CANADA: Canada to continue annual seal hunt amid protests from animal rights activists
Record ID:
784474
CANADA: Canada to continue annual seal hunt amid protests from animal rights activists
- Title: CANADA: Canada to continue annual seal hunt amid protests from animal rights activists
- Date: 26th March 2008
- Summary: (W5) CHARLOTTETOWN, PRINCE EDWARDS ISLAND, CANADA (MARCH 25, 2008) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) PHIL JENKINS, SPOKESMAN FOR THE CANADIAN DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS SAYING: "Our approach to managing this resource has been conservative. We've had a high of about 5.9 million couple of years ago. We're still about 5. So we're very pleased with the way we brought the herd along. I mean let's not forget back in the 1970s this herd was at about 1.8 million. So despite all the protests and all the talk you hear about not considering ice conditions, which we do, and about whether seals are some kind of, on the route to be endangered. In fact the opposite is true. It's very healthy and we are very pleased with the numbers we are seeing out there."
- Embargoed: 10th April 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Canada
- Country: Canada
- Topics: Environment / Natural World
- Reuters ID: LVA6DHIH7GVAB94NJPMU95GKRBI1
- Story Text: Canada's annual seal hunt is expected to start on Friday (March 28) when hunters will be allowed to kill 275,000 young harp seals on the ice floes off Canada's northeast Atlantic coast.
The quota is slightly more than last year's 270,000, when ice conditions were poor, but considerably below the 335,000 set in 2006. The Canadian government's decision has been criticized by animal rights activists who say that these numbers are totally unsustainable.
The animals are either shot or clubbed to death in a hunt that takes place in March and April each year. The furs are turned into clothes and there is a growing market for seal oil, which is rich in omega 3 fatty acids.
Activists complain the hunt is cruel and say they often catch sealers killing animals in an inhumane way.
"This is the largest mammal slaughter in the world. It is just a beautiful, icy landscape. The seals go there to give birth to their young because they are safe and 3,000 men with clubs turn it into a bloody orgy of killing to have people in capital and other parts of the world adorn themselves with sealskins," said Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Humane Society Of The United States.
However, the Canadian government says that from this year hunters will be obliged to take extra steps to ensure the seals die humanely with the skinning taking place only after it is determined that the seal is dead. The government argues that the cull is necessary for Canada because it is an important part of the local economy.
"A lot of these communities from which people seal are remote.
There aren't many opportunities for other kinds of income. In a lot of places there is hard rock behind them and a sea in front of them with 5.5 million seals. This is an incredibly important activity to be able to stay in their communities and stay in their families," said Phil Jenkins of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Activists, who since 2005 have been urging U.S. restaurant chains to boycott Canadian seafood until the seal hunt is stopped, say they are optimistic the European Union will soon impose a ban on the import of all seal products from Canada. But Jenkins says the Canadian government is trying to make sure that does not happen and will be presenting their side of the story to them.
"We're still about 5.5. So we're very pleased with the way we brought the herd along. I mean let's not forget back in the 1970s this herd was at about 1.8 million. So despite all the protests and all the talk you hear about not considering ice conditions, which we do, and about whether seals are some kind of, on the route to be endangered," said Jenkins.
Despite these official high numbers, Canada remains under pressure.
Belgium and the Netherlands have already passed laws banning the import of seal products and the European Union will consider similar regulations soon. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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