The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, welcomed the opening of the main commercial seal hunt for Magdalen Island sealers on Monday.
“Sealing is a significant source of income in many small, isolated coastal communities throughout Atlantic Canada, Quebec and the North, and creates critical employment opportunities for processing plants, as well as fuel, food and equipment suppliers in coastal communities,” said Minister Shea. “It represents as much as 35 per cent of a sealer’s annual income and is important for thousands of families at a time of year when other fishing options are limited at best.”
The total allowable catch for the harp seal hunt in 2009, announced Friday 20 March, has been set at 280,000 out of a herd of close to 5.6 million. The Government says that the catch will be shared according to pre-existing arrangements between the Front (waters east of Newfoundland and Labrador) and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and is based on based on long-term conservation considerations and advice from scientists.
Minister Shea also repeated the Government of Canada’s commitment to defend Canada’s seal hunt, and the livelihoods that depend on it, while on the international stage.
“Our government will continue to defend the rights of Canadian sealers to provide a livelihood for their families through our humane, responsible and sustainable hunt,” said Minister Shea. “While we are extremely disappointed that the European Parliament has called for a ban of the trade of seal products, our position remains that any ban on a humanely conducted hunt, such as Canada’s, is completely without merit. We will continue to explore all legal and diplomatic options and we will exercise our rights to their fullest extent under international trade laws if and when it becomes necessary and appropriate."
However, Sheryl Fink, a senior researcher with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) says, “It’s preposterous that the Canadian government insists on moving forward with this hunt. In the midst of intense European and Canadian opposition, dwindling markets and low pelt prices, it’s apparent the government’s insistence on continuing this slaughter is based solely on politics not reason.”
Robbie Marsland, UK Director of IFAW, said: “The world will be intensely watching this year’s hunt and I am confident that once again the evidence will speak for itself. The cruelty of Canada’s commercial seal hunt is undeniable.”
IFAW says that sealers compete among each other to reach their quotas in unpredictable conditions - shifting ice, high winds, freezing temperatures and volatile seas - all of which make it extremely difficult to execute a so-called ‘humane’ kill.
