Canada’s annual commercial seal hunt is the largest commercial hunt of marine mammals on the planet. Each year, hundreds of thousands of baby harp seals are slaughtered on the ice fields off Canada’s east coast for their pelts. Sealers bludgeon the animals with clubs and “hakapiks” (clubs with metal hooks on their ends) and drag the seals—who are still conscious—across the ice floes with boat hooks. Many of these animals are even skinned alive. Hunters toss dead and dying seals into heaps and leave their carcasses to rot on the ice floes.
The 2011 harp seal quota is the highest set since the Canadian government introduced quota management in 1971. The quota for the harp seal hunt off Canada’s east coast has been set at 400,000 animals by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The Hooded Seal TAC for 2011 is rolled over from 2010. The total allowable catch for Harp Seals for the 2011 season has been set at 400,000. This includes a 20,000 developmental quota and a carry-over of 20% for commercial fleets. Many sealers stayed at home, unable to find buyers or worried about the lack of ice floes.
While the industry brought about $1 million, the Canadian government estimates the cost of enforcement at the slaughter to be up to $3.6 million annually. Further, the Canadian government has invested millions of dollars in promoting the sealing industry on an international level and working to block bans on seal product trade.
The hunting of seals has led to expressions of serious concerns by OIPA, members of the public and governments sensitive to animal welfare considerations due to the pain, distress, fear and other forms of suffering which the killing and skinning of seals, as they are most frequently performed, cause to those animals.
Global markets for seal products are closing. Canada’s two largest trading partners — the United States and the European Union— have both banned trade in seal products. Regulation (EC) No. 1007/2009 of the European Parliament and the Council on trade in seal products was adopted on 16 September 2009 and was published on 31 October 2009. It entered into force 20 days after publication. The Regulation prohibits the marketing of products derived from seals on the EU market. It applies to seal products produced in the EU and imported products.
National People’s Congress (NPC) of the People’s Republic of China accepted two legislative proposals to ban Canadian seal product imports to China. The two proposals were sponsored by dozens of NPC members. Both legislative proposals called on the NPC to ban seal product imports and pointed out the brutality of seal slaughters.
On behalf of OIPA, thank you to all the people who sent letters, signed action alerts and spreaded the news. Please keep supporting this animals and give them a voice. Together we can make a difference. Seals are sentient beings that can experience pain, distress, fear and other forms of suffering.
Paola Ghidotti
OIPA International Campaigns Director
