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fangerfamilier at opretholde jagten og livsgrundlaget uden
bistands- og støtteordninger fra det offentlige. Med den store
afhængighed af indtægterne fra sælfangsten havde udsving i
sælskindspriserne i Europa derfor kæmpe konsekvenser for
den lokale økonomi i mange inuit samfund.
Penge og dyreetik
Der er umiddelbart stor forskel på inuitternes sælfangst og
på den kommercielle, industrielle fangst, både i formål, om-
fang og udførelse, men de to er alligevel forbundet gennem
de globale markedspriser for skindprodukter.
Det kan undre, at dyreværnsorganisationerne ikke har
villet medvirke til at skelne klarere mellem de to former for
fangst. George Wenzel påpeger i sin bog ”Animal rights,
human rights: ecology, economy, and ideology in the Cana-
dian arctic” (1991), at IFAW og Greenpeace var velvidende
om konsekvenserne for inuitterne allerede i slutningen af
1970’erne.12 Organisationerne har selv givet forskellige for-
klaringer. I 1977 skelnede Greenpeace explicit mellem den
traditionelle og den kommercielle sælfangst, men ændrede i
løbet af det næste tiår holdning til at være imod alle former
for drab på sæler – og dermed også inuitternes traditionelle
sælfangst.13 Måske ændrede ideologien sig i Greenpeace,
måske ændrede synet på inuitterne som et traditionelt folk
sig – eller måske var der for mange penge i kampagneind-
tægter til, at en videre nuancering kunne betale sig.14
Forløbet fortæller i alt fald om en kompliceret dynamik
mellem dyreetiske problemstillinger og levevilkår og om, at
kampagner i én del af verden kan have store konsekvenser
helt andre steder.
Noter
1.Wenzel, George: Animal rights, human rights: ecology,
economy, and ideology in the Canadian arctic, 1991, p. 35.
2.”The hunters and Canadian government have history, log-
ic and economics on their side. The protectors have Brigitte
Bardot, full-page newspaper ads, petitions from school
children and yards of lurid film of grim faced sealers crush-
ing the skulls of cuddly seal pups.” Maclean, her citeret fra
Busch, Briton Cooper: The War Against the Seals. A History
of the North American Seal Fishery, 1987, p. 254.
3. Wenzel, George: op. cit., 1991, p. 162-172.
4. Wenzel, George: op. cit., 1991, p. 46.
5. Busch, Briton Cooper: op. cit., 1987.
6. Wenzel, George: op. cit., 1991, p. 44-45.
7. Wenzel, George: op. cit., 1991, p. 45.
8. Busch, Briton Cooper: op. cit., 1987, p. 254.
9. Hertz, O. og Kapel, F. O.: ”Subsistence Hunting of Marine
Mammals”, AMBIO , Volume XV, Number 3, 1986, p. 148.
10. Hertz, O. og Kapel, F. O.: op.cit., 1986, p. 150.
11. Hertz, O. og Kapel, F. O.: op. cit., 1986, p. 144 og 148.
12. Wenzel, George: op. cit., 1991, p. 162-172.
13. Wenzel, George: op. cit., 1991, p. 162-172.
14. Ifølge Ole Hertz var det udmeldingen fra Greenpeace un-
der et af de få møder mellem dem og grønlandske fangere.
Summary
Pictures of suffering white seals pups were used by
environmental organisations in a number of anti-sealing
campaigns from the late 1970s and onwards. Even though the
campaigns were directed against commercial sealing, it was
in fact Inuit sealers who felt the most severe consequences.
The campaigns used new approaches and methods such as
children’s books and emotional newspaper ads, and featured
celebrities protesting on the ice. The anti-sealing campaigns
began in the 1950s on the basis of a biological concern,
but continued in the 1970s and 1980s with a new focus on
animal welfare and ethics. The campaigns led to an EU ban
on seal fur products, leading to a drastic decrease in global
seal fur prices. With an economy based on a mix of cash and
hunting, Inuits were vulnerable to fluctuations in seal fur
prices, which provided themwith the needed cash for repairs
and fuel. The Inuit sealers therefore had to rely on state
support, since there were very few other economic activities
in the area. Although the environmental organisations
knew the harsh consequences for the Inuits, they refused
to differentiate between commercial and traditional sealing
in their campaigns. This might have been due to a shift in
animal ethics or because of the vast economic importance of
the successful campaigns.