So I own a seal skin sporran...

**j.byars** · 31st March 11, 01:15 AM

I am new to highland attire...so new in fact my kilt has not yet arrived in the mail. Also let me point out I live in the United States. When I was ordering my sporran a short while ago I noticed sites saying they could no longer get new seal skin but could sell their existing stock. The place I ordered from pointed out it was legally obtained Greenland seal skin. I did not research it further and assumed all was fine. It was shipped to me without incident. Now I have discovered this site and from what I have read it is my understanding that perhaps I should not have been able to do this? Is this "legal" skin not legal in the US?

Basically I am wondering what my rights are with this sporran now. I have decided it is too formal for what I will be wearing and was considering selling it and buying a Ferguson Britt sporran instead. Now that the sporran is here am I able to legally sell it? Would I be required for some reason to prove where it came from? Is it legally allowed to be in this country at all?

**ForresterModern** · 31st March 11, 02:32 AM

Originally Posted by j.byars

Is this "legal" skin not legal in the US?

Basically I am wondering what my rights are with this sporran now. I have decided it is too formal for what I will be wearing and was considering selling it and buying a Ferguson Britt sporran instead. Now that the sporran is here am I able to legally sell it? Would I be required for some reason to prove where it came from? Is it legally allowed to be in this country at all?

If you really want to know for absolute certainty you should consult a lawyer. Seal skin in the US, unless documented to be from before the seal skin ban (Marine Mammals Protection Act from 1972 I believe), is illegal to purchase, possess, or sell, without specific exception (such as I believe some native american tribes may have, officially sanctioned research, specificaly licensed keepers such as zoos), to the best of my knowledge. That means in short that the company who sold it to you should not have allowed its export knowingly to the US, you should not have imported it (ignorance may be bliss but it does not get you out of the law), and therefore you should not possess it. The ban they are talking about is a more recently instituted one in the EU against marketing in sealskin that allows for clearence of existing stocks but no further acquisitions of new stock.

There are several different government agencies who have different duties in enforcing the act---Fish and Game, Homeland Security, etc... There is even a stipulation in the amendments to the original act that allow for rewards of up to $2500 for informing against violators of the act, so you might not wish to advertise your situation. Wikipedia link here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_...Protection_Act

Safest bet would be to simply destroy or rid yourself of it by putting it in the trash, although no one wants to see something so valuable wasted after the fact of harvesting. But the act was intended to keep this situation from occuring, you just got lucky, or unlucky, enough to not run into a customs issue at original import. If you keep it I would wear it sparingly and only in small groups and definitely not brag about or even acknowledge any awareness that it is sealskin.

**OC Richard** · 31st March 11, 04:35 AM

Wow I knew sealskin sporrans could be seized upon entry into the USA but I didn't know it was illegal to possess them!

I wore one for many years and I see them being worn at Highland Games all the time. I'm guessing that most were imported before 1972.

A pipe band here in California was fully outfitted with 30-odd sealskin sporrans for many years, until switching to plain leather ones a couple years ago.

**Brian K** · 31st March 11, 05:15 AM

I think, Richard, Jeff's post was not aimed at simple possession, but at possession that resulted from illegal importation or other shady acquisition. If you own a sealskin sporran (or any other sealskin product) manufactured or imported prior to the 1972 ban then you're probably OK. It's not the possession but the provenance you need to worry about.

**Lallans** · 31st March 11, 06:00 AM

Feed a poor native person: wear a seal. 'Nuff said.

**Oldhiker** · 31st March 11, 06:05 AM

So this baby seal walks into a bar..

Bartender says what you you like?

The seals says

Anything except Candian Club!

Ok stop booing...

**Brother Falldown** · 31st March 11, 06:42 AM

**Lallans** · 31st March 11, 06:51 AM

Originally Posted by Oldhiker

So this baby seal walks into a bar..

Bartender says what you you like?

The seals says

Anything except Candian Club!

Ok stop booing...

I like it! But for the record, baby seals are white. I've never ever seen a sporran made from their fur.

**auld argonian** · 31st March 11, 07:31 AM

Here in Chicago, we have a wonderful phrase that solves a lot of problems: "It was grandfathered in." Basically, it means that it was that way before the ordinance/building code/regulation was passed so it's exempt. This gets mis-used a lot and has been said as a bald-faced lie many times but it has sort of been a principle that affects the application of laws and regs for a while.

So it sounds like the sporran in question dates from before the regulations were passed...I guess that would mean that you would have to prove that every time you were challenged...would you be carrying a document proving the sporrans origins in the sporran all the time?

I'd assume that there'd be a loophole here...otherwise they'd be rounding up every piano made with ivory keys and doing I don't know what with them. Don't really know what a lawyer would say but I'm sure that it'd cost you money one way or the other.

My advice is to apply that age old technique that has succeeded for years: lie.

If anybody asks, it's bovine. If they say, "Are you sure? I feels softer than most of the bovine that I've handled...", just say, "It's VERY NICE bovine."

That or lock it up in your safe deposit box and leave it to your heirs to sort out.

Best

AA