Is Sealing Off the Seal Hunts a Sealed Bargain?

Greenpeace is a non-governmental organization that has done a lot in order to preserve the environment. Due to their multitude of achievements, it is hard to believe that a Greenpeace campaign that influenced the European Union to ban the commercial hunt of seals in 1983 (Arnaquq-Baril), could be so controversial. Although the ban allowed personal seal hunt to Inuits, it put a halt to the trade of sealskin which is one of the community’s sources of income. While virtue ethics would judge this ban to be ethical since it promotes respect for seals, utilitarianism would argue that the ban is…