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Canadian Harp Seal Hunting

By Chris Quinones, Carlos Figueroa, and Marlene Castro

Its a beautiful wintery morning off the eastern coast of Canada. The
sun is barely rising from the distant northern horizon. Theres snow, ice, and
water as far as the eye can see. The sound of life fills the air as migrating
harp seals gather in one of the few breeding grounds left this side of the
Northern Americas. Colonies gather from everywhere for this yearly ritual.
As the adult seals congregate, a pup wanders curiously to the far edge of the
ice. All of a sudden the pup is drawn to a figure it has never seen before.
This figure, a man, casually walks up to the pup. The pup looks up towards
the man. The man lifts his arm high towards the sky and strikes the seal pup
on the head with a blunt object. Ensuring the pup is dead, he strikes it three

more times. Blood sprays all over the white mounds of snow. The pup is
dead. Another ritual has started - Canadian Seal Hunting.
Harp Seals
According to Valerie Lind, a biology student/teacher at the University of
Wisconsin La Crosse, harp seals are mostly indigenous to the north Atlantic
coastal areas of Eastern Canada. These mammals are very well adapted to
the cold and are able to stay underwater for as long as fifteen minutes
making them
Lind further
younglings or
yellowish fur, and
yellow fur turns into

excellent swimmers.

the very reason that

the harp seals were
almost hunted to
extinction. Hunters found
the fur of these creatures
to be very valuable.
(Lind, 2012)

articulates that the

pups are born with
after a week that
a beautiful white fur.

(This is the only time the seal actually has fur.) Lind claims that by the third
week, the harp seal goes through a moulting process which sheds the
white fur leaving a harp like design on their skin, hence the name. The skin
of a harp seal is very well lubricated with a natural oil making it less frictional
in water (Lind, 2012). The skin is also well insulated making it, according to
Lind, the very reason that the harp seals were almost hunted to
extinction. Hunters found the fur of these creatures to be very valuable.
(Lind, 2012) This capable skin and fur became the unimagined downfall for
the vulnerable harp seal and for many other seals as well.

History of the Hunt

According to Canada Geographic, seal hunting began in Canada during
the early 16th century by: Basque, French, British, Portuguese, and Acadians.
Canada Geographic claims that early settlers hunted seals as an off-season
source of income. In the 1750s, a European demand for seal oils began the
commercial industry of sealing, and at the end of the 19th century a record
33 million seals have been killed as demand rises (Seal Hunt, 2000). After
World War II, the industry stifled because their ships were used for warfare,
but demand for seal fur and leathers became the new necessity for the postwar era (Seal Hunt, 2000).
As demands escalated, attention was focused on the cruelty involved
in obtaining these furs. According to Canada Geographic, in the 1950s
different humane society group observers expressed their concerns about
seal hunting in Canada. On March 1964, images of seal hunting activity was
broadcasted on television, therefore initiating the anti-sealing movement
(Seal Hunt, 2000). In 1965, as a response to the negative outrage of sealing,
the Canadian government placed regulations, policies, and procedures
regarding seal hunting, including for the first time ever, the issuing seal
hunting licenses (Seal Hunt, 2000).

Tools used for seal hunting

According to the Canadian Justice Laws website:

Any person licensed to hunt seal may do so with a firearm,

either a shot gun or a rifle. More primitive mean can also be
used, like a round club made of hardwood that measures
between 60 cm and 1 meter; used to bludgeon the cranium of
the seal. A device known as a hakapik may also be used,
which has a bent metal spike at the end. The hakapik is also
used to strike the seal on the head (Justice Laws Website, 2011).

Canadas Reason for Sealing

According to HarpSeal.Org, around springtime each year, the Canadian
government allows hunters to kill baby seals around two major areas: the
Gulf of St. Lawrence and northeast of Newfoundland (HarpSeal.Org, 2015).
Canadas reasoning behind seal hunting is their claim that theres a high
demand for seal products (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2013). Canada
expresses that seal hunting is also beneficial in other ways, such as a source
of food, but thats false. According to a Memorial University study from
2006, 80% of the seal was simply discarded, leaving the carcass of the seal
left to rot (The Canadian Seal Hunt, LiberationBC.org, 2013). Seal meat is
inedible for humans to eat; the meat is too fatty and distasteful, therefore
the true reason for seal hunting is for the fur (HarpSeal.Org, 2015).

Laws Protecting Sealing

In Canadian history, seal hunting has never been illegal. The
Department of Fishing and Oceans (DFO) is an organization that manages
Canadas fisheries and safeguards its waters (Fisheries and Oceans Canada,
2013). According to the DFO, the reason seal harvesting (a term used for
legal seal hunting) is allowed in Canada, is the enormous amount of
contribution to the Canadian economy. The Canadian Government claims
that many Canadians depend on seal harvesting as part of their income,
especially those in rural areas. This is key in giving Canadians, especially
fishermen, jobs through the low-peak seasons. Also, the DFO states that only
those who have a license are allowed to seal harvest, and weapons used
must kill the seal quickly and humanely (high-powered rifles, shotguns,
hakapiks, etc.). The DFO monitors and implements strict regulations for seal
harvesting and as long as its humane, sustainable, and well regulated
activity, Canada does not plan to make the harvesting illegal anytime soon.

Canadian Sealers Violate Regulations

According to The Guardian website, recent studies were done by the
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) on the hunt for seals in the Gulf
of St Lawrence. IFAW discovered that 40% of seals clubbed did not die on the
first impact and on occasion were even skinned alive (Stuart, 2001). The
IFAW sent out 5 different veterinarians from 3 different countries to research

the hunt. Their research showed that the hunters did as little as possible to
confirm that the seals were unconscious or even dead before they skinned
them alive. When the veterinarians did a postmortem observation they found
that a quarter of the seals they retrieved had minimal signs of being
unconscious when the seals were skinned (Stuart, 2001).

European Ban
Charmaine Noronha from the Huffington post claimed that in 1983, the
European Union was the first to set a ban against the purchasing of seal pelts
from Canada.
Noronha confirms,
find a way around
the time the
made the ban on
pelts belonging to

Unfortunately,

It was discovered that

40% of seals clubbed and
did not die on the first
impact on occasion were
even skinned alive.
(Stuart, 2001)

Canada managed to
the ban because at
European Union
only buying seal
that of baby seals.

The Journalist further implies that it wasnt until 2009 that the EU banned all
seal pelts of any age and species. Canadas government, sealers, and fur
industries, collectively, pursued to overthrow the ban in court, but failed to
do so (Noronha 2014). Yet, four years later in 2013 the Canadian
government, sealers, and fur industries tried again, only to have the
European Union dismiss the case (Noronha 2014). Canadian Sealers,
determined, pursued their case to a higher court, the World Trade

Organizations (WTO) which is an intergovernmental organization which is

made up of 160+ countries. Their goal, according to the WTO, is to make and
enforce the trade of countries (CNBC News, 2014). The Canadian Sealers
brought their case to the WTO in 2013 in attempt to appeal the ban, but
according to the largest news broadcaster in Canada, the CBC News printed
that, EU seal product ban upheld in WTO appeal (CNBC News, 2014).

Russia Federation Ban

In 2011 the Russian Federation also banned the buying and selling of
baby seal pelts. According to Harpseals.org, the President of Russia, Vladimir
Putin, criticized sealers and called it a Bloodthirsty Industry (HarpSeal.Org,
2015). This made a huge impact on the Sealing Industry because Russia
Imported 95% of the finished product (HarpSeal.Org, 2015). This meant
Canadian Sealers would have to venture out, and so they did. They began to
develop markets in Asia and pelts were sold in Norway, Denmark, Poland,
Estonia, and Greece (Harpseal.org, 2015)
The Canadians Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has put in a
Total Allowable Catch as to how many seals can be hunted for commercial
use per year. The Canadians Fishers and Oceans department has had it
capped at 400,000 Harp seals per year for the last three years (Fisheries and
Oceans Canada, 2013). The Canadian Government has also reassured the
public that the sealers are following all regulations placed by the Canadian

Government. Anyone Caught by the Fishery Officers not following the

regulations would be subject to court-imposed fines and license revocation
(Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2013).

Harp Seals Today

Its an unfortunate life for the Harp Seal. Their only defense is nonprofit organizations that seek to ban seal hunting and the few countries that
are willing to ban any commerce associated with them. Yes, it does
contribute to the Canadian economy, but at what cost? Are seals cattle to be
slaughtered for their pelt? Or, are they a healthy part of a large and complex
ecosystem that should be protected? Until Canada realizes that these furry
creatures deserve better than being someones coat, seals will continue to
be hunted and killed for it.

WORKS CITED
Carol, H. (2014, May 29). Opinion, LA Times. Retrieved from WWW.LATIMES.COM:
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-european-ban-canadian-sealhunt-20140529-story.html
CNBC News. (2014, May 22). Retrieved from CBC News.com:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/eu-seal-product-banupheld-in-wto-appeal-1.2650791
Fisheries and Oceans Canada. (2013, April 19). Retrieved from Government of
Canada: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/seal-phoque/index-eng.htm
HarpSeal.Org. (2015). Retrieved from HarpSeals.Org:
http://www.harpseals.org/about_the_hunt/index.php

Justice Laws Website. (2011, Feb 10). Retrieved from Canada.Ca:

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-93-56/page-8.html#h-18
Lind, V. (2012, April 20). Zeal for the Harp Seal. Retrieved from bioweb.uwlax.edu:
http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2012/lind_vale/index.htm
Noronha, C. (2104, May 23). European Union Seal BanUpheld by WTO. Retrieved
from Huffington Post.com:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/23/european-union-seal-productsban_n_5379031.html
Seal Hunt. (2000). Retrieved from CanadianGeographic.Com:
http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/jf00/sealtimeline.asp
Stuart, M. (2001, April 6). World News. Retrieved from TheGuardian.com:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/07/stuartmillar
The Canadian Seal Hunt, LiberationBC.org. (2013, May). Retrieved from
LiberationBC.org: http://liberationbc.org/issues/seal_hunt#baby_seal