The men who went to the ice fields and killed and removed the pelts (skin and fat) were referred to as sealers, while back in port the men who removed the fat from the skin were called seal skinners. The fat was then processed into oil for export while the skins were exported for use in the leather industry and later in the fur industry. Seal skinners could de-fat up to 450 young harp pelts in a 10 hour day and they were fined for any damages they caused to the skins. By the late 1920s machinery had replaced men in this occupation. Note the peculiar angle of the seal skinning tables which allowed the fat to fall away from the skinner into a container.
Courtesy: Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador
