The Concern

The harp seal hunt provides us with a classic case of overexploitation. The seal population is not bottomless. As mentioned in the previous page, titled The Hunt, the Canadian government sets a number for the maximum amount of seals allowed to be killed during a hunting season. This number, the TAC or total allowable catch, is visualized by the solid yellow line in the graph below. The Canadian TAC has been increasing over recent years, and reported catches almost always exceed this TAC number.

This is concerning for a few reasons. The red line in the graph depicts estimated population size of the harp seal, with the dotted lines depicting high and low estimates for population. Overhunting of the harp seal will eventually lead to a time when their numbers dip below their minimum viable population size, meaning that they no longer have enough members of the population to recover from the effects of overexploitation. While the government sanctions present during the seal hunt are in place to ensure that the hunt is biologically sustainable, data shows that this is not the case.

A yearly analysis of reported catch statistics from three groups versus the Canadian TAC and the harp seal population level

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

Many people support the seal hunt because seals are a major predator of Arctic cod, and the public wants to ensure the stability of cod populations. An understanding of marine trophic levels is essential to grasping why killing seals off will not guarantee more cod. A trophic level is essentially a level in the food web. Larger predators have higher trophic levels than smaller predators. The following is a simplified marine food chain:

A simplified marine Arctic food chain
Graphic made by Mackenzie Fruge

As illustrated above, Orca Whales occupy the highest trophic level in the food chain that includes harp seals. This does not make phytoplankton unimportant, however. In fact, phytoplankton, which gather their energy from the sun and detritus, or organic materials in the ocean, are the fuel for the entire food chain, and without them, even killer whales would suffer. Detritus, a main source of nutrition for phytoplankton, comes from the feces of larger marine species, such as harp seals.

A simplified marine Arctic food chain

Graphic made by Mackenzie Fruge

A reduction in the amount of detritus produced by harp seals would decrease the amount of nutrients available for phytoplankton. This effect would be felt all the way up the food chain. Less phytoplankton means less zooplankton, which would mean less nutrients available for cod.

The extent to which different populations fluctuate depending upon other trophic levels is known as a trophic cascade. These population differences can be controlled in two ways. Top-down control is when the population size large predator occupying a high trophic level, such as an Orca whale, controls the population sizes of lower trophic levels. Bottom-up control is when a multitude of lower level organisms such as plankton have the ability to limit or increase the population size of higher trophic levels. The food web is extremely complex, and each trophic level is heavily dependent on other levels. To argue for the decimation of one trophic level for the enhancement of another is biologically a very bad idea.

Top-down versus Bottom-up control by Larson
http://international-relations-cliches.blogspot.com/2012/11/top-down-vs-bottom-up.html

Another huge concern about the seal hunts lies in the ethics of the practice. Canadian government claims that the seal hunts are extremely humane and the laws set in place to ensure humaneness are strictly enforced. Year after year, however, groups such as PETA and IFAW have ventured to the ice to witness first hand the killing of these innocent seals. Their findings have revealed a tradition that is anything but humane.

Illegal weapons are often used, and seals are often either left half alive on the ice or escape after clubbing only to drown or suffer death elsewhere. Undue suffering is inescapable for these seal pups. These pups that are killed but not caught are not reported in catch statistics, which further heightens the toll taken on these seal populations.

While sealing is said to be economically prosperous, the Canadian seal hunt is becoming more and more useless. Seals, used mainly for their fur and sometimes for their meat, are often wasted when there is no need for the remaining body parts.

Live footage of the 2010 Seal Hunt via YouTube. Is this what you would consider "humane" killing? Warning, this video is graphic. Extremely graphic.

Resources

Dauvergne, Peter, and Kate J. Neville. "Mindbombs of Right and Wrong: Cycles of Contention in the Activist Campaign to Stop Canada's Seal Hunt." Environmental Politics 20.2 (2011): 192-209. Web.

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>.

"The Arctic and Antarctic - MarineBio.org". MarineBio Conservation Society, 14 Jan. 2013. Web. Monday, March 04, 2013. <http://marinebio.org/oceans/arctic-antarctic.asp>.

Watson, Paul. "Marine Ecosystem Basics." Speech. Royal Canadian Commission. Canada, Vancouver. 4 Feb. 1985. Harper Seals. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. <http://www.harpseals.org/about_the_hunt/ecosystem.php>.