The Hunt

For nearly two centuries now, sealers have converged upon the chilly waters of the Saint Lawrence Bay in Quebec, Canada, the main breeding grounds of the harp seal. The annual hunt begins in the springtime. Generally, sealers take to the ice and kill as many harp seal pups as possible as quickly as they can.

Canadian government officials claim that this hunt is sanctioned and that humane killing is strictly enforced when it comes to the clubbing of the pups. While many rules exist, such as what weapons are acceptable when killing the seals and where a seal may be clubbed to ensure no unnecessary trauma is caused, the hunt itself is not overseen and these laws go unenforced year after year.

http://saveourseals.edublogs.org/

Along with these sets of rules, the Canadian government also provides statistics on catches for sealers each year. The yearly TAC, or total allowable catch, determines the maximum number of seals that may be killed among all sealers. According to data from the 2007 seal hunt, Canadian government set a TAC of 270,000 seals, while data shows that the minimum number of losses the harp seal population can withstand without causing a decline in overall population is 165,000 seals (Fink). The TAC numbers have only risen in recent years, which will almost certainly cause significant population depletion in coming years.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/04/canadas-annual-seal-hunt-begins-this-time-with-a-higher-quota.html

For more information on the annual Canadian hunt, please visit: http://www.seashepherd.org/seals/seal-hunt-facts.html

Resources

Fink, Sheryl. "Seals and Sealing in Canada 2007." International Fund for Animal Welfare. N.p., Apr. 2007. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://www.harpseals.org/about_the_hunt/ifaw_seals_and_sealing_canada_2007.pdf>.

Fink, Sheryl. "Canada's Commercial Seal Slaughter." International Fund for Animal Welfare. N.p., 2009. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. <http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/2009%20seal%20sealing.pdf>.

"L.A. Unleashed." Canada's Annual Seal Hunt Begins. N.p., 9 Apr. 2010. Web. 04 Mar. 2013. <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/04/canadas-annual-seal-hunt-begins-this-time-with-a-higher-quota.html>.

"Seal Hunt Facts." Sea Shepherd. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. <http://www.seashepherd.org/seals/seal-hunt-facts.html>.