Were seals a commercial catch or just incidental? Do they taste like chicken? Actually curious. ;-)
Seals never caught on as a suitable meal for New Englanders, so they were practically eliminated for the bounty placed on them, and because people felt they threatened the fish stocks, and were generally considered to be a nuisance. Then the seals got Federal Protection and are breeding out of control in some areas ; Cape cod being one of those areas.
I personally have never eaten seal meat, but have eaten white shark steaks , which are OK but I would prefer thresher, mako, and porbeagle steaks. - Tom