Activists say Canada's seal hunt target excessive

David Ljunggren, Reuters 23 Mar 09;

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadians armed with rifles and clubs ventured on to ice floes off the Atlantic coast on Monday to start the annual harp seal hunt, an event that opponents say is totally unjustified.

Ottawa announced on Friday night that hunters will be allowed to kill 280,000 young harp seals out of a herd of 5.5 million, slightly more than the 275,000 limit set last year.

Protesters say the hunt is unsustainable and unnecessary, given that the price for pelts is falling and the European Union is moving closer to a ban on the import of seal products.

"I think it's outrageous that at a time when we're seeing up to 100 percent mortality in seal pups born in key whelping areas, the Canadian government thinks it's appropriate to assign one of the highest quotas we've seen in recent years," said Rebecca Aldworth of the Humane Society of the United States.

"As I say every year that we get high quotas like this, the last time that Canada allowed this many seals to be killed, nearly two-thirds of the harp seal population disappeared in the space of about a decade," she told Reuters.

Although most animals are shot, some are killed by blows from large spiked clubs, called hakapiks. Animal rights groups often use graphic and bloody pictures of the clubbing as part of their campaign to halt the hunt altogether.

The initial stage of the hunt takes place off the Madeleine Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and is usually the focus of intense media interest. Most seals are killed later, off the cost of Newfoundland.

The seals are hunted for their fur, meat and oil, which is rich in omega 3 fatty acids.

Two years ago the hunt was badly disrupted by a scarcity of the sea ice that the seals give birth on.

Canadian Fisheries Minister Gail Shea said Ottawa would defend the seal hunt, which she said was a significant source of income in many small, isolated coastal communities.

"Our management decisions for the hunt take into account this fact as well as the advice of scientists to ensure the seal population is maintained," she said in he statement issued late on Friday.

Sheryl Fink of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said the real reason for the hunt was local politics in Eastern Canada, where Shea is from.

"For the past two years we've seen saturated markets for seal fur, and pelt prices are now the lowest in recent memory," Fink said in a statement.

"If this is a market-based hunt, as the government claims, the quota for this year should be zero ... our government is insistent on keeping Canada stuck in the dark ages."

Russia said last week it had banned the hunting of baby harp seals, weeks after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called it a "bloody industry".

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Rob Wilson)

Canadian seal hunt begins
Michel Comte Yahoo News 23 Mar 09;

OTTAWA (AFP) – An annual seal hunt on ice floes off Canada's eastern seaboard got underway Monday, amid renewed opposition from animal rights groups and a looming European ban on seal products.

The Canadian government announced a total allowable catch this year of 338,000 harp, hooded and grey seals, out of herds of more than 6.4 million.

The cull began as usual in the Magdalen Islands region of the Saint Lawrence Gulf and is expected to later expand northward to the east coast of Newfoundland province.

Fisheries and Oceans department spokesman Phil Jenkins told AFP 20 sealing vessels launched in the early morning and were targeting a "fairly large herd" nestled up against the Magdalen Islands.

Sixteen observer permits were also issued to activists and media to monitor the hunt, he said.

On Sunday, as hunters gathered to remember four colleagues who died last year when their crippled vessel capsized in the icy waters of the North Atlantic, activists renewed their opposition to the hunt.

The Humane Society condemned this year's slightly increased kill quota, up 5,000 from last year, saying in a statement it "flies in the face of the best available science and common sense."

The animal rights group also accused the Canadian government of a "profound lack of judgment" in setting such an "absurdly high quota."

"The last time Canada allowed this many seals to be killed, the harp seal population was reduced by as much as two thirds within a decade," it said, accusing Ottawa of trying to "wipe them out."

Fisheries Minister Gail Shea retorted the cull takes into account the advice of scientists "to ensure the seal population is maintained."

The minister reiterated Ottawa's commitment to "defend Canada's humane and sustainable seal hunt, and the livelihoods that depend on it."

In April, the European parliament is to vote on a proposed prohibition on seal products that would ban products derived from seals from being imported, exported or even transported across the 27-member bloc.

The measure still has to be approved by EU governments before it can be implemented.

Last week, Russia banned the hunting of harp seals less than a year old, after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin criticized the "bloody practice," its natural resources ministry said.

Harp seals are hunted commercially off the coasts of Greenland, Norway, the United States, Namibia, Britain, Finland and Sweden. But Canada is home to the world's largest annual commercial seal hunt.

The seals are hunted mainly for their pelts, but also for meat and fat, which is used in beauty products. In some countries, 12 to 15 week old pups were also prized for their snow-white fur.

According to the Canadian Fisheries and Oceans department, the value of the Canadian seal hunt in 2008 was seven million Canadian dollars (six million US).

It was worth 12 million dollars (10 million US) in 2007 and 33 million dollars (27 million US) in 2006.

The average price per pelt received by sealers is approximately 52 dollars (42 US).

Sealing can represent 25-35 percent of 6,000 local fishermen's total annual income, the department said.

In past years actors and activists including the Dalai Lama, Brigitte Bardot, Paul McCartney, Kim Bassinger and many others, have campaigned against the hunt.