Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier said federal marketers will turn seal meat into a seafood delicacy like lobster, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “When properly prepared, it is delicious,” said Lebouthillier at a Senate Fisheries Committee (SFC) meeting. When it comes to seal meat, Lebouthillier called for it to be exploited. “Making it a consumer product is a priority,” she said. “We did it with lobster.”With regulators, she said they must “use this acquired experience.” This means they do not need to reinvent the wheel. The SFC sought new markets for seal products since sales collapsed under a 2009 European Union export ban. The trade at its peak in 2006 was worth $34.3 million per year. Fisheries Canada acknowledged in a report in 2014 seal had a fatty, pungent taste and should be mixed with other meats to soften the flavour. She said seal meat was no more repulsive than lobster, which was once deemed unfit for fine dining. She recalled a time when lobster was given to prisoners to eat and was used as fertilizer for gardens. The sums invested and the work carried out have resulted in lobster adding value to the market. If people can eat beef, she said they “can very well eat seal and advertise it.” Promotional work is being done on the ground with the hotel industry to bring seal to tables. Lebouthillier concluded by saying she wears and eats it. “I’m very positive,” she said. “We already have companies that are ready to move forward whether it be food for animals, Omega-3, fur, tourism, food for humans.”Seal hunters appealed to the SFC in May to promote the consumption of seal meat among Canadians.READ MORE: Seal hunters ask gov’t to boost demand for seal meat, won't 'replace beef'“It’s super good,” said a sealer. “It’s not going to replace beef.”
