Of course, a lot of people are opposed to seal hunting. Only 4 other countries practice seal hunting: Russia, Denmark, Norway and Namibia.
In this corner, what we care about is food. If seals are being hunted, surely it is not only for their pelts?
Well, no. Although I have never had seal meat, others have. But it is a very small market and too often the carcasses are left to rot on the ice.
I am told that seal meat has a very particular gamey taste. A rich dark meat, it is apparently remarkably tender. Seal meat is quite high in iron and in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
I haven’t tried any of them.
Perhaps it is because there is not a lot of demand for seal meat that it is hard to find. Not that I’m looking. Its really hard to find though, and expensive, which led to an investigation by the Competition Bureau in the late 90s. If you are dying to try it, I do know that you can find some seal meat at la boucherie Côte-à-Côte in Cap-aux-Meules on the Magdelen Islands.
Below, you can see that the Radisson Hotel in Longyearbyen, Norway, is offering as an appetizer of a Whale and Seal Meat combination. The seal is the brown meat.
I would try that.