What is the Canadian seal hunt and why should it be ended?

​Harp seals have natural predators, and humans should not be one of them. Harp seals are hunted all year round (by sealers), however, the Canadian seal hunt marks its peak from November to May each year - making it the largest slaughter of marine mammals on the planet. During this cruel time, countless amounts of Harp seals are slaughtered using inhumane methods, so that their fur and meat and meat can be used/sold off. Due to facing criticism from the world because of the hunt's cruelty and unsustainability, the Canadian government and fishing industry have spread much misinformation. But there are some facts that are still standing and that deserve to be heard.

 

Canadian seal hunt - the facts

​1) Even though Harp seals are the 'primary victims' of the commercial seal hunt, Hooded seals are also killed (to a much smaller extent). 

2) 97% of the Harp seal pups who are slaughtered are just pups under the age of three months.

3) The seal hunt takes place on ice floes off Canada's East coast in two different areas: The Gulf of St. Lawrence and the "front". 

4) The seals have been known to have been killed by sealers using wooden clubs, large ice-pick-like clubs (also known as Hakapiks) and guns.

5) The demand for seal products has decreased exceptionally. In fact, the import of seal products was banned in the US in 1972, in the EU in 2009 and In Russia in 2011. As well as this, most of the seal meat from the hunted seals is thrown away or left on the ice to rot because not many people eat it anymore. However, despite this, it has been said that some sealers have been stockpiling pelts for the last few years, hoping that the demand will spike again.

6) It is costing Canadian tax payers a lot of money to keep the hunt running. In fact, the Canadian government has invested tens of millions of dollars since the 1990's to try to develop new products made from seals. They've tried everything - from seal pepperoni and pork pie, to seal bio-diesel and paint. They've even fed seal to chickens and pigs! All of these attempts have failed, yet they are still keeping the hunt running? 

7) The seals are already faced with other threats such as global warming and over-fishing, which is affecting their habitat and food source. They need ice to give birth and nurse their pups and the combination of bad ice and hunting can be devastating for the seals. In some years, it's thought that no pups survived.

8) Since 1996, 3.5 million Harp seal pups have been killed.

9) Sealskin products are completely unnecessary! As stated above, companies have tried everything to turn their seal products into something that people actually want to buy - without success. Who needs an iPad cover or ornament made out of seal skin? Yes, those are real products made from seal that have been put on the market. "Nobody needs seal products, and Canada does not need a commercial seal hunt."

10) Canada's commercial seal hunt is not about Inuit. Canada's commercial seal hunt is a highly competitive activity, with as many seals killed as possible within a few weeks.

11) The hunt doesn't even provide 'proper' jobs. It involves part-time employment for a few weeks per year, for a hundred (or so) individuals.

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Why is this seen as cruel?

Well, it is important to recognize that each of these methods of slaughter are extremely inhumane and demonstrably cruel. Hunters often shoot the seals from moving boats, which means that many of the pups are left only wounded badly. Another horrific fact is that the main sealskin processing plant in Canada reduces the price being paid for the product for each bullet hole they find, so the hunters are reluctant to shoot the seals more than once. As a result, the wounded seals are often left to suffer in agony - many slip beneath the surface of the ice and are never recovered. 

In recent years, hundreds of thousands of seals have been killed annually during the Canadian seal hunt. In the 1950's and 1960's, the Harp seal population was reduced by almost two thirds. The seals ARE NOT overpopulated. This event is cruel, inhumane, unsustainable, out-dated and very unnecessary. Seals are amazing animals that need our protection - don't you think that they should be able to live their own lives without being chased by humans? The hunt must be ended for good!