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A group of business owners and sealers is hoping to take advantage of the abundance of seals present on and around Quebec’s Magdalen Islands.
The Association de chasseurs de phoques intra-Québec has requested funding from the province for a new pilot project that would expand the market for seal meat and seal products by processing them in one location and shipping them across eastern Quebec.
“The market is already there, that’s the fun part,” said Gil Thériault, head of the association.
A local butcher shop already sells seal meat and Thériault says the demand is higher than the current offer.
Thériault added there’s also a market for seal skins, but most of what is used in Quebec comes from Newfoundland and Labrador. That’s what he’s hoping to change.
The pilot project would ensure sealers use and process all parts of the seal — its meat, skin and blubber.
“Social acceptance of the hunt is quite important and this is good for both the economy and environment because we don’t want to waste anything,” Thériault said.
Manon Cambefort, co-owner of the Groupe ADEL slaughterhouse in the Lower St. Lawrence, is hoping to process seal meat at her plant.
She is still waiting on the green light and appropriate permits from the government but hopes to eventually get her staff trained to work with seal carcasses.
“We’ve never done this at the slaughterhouse so it’ll take some training to understand the animal,” said Cambefort.
Manon Cambefort, co-owner of the Groupe ADEL slaughterhouse in the Lower St. Lawrence. (Sébastien Ross/Radio-Canada)
Cambefort said the logistics also still need to be ironed out. The seals wouldn’t be killed in a factory environment, so they’d need to ensure their safe transportation to a refrigerated room in the slaughterhouse.
While she is expecting some pushback from the public, she agrees with Thériault that clients are ready for more seal meat.
“It’s like with anything. I think there will be people who are really open and others who are hesitant,” Cambefort said. “Like with all good things in life, we can’t have unanimity.”
‘Abundant’ grey seal population
Thériault said the pilot project would also be a way to control the seal population on the Magdalen Islands, which has been on the rise.
“Nobody is saying that seal is the cause of the collapse of the ecosystem but it’s definitely a factor, ” Thériault said.
According to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s latest population assessment conducted in 2021, the grey seal population has grown to about 366,000 in Atlantic Canada.
Grey seals are pictured sunning themselves on rocks at low tide in Nova Scotia. (Patrick Morrell/CBC)
Fisheries and Oceans Canada research scientist Xavier Bordeleau said this isn’t considered to be an overpopulation, but there is room for more to be harvested sustainably.
“The population has been increasing over the past few decades and now seems to be stabilizing to some extent,” said Bordeleau. “For grey seal, we consider the population to be abundant.”
It’s hard to say just to what extent this growing population may be contributing to a decline in some fish species, Bordeleau added, explaining environmental conditions and other predators may also be a factor.
“Grey seals were found to be altering the recovery of Atlantic cod, for example, in the southern gulf,” said Bordeleau. “But now the ecosystem is changing and so we need to be updating that information.”
In a statement to CBC News, Quebec’s Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry, known as the MAPAQ, says it’s analyzing the proposal for the pilot project.
“The MAPAQ supports the development of the sealing industry and recognizes [its] potential … for the economy in maritime Quebec,” it says in a statement. “Businesses and organizations in the sector are invited to submit their projects.”
The ministry added it has provided more than $530,000 in funding to five businesses and organizations in the sealing industry over the last five years.
