Over one and a quarter million seal pups have been clubbed or shot to death over the last four years during the annual Canadian seal slaughter.
Facts about Canada’s Commercial Seal Hunt
About the Hunt
- Canada’s commercial seal hunt is the largest and most brutal slaughter of marine mammals on earth. Over the past four years, over one and a quarter million seals have been killed for their fur.
- 97 percent of the seals killed were under 3 months of age and the majority was less than one month old. At the time of slaughter, many of these pups had not yet eaten their first solid meal or taken their first swim.
- The last time sealers killed this many seals — in the 1950s and 60s — the harp seal population was reduced by two thirds.
- In 2001, an independent veterinary panel studied the commercial seal hunt. They concluded that 42 percent of the seals examined may have been skinned whilst conscious.
The Economics of the Hunt
- In Newfoundland, where over 90% of sealers live, income from the seal hunt accounts for less 0.5 percent of the province’s economy. Less than one percent of Newfoundlanders participate in the seal hunt.
- Sealers are commercial fishermen who earn only a small fraction of their annual incomes from killing seals – the remainder is from commercial fisheries such as crab, shrimp and lobster.
- Newfoundland’s fishery has never been wealthier, earning $150 million more each year than prior to the 1992 cod collapse.
What the Public Thinks
- Nearly 70 percent of Canadians holding an opinion are opposed to the commercial seal hunt. (Environics Research, 2005)
- 79 percent of UK residents believe that the annual Canadian seal hunt should be stopped and 73 percent support a ban on the import of seal products into Britain. (Opinion Research Business, 2005)
- 95% of people in the Netherlands deem the Canadian commercial seal hunt to be unacceptable and 92% support a ban on the trade in seal products. (Dutch Institute for Public Opinion and Market Research, 2005)
- 91 percent of people in Germany and 80 percent of people in France who are aware of the Canadian seal hunt oppose it. (MORI, 2002)
- 79 percent of American voters oppose Canada’s seal hunt. (Penn, Schoen & Berland, 2002)
Global Political Response
- In 2005, a US Senate Resolution (S. Res 33) was introduced by Senators Levin and Collins, urging the Government of Canada to stop the hunt. The resolution has 26 co-sponsors including Foreign Relations Committee Chair Senator Richard Lugar. The US banned the trade in seal products in 1972.
- In 2006, 213 members of the British House of Commons signed an Early Day Motion calling on the UK Government to introduce a ban on the import of and trade in all seal products.
- In 2006, the Council of Europe passed a recommendation urging its 47 member states to promote initiatives aimed at prohibiting the trade in seal products.
- In September 2006, a record 425 members of the European Parliament signed a historic declaration calling upon the European Commission to immediately introduce legislation to prohibit the trade in seal products. The EC then undertook a study of the humane aspects of seal hunting, the results of which could provide the foundation to ban all seal products within the EU.
- Its study completed, the EC is now holding a public consultation to measure international opinion on an EU-wide ban on the trade in seal products.
- Current international actions against the seal trade:
- Countries that have already prohibited the trade in seal products though legislation: United States, Belgium, Netherlands, Mexico, Slovenia, Croatia
- Countries that have suspended the trade in seal products through licensing programs: Italy, Luxembourg
- Countries whose parliaments have resolved to ban the trade in seal products: Panama, Germany, Australia
- Countries that have announced their intention to ban the trade in seal products: France, Italy
- Countries that have announced they will press for an EU ban on the trade of seal products: Germany, UK, Netherlands, Italy
- Political bodies that have called on governments to ban the trade in seal products: Council of Europe, European Parliament
- Countries that have prohibited the commercial hunting of seals: United States, South Africa
- Countries that have called on the Canadian government to end the commercial seal hunt: Mexico, United States
- Note: In 2007, the Council of Europe passed a resolution calling on nations including Canada to "ban all cruel hunting methods".
- An international boycott of Canadian seafood products and tourism is now underway.
