Oh, and I forgot to mention--the reason why the North Atlantic cod fisheries haven't rebounded the way the Norwegian and Russian cod fisheries have?

Gross negligence and mismanagement by the Canadian government.

We are seeing just one more example of that idiocy with the reintroduction of the seal hunt, being offered as an economic solution to Ottawa fucking up management of the North Atlantic ocean fisheries real good. In other words, it's a form of bribery to the cod fishing industry, who ain't makin' any money off the cod anymore. Instead, they are makin' money off J Lo in fur bikinis.

This isn't just about "oh, those poor wee baby harp seals are so cute, please don't hurt them..." Environmentalists and animal rights activists aren't nearly as stupid as greedy "traditional" and "traditional corporado" men (and their romantic apoligists) are.

Overfishing is a major environmental problem and a serious economic and food security issue. Annual catches hover around 100 million tons and are worth nearly $100 billion. About 15 percent of all animal protein we consume comes from the seas, and as many as one billion people in low-income countries are dependent on seafood for protein.

Ocean fisheries, referring to both stocks and the boats that harvest those stocks, are found in some of the most productive and richest marine environments on Earth. If a fish stock collapses, a "hole" can be created in the food web and disrupt the whole ecosystem.

Also, some fishing gears, like traditional shrimp trawling nets, result in excessive catches of nontarget species, called "bycatch." Bottom trawls can damage sensitive marine habitats, and a variety of gears can kill marine mammals, seabirds, sea turtles and fish. Gear modifications can reduce these impacts, but it's difficult to avoid them completely.

I happen to love seafood, steaks, venison, and duck. I'd like my great-grandchildren to be able to enjoy eating them too. But it's people like the self-righteous breast beaters here, screaming about how Sir Paul is the cause of all fisher folk's woes, who are the eejits. We need to fight for sustainable fisheries. And re-opening the barbaric Canadian seal hunts is NOT part of the solution, it is part of the problem.