 1997-2001, 9 NE. NATURALIST 331, 334-36 (2002);
67. David E. Harris et al., Hooded Seal (Cystophora cristata) Records from the Southern Gulf of Maine, 8 NE. NATURALIST 427, 430, fig. 1 (2001);
68. Donald F. McAlpine et al., Extralimital Records of Hooded Seals (Cystophora cristata) from the Bay of Fundy and Northern Gulf of Maine, 6 NE. NATURALIST 225, 229 (1999);
69. Donald F. McAlpine & Robert J. Walker, Extralimital Records of the Harp Seal, Phoca groenlandica, from the Western North Atlantic: A Review, 6 MARINE MAMMAL SCI. 248, 251 (1990);
70. Donald F. McAlpine & Robert J. Walker, Additional Extralimital Records of the Harp Seal, Phoca groenlandica, from the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick 113 CAN. FIELD-NATURALIST 290, 291 (1999).
71. It is tempting to speculate that increases in ice-breeding seal populations in Canadian waters may be responsible for the greater number of these animals sighted in the Gulf of Maine. However, harp seal populations in Canada are currently probably not increasing, see WARING ET AL., supra note 33, at 116, and a variety of other factors including changes in fish stocks and weather influence the number of ice-breeding seals in the Gulf of Maine.
72. See generally Donald F. McAlpine et al., Increase in Extralimital Occurrence of Ice-Breeding Seals in the Northern Gulf of Maine Region: More Seals or Fewer Fish?, 15 MARINE MAMMAL SCI. 906 (1999).
73. WARING ET AL., supra note 33, at 174.
74. Alicia Bundy, Fishing on Ecosystems: The Interplay of Fishing and Predation in Newfoundland-Labrador, 58 CAN. J. FISHERIES & AQUATIC SCIS. 1153, 1161-65 (2001).
75. WARING ET AL., supra note 33, at 187.
76. Id. at 182;
77. see also id. at 187.
78. Id.
79. COLIN WOODARD, THE LOBSTER COAST: REBELS, RUSTICATORS, AND THE STRUGGLE FOR A FORGOTTEN FRONTIER 181-83 (2004) (early vacationers who spent a few weeks of summer relaxing on the coast of Maine referred to themselves as "rusticators").
80. An examination of the Laws of Maine from 1820 forward revealed no prior legislation pertaining to seals.
81. An Act to Prohibit the Killing of Seal at Fort Point in the Town of Stockton, P. & S.L. 1872, ch. 108.
82. An Act to Repeal Chapter 108 of the Laws of 1872 Relating to Shooting Seals at Fort Point in the Town of Stockton, P. & S.L. 1880, ch. 281, § 1.
83. An Act to Restrict the Killing of Seal in Casco Bay, P. & S.L. 1877, ch. 331. § 1.
84. Id. § 2.
85. An Act Additional to an Act Restricting the Killing of Seal in Casco Bay, P. & S.L. 1877, ch. 374.
86. Id.
87. Valerie Rough, Gray Seals in New England, MASS. AUDUBON MAG. , 1968, at 24.
88. Id.
89. Id.
90. MARK KURLANSKY, COD: A BIOGRAPHY OF THE FISH THAT CHANGED THE WORLD 111-25 (1997).
91. STATE OF ME., DEP'T OF SEA & SHORE FISHERIES, ELEVENTH BIENNIAL REPORT 5 (1941) (examining section titled "Brief History of the Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries") [hereinafter Brief History].
92. Bounties were not a new idea in Maine. The state had already instituted bounties for other large mammalian predators. See, e.g., An Act to Encourage the Destruction of Bears, Wolves, Wild-cats and Loup-cerviers, P.L. 1832, ch. 9 (three dollars for bear, eight dollars for wolf, one dollar each for wild-cat and loup-cervier (Canada lynx)).
93. An Act to Establish a Bounty on Seals, P.L. 1891, ch. 139, § 1.
94. Id.
95. The 1877 acts protecting seals in Casco Bay-except for Harpswell (Cumberland County, see Figure 2)-were officially repealed in 1901. See An Act to Repeal Certain Obsolete Private and Special Laws Relating to Sea and Shore Fisheries, P.L. 1901, ch. 492, § 1.
96. An Act to Establish a Bounty on Seals, P.L. 1891, ch. 139, § 2.
97. Id.
98. Towns paid individuals to bury dead animals that were causing a nuisance. See ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TOWN OFFICERS OF THE TOWN OF YARMOUTH FOR THE YEAR ENDING MARCH 1, 1899 (1899) (two dollars for "burying seal").
99. See Brief History, supra note 73, at 5.
100. An Act to Amend an Act Entitled "An Act to Establish a Bounty on Seals," P.L. 1895, ch. 168, § 1; R.S. ch. 40, § 20 (1895).
101. Id.
102. An Act to Revise and Consolidate the Public Laws Relating to Sea and Shore Fisheries, P.L. 1897, ch. 285, § 38.
103. An Act to Consolidate, and Simplify, the Laws Pertaining to Sea and Shore Fisheries, as Contained in Chapter Forty of the Revised Statutes, and in Amendments and Additions Thereto, P.L. 1901, ch. 284, § 57. See also R.S. ch. 41, § 53 (1903).
104. An Act to Amend Section Fifty-three of Chapter Forty-one of the Revised Statutes, Relating to a Bounty on Seals, P.L. 1905, ch. 67, § 1 (bounty repealed, the prohibition against killing seals in Casco Bay during the summer months with long-range weapons remained in effect). See also R.S. ch. 45, § 85 (1916);
105. R.S. ch. 50, § 87 (1930); An Act to Revise the Laws Relating to Sea and Shore Fisheries, P.L. 1933, ch. 2, § 99; R.S. ch. 34, § 143 (1944).
106. Petition from Maine Citizens to Members of the House and Senate, Augusta, Maine (Feb. 10, 1905) (available at Maine State Archives, Augusta, Me.) (petition to amend § 53 of Chapter 41 of the Revised Statutes relating to a bounty on seals). See also House Jour. 203 (72nd Legis. 1905);
107. Sen. Jour. 269 (72nd Legis. 1905).
108. House Jour. 203 (72nd Legis. 1905);
109. Sen. Jour. 269 (72nd Legis. 1905).
110. Petition from Maine Citizens, supra note 86.
111. The state Treasury's General Accounts ledgers 1890-1894 are the source of data for bounty payments between 1892 and 1895. See Treas., General Accounts Ledgers 13-16 (1890-1894) (on file in Maine State Achieves, 1654-0101-08).
112. From 1895 to 1900, data was drawn from the General Accounts 1900-1904 as well as the Annual Reports of the Treasurer of the State of Maine. See Treas., General Accounts Ledgers 1-7 (1901-1904) (on file in Maine State Achieves, 1654-0101-08);
113. Treas., Vol. 1 Annual Report of the Treasurer of the State of Maine tbl.23 (1895-1899);
114. Vol. 2 Annual Report of the Treasurer of the State of Maine tbl.20-23 (1900-1904);
115. Vol. 3 Annual Report of the Treasurer of the State of Maine tbl.3 (1905) (Vol. 1-3 on file in Maine State Achieves).
116. See State of Me., Bureau of the Budget, http://www.maine.gov/ budget/fy0607οv•d_overview.htm.
117. Legis. Rec. 146 (1919).
118. Id. at 323-24.
119. Legis. Rec. 782-85 (1929).
120. This revolting suggestion was due to possible instances and persistent rumors of scams involving bounty collectors handing in fake seal noses. John D. Trefethan, a professional seal hunter, was quoted thus in 1947: In the bounty days, you just brought in the nose: But some of the boys grew pretty good at making half a dozen noses out of one seal. They'd cut a piece of skin in the shape of a nose, slip a few pig's bristles through for smellers, with the knot on the underside covered by blubber, then burn a couple of holes for the nostrils with a red-hot poker. You'd have a seal's nose that would fool the devil himself. And of course when you came in to some bounty clerk with half a dozen of those bloody smelly noses, he'd count them quickly and wave them away. He didn't want them around the office any longer than necessary. Richard Hallett, Writer Finds a New Sport: Hunting Seals off Maine Coast Is Challenge to Man's Skill, PORTLAND SUNDAY TELEGRAM & SUNDAY PRESS HERALD, Feb. 2, 1947, at 3d.
121. L.D. 783, An Act to Provide a Bounty on Seals (84th Legis. 1929);
122. Legis. Rec. 782 (1929).
123. Legis. Rec. 696 (1929).
124. Id. at 697.
125. Id. at 782-84. For the full text of the speech, see Appendix A.
126. Id. at 783 ("I hardly think you will find a fisherman on the Maine coast who will not tell you that the seal is the biggest detriment to the fishing industry of anything the fisherman has to contend with today.").
127. Id.
128. Id.
129. See KATONA ET AL., supra note 17, at 211;
130. HARRY GOODRIDGE & LEW DIETZ, A SEAL CALLED ANDRE 41 (1975);
131. Ethan Forman, Menace at the Seacoast, EAGLE TRIB. (North Andover, Mass.), Aug. 12, 2001.
132. We have found only two references to the second Maine bounty in older, somewhat inaccessible reports, see RICHARDSON, supra note 34, at 25;
133. J.R. Gilbert, Past and Present Status of Grey Seals in New England, ICES DENMARK 2 (1977).
134. STATE OF ME., EIGHTH BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF SEA & SHORE FISHERIES 34 (1934).
135. Legis. Rec. 69 (1937).
136. L.D. 35, An Act Relating to Bounty on Seals (88th Legis. 1937).
137. See Legis. Rec. 559 (1937);
138. L.D. 790, An Act Relating to Bounty on Seals in Hancock and Washington Counties (88th Legis. 1937).
139. An Act Relating to Bounty on Seals in Hancock and Washington Counties, P.L. 1937, ch. 137.
140. Id.
141. An Act Relating to a Bounty on Seals, P.L. 1939, ch. 288;
142. see also R.S. ch. 34, § 145 (1944).
143. Id.
144. See Letter from Arthur R. Greenleaf, Commissioner of Sea & Shore Fisheries, to Mrs. Augustus Van Horne Ellis (Feb. 2, 1940) (on file in the Maine State Archives, Augusta, Me., under Commissioner's Correspondence. For a complete transcript of their correspondence, see Appendix B infra) [hereinafter Commissioner's Correspondence].
145. Id.
146. Id.
147. Id.
148. Legis. Rec. 315 (1940).
149. An Act Relating to Fees of Wardens of the Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries, P.L. 1941, ch. 307, § 2;
150. see also R.S. ch. 34, § 144 (1944).
151. Legis. Rec. 316 (1940).
152. One representative who favored the bill remarked, "I don't know whether any of you have had occasion to smell a dead seal. I wouldn't recommend that you try it...." Id.
153. Id.
154. In the House, 104 members voted in the affirmative, none opposed. Id. at 356.
155. L.D. 986, An Act Relating to Bounty on Seals (92nd Legis. 1945).
156. L.D. 768, An Act Relating to Bounty on Seals (92nd Legis. 1945).
157. House Amend. B to L.D. 986, H.D. 1337 (92nd Legis. 1945).
158. Legis. Rec. 848 (92nd Legis. 1945).
159. Id. at 847-88. For the full text of the speech, see Appendix A.
160. "The fishermen say, 'Kill the seals,' and the hotel owners say, 'Kill the fishermen,' [hotel owners] say seals are a natural attraction to the tourists in Maine. They say, 'Here we have a business that goes into the millions of dollars - why hurt it?'" Id. at 847.
161. Id.
162. Id.
163. Id. at 848.
164. In 2006, Paul McCartney similarly described the Canadian seal hunt as "unjustified, outdated and truly horrific." CBC/Radio-Canada, supra note 3.
165. An Act Relating to Control of Seals, P.L. 1945, ch. 340, § 1.
166. Id.
167. Although the second bounty law was in effect from 1937 to 1945, data on the amount paid for bounties is only available for 1937 through 1941. The state Treasury's General Accounts for 1937 is the source of data for bounty payments that year. For 1938 to 1941, bounty payment data was drawn from the Biennial Reports of the Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries.
168. See STATE OF ME., DEP'T OF SEA & SHORE FISHERIES, ELEVENTH BIENNIAL REPORT 8 (1941);
169. STATE OF ME., DEP'T OF SEA & SHORE FISHERIES, TWELFTH BIENNIAL REPORT (1943).
170. The Department did not report making any bounty payments during 1942 through 1945, but it is possible such payments were made and not itemized. See id.
171. L.D. 391 (93rd Legis. 1947).
172. An Act Relating to Hunting Seals near Green Island, P.L. 1947, ch. 249.
173. The original Green Island law was repealed along with the second bounty in 1945. See An Act Relating to Control of Seals, P.L. 1945, ch. 340;
174. see also R.S. ch. 38, § 125 (1954).
175. L.D. 1077, An Act Relating to Bounty on Seals (93rd Legis. 1947).
176. Id.
177. Id.
178. L.D. 355 (93rd Legis. 1947) ffhe appended Statement of Fact read, "Seals are causing great damage and loss to our commercial fisheries and in order to best handle the situation it is advisable that a study be made of seals with an end to prevent future damage and loss.").
179. Id.
180. Speaking in favor of the bill, Senator Leavitt of Cumberland cited seal predation on fish as the major justification for further study. "[sceals] are killing thousands and thousands of dollars worth of fish, perhaps running into the millions. They are destroying fish weirs, letting fish out so [fishermen] cannot catch them and [fishermen are] absolutely baffled what to do about it....Our fishing industry in the State of Maine has a serious problem...." Legis. Rec. 1916-17 (1947). For the full text of this speech, see Appendix A.
181. An Act to Revise Sea and Shore Fisheries Laws, P.L. 1947, ch. 332, § 128;
182. see also R.S. ch. 38, § 124 (1954).
183. SEAL DAMAGE REPORTS, supra note 1.
184. Id.
185. Id.
186. "I think the bounty should be four dollars. Anyone will shoot 3 and get one, I do." Irving G. Moore, Prospect Harbor (Downeast), Feb. 1, 1947.
187. See SEAL DAMAGE REPORTS, supra note 1.
188. Another suggested a three to five dollar bounty. Id.
189. SEAL DAMAGE REPORTS, supra note 1.
190. "I believe seals should be dealt with as you would rats." Norman Olsen, Cape Elizabeth (Southern Coast), Jan. 17, 1947.
191. "I don't like them." Irving G. Moore, Prospect Harbor (Downeast), Feb. 1, 1947. Id.
192. "I do my own controlling. I shoot as many as possible." Linwood Brackett, New Harbor (Midcoast), Jan. 14, 1947. Id.
193. STATE OF ME., DEP'T OF SEA & SHORE FISHERIES, FOURTEENTH BIENNIAL REPORT 7-1-44 to 7-1-46, at 22 (1947) [hereinafter FOURTEENTH BIENNIAL REPORT].
194. As reported by Hallett, supra note 94: The problem of finding some practical use for the seal, rapidly increasing in numbers along with [scic] coast and becoming more and more of a pest to fishermen, faces Maine's Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries.... Commissioner Richard Reed...wants to find out if the Maine seal's skin has any market value....Some say his oil is good for paint oil, and [John D.] Trefethen says in the old days fishermen used to bring seal-oil to Portland by the barrel and find a ready market for it.
195. STATE OF ME., DEP'T OF SEA AND SHORE FISHERIES, FIFTEENTH BIENNIAL REPORT 7-1-46 to 6-30-48, at 35-36 (1949) [hereinafter FIFTEENTH BIENNIAL REPORT].
196. Id. at 35.
197. Id.
198. JOHN H. HUNT, THE ATLANTIC HARBOR SEAL IN THE COASTAL WATERS OF MAINE 1 (1984) (Maine Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries, Augusta, Me. (reprint)).
199. Id. Hunt's study covered the entire Midcoast region plus limited portions of the Southern and Downeast coasts. See Figure 2.
200. Id. at 6.
201. See also FIFTEENTH BIENNIAL REPORT, supra note 150, at 36.
202. HUNT, supra note 153, at 5-6.
203. Id. at 9.
204. Id. at 8.
205. Id. at 9.
206. FIFTEENTH BIENNIAL REPORT, supra note 150, at 36.
207. Id. at 36.
208. An Act to Revise the General Laws Relating to Sea and Shore Fisheries, P.L. 1959, ch. 331, § 2.
209. Marine Mammal Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1361-1421 (1972) (amended 1994); § 1371(a) (Exceptions apply to certain activities, such as commercial fishing operations, Alaskan natives, and scientific research.).
210. An Act Regulating Shooting Seals in Certain Waters of York County, P.L. 1951, ch. 26 (the area protected was in the vicinity of Kennebunkport, see Figure 2).
211. See also R.S. ch. 38, § 123 (1954).
212. A non-substantive revision (striking the words "the water of") was made in 1957. An Act Clarifying Certain Sea and Shore Fisheries Laws, P.L. 1957, ch. 30, § 123.
213. Regulation of Seals, P. & S.L. 1959, ch. 154, subch. D, § 1.
214. Id. § 3.
215. L.D. 596 (100th Leg. 1961).
216. Id. (no appropriation of funds was requested).
217. Legis. Rec. 397 (1961).
218. Id.
219. U.S.C. § 1371 (1972) (amended 1994).
220. See Ken Schoolcraft, Jr., Recent Developments, Congress Amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act, 62 OR. L. REV. 257, 258 (1983) (referring to the traditional mode of killing ice seal pups with a club; public outrage at the slaughter of harp seal pups in Canada was a motivating factor in passing the MMPA).
221. Marine Mammal Protection Act, P.L. 92-522, 1972 U.S.C.C.A.N. (86 Stat. 1027) 4144, 4144-45.
222. U.S.C. § 1379;
223. see Fouke Co. v. Mandel, 386 F. Supp. 1341, 1360 (D. Md. 1974) (The MMPA and other federal statutes that permit importation of seal skins preempt Maryland state law banning such imports.).
224. People of Togiak v. United States, 470 F. Supp. 423, 427-28 (D.D.C. 1979) (finding that the Alaska state law approved by the Department of the Interior effectively prohibiting Alaskan natives from hunting walrus was inconsistent with MMPA and therefore invalid).
225. U.S.C. § 1389 (1994) (anticipating the possibility of killing individually identifiable seals found to have a significant negative impact on threatened or endangered salmonids).
226. For a discussion of the proposed lethal removal of California sea lions in Washington State, see Nina M. Young et al., At Point Blank Range: The Genesis and Implementation of Lethal Removal Provisions Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, 5 OCEAN & COASTAL L.J. 1 (2000).
227. Current perceptions of seals in Maine are remarkably similar. See Barbara Lelli & David E. Harris, How Kayaks Affect Harbor Seals, 7 ATL. COASTAL KAYAKER 16, 17 (1998) (In response to an informal survey of Maine sea kayak guides (a group that is part of the tourist industry) taken in 1997, one-third of guides offered ethical reasons to avoid disturbing seals. One wrote, "We are in their domain, they deserve to be left alone.").
228. See, e.g., International Fund for Animal Welfare, http://www.stopthesealhunt.com (last visited Sept. 8, 2006) (anti-seal-hunt activists in Canada express this attitude by publicizing images of large men clubbing baby seals with sharpened picks).
229. JAMES BUTLER, THE MORAY FIRTH SEAL MANAGEMENT PLAN: A PILOT PROJECT FOR MANAGING SEAL AND SALMON INTERACTIONS IN SCOTLAND 3 (2005), http://www.speyfisheryboard.com/pdfs/ MorayFirthSealManagementPlanSummary.pdf (Scotland's seal management policy includes both conservation and lethal take measures.).
230. Naomi J. Scott & E.C.M. Parsons, A Survey of Public Opinion on Seal Management in Southwestern Scotland, 31 AQUATIC MAMMALS 104, 106 (2005).
231. Id. at 107.
232. Id.
233. Id. at 107-08. Id. at 107.
234. WARING ET AL., supra note 33 (more than five million harp seals, half a million hooded seals).
235. PETER MEISENHEIMER, WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH COD? (1998) (IMMA Technical Briefing 98-01 (revised)), available at http://www.imma.org/codvideo/whatproblemcod.html.
236. STEVEN R. KELLERT, CANADIAN PERCEPTIONS OF MARINE MAMMAL CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT IN THE NORTHWEST ATLANTIC (1991) (IMMA Technical Report No. 9104).
237. W.M. Johnson & D.M. Lavigne, Mass Tourism and the Mediterranean Monk Seal, 2 MONACHUS GUARDIAN, Nov. 1999, at 2, available at http://www.monachus.org/mguard04/04scien11.htm;
238. RIEDMAN, supra note 27, at 59.
239. D. Glain et al., Fishermen and Seal Conservation: Survey of Attitudes Towards Monk Seals in Greece and Grey Seals in Cornwall, 65 MAMMALIA 309, 312 (2001).
240. Mika Tonder & Juha Jurvelius, Attitudes Towards Fishery and Conservation of the Saimaa Ringed Seal in Lake Pihlajavesi, Finland, 31 ENVTL. CONSERVATION 122, 125 (2004). These fishermen also expressed mistrust of scientific estimates of the seals' population numbers. Id.
241. Id.
242. It is also noteworthy that negative attitudes toward predators can be remarkably long-lived even after they are totally extirpated from an area. In one study of rural landowners (predominantly farmers) in northwest Minnesota, the attitudes of those who lived in an area where wolves were extirpated a century ago toward these predators were similarly negative to that of landowners in a nearby area that has recently been recolonized by wolves. Andreas S. Chavez et al., Attitudes of Rural Landowners Toward Wolves in Northwestern Minnesota, 33 WILDLIFE SOC'Y BULL. 517 (2005).
243. See Bonner, supra note 53, at 10-11.
244. Commercial seal hunting in Atlantic Canada dates back to the first European explorers and settlers and led to the extermination of walruses. Since the early nineteenth century, harp and hooded seals have been the main targets. LAVIGNE & KOVACS, supra note 30, at 99-149.
245. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) estimates that over 12,000 commercial seating licenses were issued in 2002, but DFO does not track how many licenses are actually used. See CANADIAN SEAL HUNT PLAN, supra note 5, at 10.
246. In 2001, the Canadian Sealers Association reported that out of 11,000 seal licenses issued in Newfoundland, only about 2,500 licenses were active. FINK & LAVIGNE, supra note 12, at 12. While seasonal employment for so few people may seem like a weak economic incentive to continue a controversial hunt, almost all Canadian seal hunters live in Newfoundland and Labrador, where unemployment has been the highest in Canada for over three decades, http://www.statcan.ca/ english/french/freepub/71-222-XIE/2004000/chart-c13.htm (last visited Mar. 19, 2007) (unemployment was 16.7 percent in 2003).
247. The Canadian government promotes the seal hunt as providing valuable income to "remote, coastal communities where employment opportunities are limited," Can. Dep't of Fisheries & Oceans, Seals and Sealing in Canada: Frequently Asked Questions About Canada's Seal Hunt, http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/seal-phoque/faq_e.htm (last visited Oct. 30, 2005).
248. Between 1995 and 2001, the Canadian government paid more than 20 million dollars in direct subsidies (for example, purchased seal meat, paid salaries for seal processing plant workers) for the seal hunt. CAN. INST. FOR BUS. & THE ENV'T, THE ECONOMICS OF THE CANADIAN SEALING INDUSTRY 6 (2001). The Canadian government claims that all subsidies ended in 2001, Can. Dep't of Fisheries & Oceans, Atlantic Canada Seal Hunt: Myths and Realities (Myth #7), http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/ seal-phoque/myth_e.htm (last visited Mar. 19, 2007).
249. Opponents argue that indirect subsidies continue in the form of services to sealers from Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers, see Sea Shepard News, New Releases, http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_050401_2.html (last visited Mar. 19, 2007),
250. and the promotion of sales of seal fur, meat, and oil all over the world, see Humane Soc'y of the United States, http://www.hsus.org/ marinem̄mals/protect↘als/about_theňadian↘al_hunt (last visited Oct. 30, 2005).
251. FINK & LAVIGNE, supra note 12, at 10.
252. CANADIAN SEAL HUNT PLAN, supra note 5, at 1.
253. The precautionary principle holds that it is necessary to act to prevent negative environmental impacts even when the details of the causal relationships that bring about those impacts have not been fully elucidated. http://www.Sehn.org/wing.html (Wingspread Conference on the Precautionary Principle (Jan. 26, 1998)) (Last visited Mar. 19, 2007).
254. See supra Part IV.
255. See supra Part IV.D.
256. Ransom A. Myers et al., Wy Do Fish Stocks Collapse? The Example of Cod in Atlantic Canada, 7 ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS 91, 104 (1997);
257. Bundy, supra note 57, at 1153.
258. Fu et al., supra note 45, at 1619.
259. Government of Newfoundland and Labrador News Release, Mar. 9, 1999, http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/1999/fishaq/0309n02.htm (last visited Jan. 6, 2006) (quoting R. John Efford, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, "We have all the evidence necessary ... to recognize that the burgeoning harp seal herd is interfering significantly with the reestablishment of our groundfish stocks");
260. see also Kieran Mulvaney & Bruce McKay, Sealing: Justifying the Hunt, BBC WILDLIFE(1994), available at http://www.seaweb.org/resources/writings/writings/seals.php (last visited Jan. 6, 2006).
261. See, e.g., Standing Comm. on Fisheries & Oceans, Evidence, No. 026, 1st Sess. 39th Parliament 10 (Nov. 9, 2006);
262. Chouinard et al., supra note 45, at 1994 (mathematical model suggesting that increasing grey seal predation played a role in the failure of cod recovery).
263. See, e.g., Bundy, supra note 57, at 1163 (mathematical model supporting the hypothesis that cod recovery is retarded by harp seals).
264. Chouinard et al., supra note 45, at 1996.
265. Mulvaney & McKay, supra note 205. It is possible that both groups may be wrong. For a herd as large as that of harp seals, even a low level of predation by each individual animal on a depleted prey species may be enough to prevent recovery.
266. See Douglas P. DeMaster et al., Predation and Competition: The Impact of Fisheries on Marine-Mammal Populations over the Next One Hundred Years, 82 J. MAMMALOGY 641, 647 (2001). On the other hand, the level of depletion of some fish stocks may be so severe that no level of protection from predation (whether by seals or people) will allow them to recover.
267. See generally Natasha Loder, Point of No Return, 6 CONSERVATION IN PRACTICE 28 (2005).
268. Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, supra note 205 ("The minister ... displayed samples of cod which had their livers ripped out by harp seals, which discard the remainder of the fish.").
269. But see D.M. Lavigne et al., Harp Seals and Cod: Questions and Answers, http://www.imma.org/codvideo/harpcoe_QA.html (last visited Jan. 6, 2006) (IMMA Technical Briefing 99-02) (seabirds, not seals, may have been the ones feeding selectively on cod livers).
270. The summer months are when vacationers and other recreational users are on and near the coast. Fishermen use the coast year round. Protecting seals during the summer months may have had the perhaps unintended consequence of protecting seal pups in Casco Bay while they were still nursing.
271. Another possible explanation for the exclusion of York County from the second seal bounty is that seal numbers there may have been unusually low given that Massachusetts, to the south of Maine, had its own seal bounty in the first half of the twentieth century. See KATONA ET AL., supra note 17, at 211.
272. LAVIGNE & KOVACS, supra note 30, ch. 2.
273. In contrast, harbor seals in Maine haul out on near-shore ledges and can be readily observed from shore or boats. See, e.g., Harris et al., supra note 36, at 141-42.
274. LAVIGNE & KOVACS, supra note 30, at 148-49, 163.
275. See TravelWild Expeditions, http://travelwild.com/HarpSeals.asp (last visited Sept. 8, 2006).
276. See Tourisme Iles de la Magdalen, http://www.tourismeilesdelamadeleine.com/magdalen-islands/index∠g.cfm (last visited Aug. 24, 2006) (navigate to "Joys of Winter" and then to "Observations of Whitecoats").
277. The impact of non-lethal tourism on hunting can be complex. In Zimbabwe, for instance, non-lethal tourism is seen as a useful way to reduce hunting of big game animals only if the tourism is part of a careful management plan that takes the needs of local people into consideration. See Carolyn Fisher et al., Shall We Gather 'Round the Campfire?, 158 RESOURCES 12, 15 (2005), available at http://www.rff.org/rff/Documents/RFF-Resources-158_Campfire.pdf.
278. See, e.g., Christine Erbe, Underwater Noise of Whale-Watching Boats and Potential Effects on Killer Whales (Orcinus orca), based on an Acoustic Impact Model, 18 MARINE MAMMAL SCI. 394, 412 (2002);
279. Gordon D. Hastie et al., Bottlenose Dolphins Increase Breathing Synchrony in Response to Boat Traffic 19 MARINE MAMMAL SCI. 74, 81 (2003).
280. Erbe, supra note 219, at 414-15.
281. Anil Ananthaswamy, Massive Growth of Ecotourism Worries Biologists, NEW SCIENTIST, Mar. 6,2004, http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4733.
282. See generally Johnson & Lavigne, supra note 188.
283. NorSafari, http://www.norsafari.com (1400 Norwegian Kroner) (last visited Sept. 8, 2006).
284. MOWAT, supra note 46, at 335, 340;
285. REIDMAN, supra note 27, at 111-12.
286. Skogen, supra note 22, at 448;
287. see generally Susan K. Jacobson & Mallory D. McDuff, Training Idiot Savants: The Lack of Human Dimensions in Conservation Biology, 12 CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 263 (1998).
288. See, e.g., CANADIAN SEAL HUNT PLAN, supra note 5 (Canada).
289. See also REPORT TO THE STORTING, supra note 6.
290. For an excellent general description of ecosystem-based management, see generally Blumenthal & Jannink, supra note 22.
291. For a discussion of how countries that have seal hunts (Canada and Norway) use these principles to justify their policies, see generally CANADIAN SEAL HUNT PLAN, supra note 5, and REPORT TO THE STORTING, supra note 6.
292. SCI. ADVISORY COMM., supra note 20, at 8.
293. Gray seals were not even mentioned in scientific reports about seals on the coast of Maine in 1930, see A.H. Norton, The Mammals of Portland Maine and Vicinity, 4 PROC. OF THE PORTLAND SOC'Y OF NAT. HISTORY 55, 55-64 (1930), or, in 1948,
294. see HUNT, supra note 153.
295. It is also noteworthy that, when Rep. Carpenter spoke in opposition to the bounty in 1945, he specifically mentioned Atlantic (that is, harbor) seals but not gray seals. See infra Part IV.D & Appendix A.
296. HUNT, supra note 153, at 6 (approximately 3,000 seals).
297. See infra Part IV.D.
298. Canada paid bounties for harbor seals between 1927 and 1976. See SCI. ADVISORY COMM., supra note 20, at 2.
299. Gray seals were culled between 1967 and 1984 and bounties for gray seals were paid between 1976 and 1990. Id.
300. As previously noted, seal bounties were offered in Massachusetts until 1962. See KATONA ET AL., supra note 17, at 209.
301. HUNT, supra note 153, at 6.
302. Id.; SEAL DAMAGE REPORTS, supra note 1.
303. FOURTEENTH BIENNIAL REPORT, supra note 148.
304. Sierra Club of Canada/IFAW Canada Press Release, Seal Hunt a Major Conservation Concern (Dec. 10, 1999), http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/ media/sealhunt-concem-12-99.html (last visited Nov. 4, 2005).
305. Johnston et al., supra note 10, at 736.
306. Atlantic Canada Seal Hunt: Myths and Realities, supra note 196 (Myth #8).
307. WARING ET AL., supra note 33, at 115.
308. A similar controversy exists concerning the harp seal hunt in Norway. See Corkeron, supra note 9, at 1891.
309. For a bioeconomic approach to these issues, see generally Guillermo E. Herrera & Porter Hoagland, Commercial Whaling, Tourism, and Boycotts: An Economic Perspective, 30 MARINE POL'Y 261-69 (2006).
310. LEGIS. REC. 782-83 (84th Legis. 1929).
311. "Dogfish" (a small shark) were widely despised for their "nasty temper" and "voracious appetites." WOODARD , supra note 61, at 229.
312. "Grampus" was the name fishermen used for a number of small cetaceans, including a baleen whale, Balaenoptera acutorostata, and a dolphin, Grampus griseus. See Norton, supra note 229, at 92, 101;
313. see also KATONA ET AL., supra note 17, at 40 (Minke whale), 120 (Risso's dolphin or Gray grumpus).
314. LEGIS. REC. 783 (84th Legis. 1929).
315. Id. at 783-84.
316. Id. at 784-85.
317. Commissioner's Correspondence, supra note 112.