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pryder frimærkerne.
31. Arne Schiøtz i Verdensnaturfonden: Panda-Nyt. 1976:2.
Hellerup 1976, p. 3.
32. Verdensnaturfonden er klar over, at sælbestanden kan
blive så stor, at den vil være skadelig for fiskeriet, og mener,
at man i så tilfælde må „skride til reguleringer”. Arne
Schiøtz i Verdensnaturfonden: Panda-Nyt. 1976:2. Hellerup
1976, p. 3.
33. Niels Søndergård: Sælernes forekomst og sæljagten i
Danmark. Kalø 1976, p. 68.
34. Naturfredningsrådet var statens rådgivende ekspertorgan
i spørgsmål om naturfredning fra 1917 til 1992. Rådet
oprettedes med den første naturfredningslov (1917) og
havde botanikeren Eugen Warming som første formand.
Naturfredningsrådet bestod af ti medlemmer udpeget af den
ansvarlige minister (1917-1937 justitsministeriet; 1937-
1961 statsministeriet; 1961-1973 kulturministeriet; 1973-
1992 miljøministeriet) efter indstilling fra universiteternes
naturvidenskabelige fakulteter.
35. Mødereferat 1976, Arkivskab: Naturfredningsrådet,
arkivserie: mødereferater. Rigsarkivet.
36. Bo Fritzbøger: Det åbne lands kulturhistorie. Frederiks-
berg 1998.
37. Hans Skotte Møller og Claus Helweg Ovesen: Status
over den danske plante- og dyreverden. København 1980.
38. Hans Skotte Møller og Claus Helweg Ovesen: Status
over den danske plante- og dyreverden. København 1980, p.
289.
39. Hans Skotte Møller og Claus Helweg Ovesen: Status
over den danske plante- og dyreverden. København 1980, p.
289ff.
40. Se blandt andet Roderick Frazier Nash: The rights of
nature – a history of environmental ethics . Madison 1989.
Summary
Fisherman’s enemy or darling mammal: the conservation of
seals in Denmark 1945-1980.
At the end of the second world war, Danish seals were
still viewed as vermin, especially by fishermen who blamed
them for damaging fishing gear and eating fish stocks.
This view was supported by the Danish state, which had
previously supported the hunting of seals on economic
grounds. In the period 1889-1927, 37,000 seals were killed
with state subsidies. Seals were seen by hunters as trophies,
and the earliest talk of seal reserves was initiated by hunting
organisations with the objective of protecting the stock.
However, it was with scientific objectives that the first seal
reserve was established in 1951 on the island of Hesselø.
In the small fishing community of Nysted, two brothers
(third generation of a seal fishing family) used a unique
and large fish trap for catching seals until the early 1960s,
when diminishing profits put an end to the business. In
1967, with a new Game Act, the ringed and the grey seals
were protected all year, but by then both were rare guests in
Danish waters. The hunting of common seals was restricted
to nine months of the year.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the environment
received more attention by media and the public, and
subsequently through national legislation. New nature
organisations arose, and the Danish branch of the World
Wildlife Fund for Nature was established in 1972. Ecology
became a central concept, with growing left-wing criticism
of the capitalistic system of production and a call for a
new relationship between man and nature. A growing
urban population and better mobility had consequences for
Denmark’s natural environment: seal breeding locations
were often also attractive beaches for leisure activities and
recreational sailors.
Though Denmark’s seals did not become a central player
in a well orchestrated protest theatre, they did receive more
attention throughout the 1970s. A joint examination by the
WWF and the major hunting organisation in 1976 showed
that the common seal was endangered at several important
localities, and based on the report, all seals in Danish waters
were protected in 1977. From the perspective of its longer
time span, this investigation shows that the conservation of
seals in Denmark reflects political and economic changes
in Danish society, and that several concepts of seal have
existed and competed with each other during the period
1945-1980.