Nigel Barker on Chefs for Seals: "You Have to Move People"

Photographer and America's Next Top Model judge Nigel Barker served as spokesperson for the Humane Society's Chefs for Seals campaign in Miami's Design District, where more than 70 restaurants joined forces to push for a ban on Canada's commercial seal hunt. Premier Guide Miami sat down to find out what that means — and what comes next.

The Humane Society of the United States recently presented Chefs for Seals in Miami's Design District — a celebration of seals where more than 70 compassionate restaurants in Miami worked together with the HSUS to encourage Canada to end its commercial seal slaughter. Nigel Barker, noted photographer and judge on America's Next Top Model, served as spokesperson for the campaign. In 2008, Barker accompanied the HSUS team to document and photograph the seal nursery and hunt. The pictures from the trip were on exhibition during the photo shoot at the Moore Building.

PGM: How do you get a handle on getting countries like Canada to stop the hunting of seals?

Nigel Barker: The bottom line is, people make changes all the time, and extraordinary dramatic legislation has happened in the past. Just recently, due to the Humane Society's efforts, there has been a total ban on the import of seal products into Europe. It used to be legal in the U.S. — it's now banned. Things do change, things do happen, and you have to move people. It just isn't always easy. You have to be dedicated, committed, and you have to keep at it.

PGM: How long have you been involved with this cause and why?

Nigel Barker: I have been involved for a very long time. As a child, my parents were big supporters of the Humane Society, and I actually marched with my parents in London in the 1970s against the seal hunt. It has been going on for literally a very long time — certainly 30 to 40 years in the commercial sense. The indigenous people of Canada have been hunting them forever; we haven't got a problem with that. They eat the meat, use the bones for tools, and utilize the rest of it. But the commercial hunt is different. I work in the fashion industry, and the fur on these animals is used in the fur trade in fashion, so I feel directly responsible in some respects.

PGM: What is the main message you would like people to take from your involvement?

Nigel Barker: The main message is that the hunt is still happening, and we need to stop it. What you can do is boycott Canadian seafood. We have almost 100 chefs from Miami here today from restaurants all over — they sell a lot of seafood, that means their money is going elsewhere. That's over $400 million since we started the boycott and over 5,000 restaurateurs in the U.S. including chains like Whole Foods. It is really a powerful boycott.

PGM: Have you seen any momentum over the past five years?

Nigel Barker: There has been a huge increase. Since I have been involved, we have had the ban in the EU. The price of seal fell — when I first started it was almost $100 a piece, now they are only $12. There is no demand, so they can't sell them. I have offered to donate all my pictures to the Canadian government to help with their eco-tourism opportunity. I wish that Canada would really honor the seal as opposed to killing it in the way they do. It is an unnecessary blemish on their otherwise good record of environmental issues.

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