IQALUIT - Nunavut hunters will throw away seal pelts rather than stop hunting seals, Premier Paul Okalik predicted Feb. 19.

Okalik made the comments to reporters while aligning Nunavut with efforts by the government of Newfoundland and Labrador to counter a push by some European Union legislators to ban the use of seal pelts.

But Inuit won't stop hunting seals, Okalik said.

"We need the food," he said.

The premier made the comments after meeting with Newfoundland and Labrador Fisheries Minister Tom Rideout, Transportation Minister John Hickey and Nunatsiavut's Minister of Nunatsiavut Affairs Tony Andersen at Nunavut's legislature.

Newfoundland sealers have taken a beating by anti-sealing activists who say that province's commercial hunt is cruel and unnecessary.

That wrath has largely bypassed the Nunavut hunt, but an EU ban would likely cut demand, and therefore prices, for seal pelts.

But Rideout and Okalik pledged to work on ways to build demand for seal pelts, prices of which have risen sharply since the 1990s. And Rideout struck a defiant tone against sealing opponents, saying his government would not let "misinformed opinion go unchallenged."

"We don't have to go around hiding our heads like criminals," he said.

Louie Kamookak, of Gjoa Haven, said he can't imagine skins going to waste when there are so many domestic uses for pelts, like kamiiks and gloves.

"I have never seen anyone throw away skins because they use them for clothing," he said.

Kamookak said he's not worried about foreign pressure on the seal industry. Most of the outrage stems from the use in Newfoundland of hakapiks: spiked clubs used to kill seals on the ice. In Nunavut, the high-powered rifle is typically the tool of choice. In Gjoa Haven, springtime sealers often use traditional harpoons, Kamookak said.

Representatives from the three governments also talked about health, education, housing and transportation

Rideout said the politicians explored ways to increase Canada's share of the North Atlantic turbot quota.

Hickey said the governments would attempt to convince an airline to resume commercial flights between Nunavut and Labrador.

For Andersen, the meetings were a big moment for the fledgling Nunatsiavut government, which sealed its land claim deal in December.

"We are now able to take our rightful place in Canada," he said.