Seal hunting is an integral part of traditional cultural and economic practices for many peoples throughout the Arctic and wider Circumpolar North, but the practice of killing seals is stigmatized in the European Union (EU) after decades of anti-sealing environmental and animal rights activism. In light of the anti-sealing activism and substantial lobbying by the International Fund for Animal Welfare and its allies, the EU banned seal product imports in 2009 on the basis of a moral objection. The decision to ban seal product imports on the basis of a moral objection has had a severe impact on many rural and coastal working class Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in the European Arctic/Nordic region and parts of the Canadian North, from the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland up to and including the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Canada by shaming their existence, devaluing local knowledge, and undermining sustainable economic and cultural activities and peoples safety to practice them.
With the support of the Nordic Arctic Programme, this project will explore solutions to the stigma associated with sealing, sealers and seal products in the EU and investigate avenues for opening debate about the EU seal product import ban by examining the question: How can the stigma on seal hunting and products in the EU be addressed?
This project will explore broadly how stigma is attributed, what are the consequences of stigma attribution, focusing on negative stigma, and what are possible avenues for overcoming stigma. Then the project will apply this theoretical insight to explore how sealing and seal products became stigmatized in Europe in order to explore potential avenues for overcoming this specific stigma.
Seals, Stigma and Survival is hosted by the Department of Political Science and Public Management, and the principal investigator is Dr. Danita Catherine Burke, Research Fellow at the Center for War Studies and the International and Regional Politics Group. The Seals, Stigma and Survival project includes team members and observers connected to research and representation across the Nordic region (Åland Islands, Denmark, Greenland, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden) and parts of Northern Canada.
You can learn more about Seals, Stigma and Survival on our website (www.survivingsealingstigma.com) and social media (X: @SealsandStigma / BlueSky: @sealsandsurvival.bsky.social).