For Anthony Bourdain to tweet four times (at least) on something that doesn't involve booze, cigarettes, or his ego is surprising.
That he regurgitates the main talking points of supporters of a politically supported slaughter that benefits no one is suspicious.
Book sales tanking, Tony?

Bourdain is a redneck.

"where fishermen kill as many seals as they can to make a bit of extra cash."

This is ignorance. Don't make accusations about topics you know zip about.

Sheryl Fink is cynically playing with words to say "there is no EU ban on Inuit seal skins". The EU ban does indeed include a (politically-correct) "exemption" for seals taken by Inuit people, but the reality is that the ban (and associated campaigning by groups like Ms Fink's IFAW) has destroyed markets (and prices) for all sealskins. Furthermore, Arctic Inuit do not live in the Stone Age; with no revenue from sealskins, it is very difficult to pay for the snowmobiles, boats, gas and other tools they need to hunt. (They need to travel further to hunt, now that they live in small communities -- or would activists deny them access to schools and hospitals too?) So Fink's IFAW and other activist groups cannot escape the true impact their obsessive crusade against the seal hunt -- while BILLIONS of chickens, cows, pigs and other animals are eaten every year in North America and Europe....talk about hypocrisy! Even philopsopher Peter Singer wrote in this book Animal Liberation (that launched the modern animal-rights movement) that it is hypocritical to campaign against the seal hunt while most people eat meat every day! The IFAW's campaigns against the seal hunt also run counter to a cornerstone of modern conservation thinking: i.e., "the sustainable use of renewable natural resources". (This is probably the main reason why the IFAW was refused admittance to the prestigious World Conservation Union.) Bottom line: it looks like Chef Bourdain isn't wrong after all. But wealthy protest groups are clearly worried that his revelations may make some people think twice before renewing their donations to the IFAW and other protest industry groups!

A very well written and well thought out article. Exposes Bourdain for the fool that I always suspected.

The IFAW has used hyperbole and sensationalism to organize an irresponsible mass boycott of many Canadian products. Whole Foods and the Old Spaghetti Factory are two American companies that are operating in Canada while advocating boycotts on a wide range of Canadian products.

Here is a full list of American companies who feel Canadians shouldn't be able to make a living.

The Batali and Bastianich Restaurant Group, BI-LO Supermarkets, Bon Appétit Management Company, China Grill Management Group, Garden Fresh Restaurant Group, Gotham City Hospitality Group, Harris Teeter, Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Cafés, Legal Sea Foods, Lowes Foods, McGrath’s Fish House, Patina Restaurant Group, Ted’s Montana Grill, The Old Spaghetti Factory Restaurants, The Venetian and Palazzo Resorts, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Winco Foods

Interesting how many of these companies are Vegas establishments. Since when are Casinos considered socially responsible companies? More seafood and meat gets wasted in gaudy Vegas buffets per week than seals get killed in a year. I guess they'll use anyone and anything to further their misguided agenda.

I wonder how many billions those companies, and chefs, make per year from meat sales? (You know meat, it's the stuff that comes from dead animals)

Sheryl Fink is wrong, in more ways than one. In her rebuttal to Anthony Bourdain she uses some of the same hogwash she accuses of Bourdain. Hypocrisy aside, IFAW has opposed the commercial seal hunt for over 30 years and to their credit have worked tirelessly to eliminate it worldwide.

Fair enough, but why attack people, such as Mr. Bourdain, who support it? And besides, wasn’t it Paul McCartney who famously didn’t know what province he was in when he conducted a seal hunt publicity stunt in 1996?

IFAW is being disingenuous when they refute the ecological effects posed by seals. Claiming that the expanding east coast seal population is not at least contributing to low fish stocks is like saying cars aren’t contributing to climate change. In fact 7.5 million seals eat 3 times more fish than 35 million Canadians.

And while, indeed, the EU ban does not include traditional aboriginal seal products, the negative market effect is the same.

IFAW also dismisses the needs of those 10,000 Easterners who hold valid sealing licences. Justifying a ban on the grounds that the commercial hunt is only “a bit of extra cash” for those who participate, misses the point. It is financially significant according to those who rely on it.

It is unfortunate that seal hunt opponents can’t see past their agenda and meet supporters, such as Mr. Bourdain, half-way.

The professional anti-sealing industry has more to lose financially than the fishermen who harvest the seals. Ms. Fink, Paul Watson, Rebecca Aldworth et al are the prinipal beneficiaries of the anti-seal hunt business which is worth hundreds of millions of dollars each year. To the extent that they rely on outdated photos like the one above (where fishermen are still using wooden boats) and their disingenuous usage of the image of the whitecoat harp which has not been harvested since at least 1987.

Fink, Watson, Aldworth and others regularly draw a 6-digit salary (Watson alone has been recipient of a million dollar parcel of land for his personal mansion)not to mention the lavish lifestyles of the under-informed celebrity shills they recruit to their cause, all the while excoriating subsistence fishermen who in many case earn less than $25,000 per year in the most dangerous industry known to mankind.

Anyone wishing to be informed on the issue of opposing the seal hunt should first glimpse at the motivation of those behind the bluster: The only thing more frightening to these folks than the seal hunt, is the END of the seal hunt.

As much as Inuit has full exemption, that is not actually the case when it comes to EU ban, so much so that the head of the Arctic council has made trips to Europe for talks involving this. Its all politics, if you havent lived in the arctic then you dont know the truth. As an arctic resident, I say both you and Bourdain are correct - Even though the ban is not on ringed seals, the ban itself has far reaching effects and it does affect the very livelihood of even the subsisting Inuit. It does inadvertently become a ban on ringed seals as their hunt for subsistence or otherwise has become suppressed because of the overall ban.

I quote: "As so often happens when celebrities wade into unfamiliar issues,…"

Right On! And for sure IFAW would never put one of their "Celebrity Experts" in a situation where they would "display a gross lack of understanding."

Isn't that right - Sir Paul and Heather!