Anti-sealing activists set to monitor hunt's opening

[Animal 0]

Anti-sealing activists set to monitor hunt's opening in Gulf of St. Lawrence
1 day ago

CAP-AUX-MEULES, Que. — The annual East Coast seal hunt is set to get underway Monday despite the continuing outcry of animal rights activists and an international effort to ban imported seal products.

The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans said the hunt would start in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence around Quebec's Iles de la Madeleine.

Rebecca Aldworth, director of Humane Society International Canada, said the "the eyes of the world are on the Canadian seal hunt" and her group would be there to monitor the activities.

"It's something we do every year. We come up here and we document what happens, but it never gets any easier," Aldworth said in an interview Sunday.

"The fact that the world community is moving away from commercial seal slaughter . . . I think spells very clearly the end of the commercial seal hunt in Canada. But the fact is, the hunt is going on this year."

The start of the hunt comes three weeks after a European Parliament committee endorsed a bill that would impose a ban on the import of seal products to the 27-member union.

The same bill granted an exemption to Canada's Inuit to continue to trade seal products "for cultural, educational or ceremonial purposes."

In order to become law, the bill must be approved by the entire EU assembly and EU governments.

The committee's decision came despite an intense lobbying effort by Canadian politicians looking to convince the European body that the commercial seal hunt is humane.

Sheryl Fink, a researcher for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said the move toward a ban is a sign the public's appetite for the seal hunt is waning.

"We are optimistic that we are starting to see a bit of change," said Fink, whose group also plans to monitor the hunt.

"I do think the writing's on the wall."

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has set a quota of 280,000 harp seals for this year - an increase of 5,000 over last year.

Only about 30 per cent of the quota will be taken in the gulf, while the rest will go to the major hunt off Newfoundland's northern coast, known as the Front.

The department has also set a quota of 50,000 for grey seals and 8,200 for hooded seals this year.

Roger Simon, the department's area director for the Iles de la Madeleine, said ice carrying many seals has been pushed to shore along the cluster of islands, making them accessible to hunters on land.

"The conditions were very good this year as far as good ice conditions, but with so much westerly wind, half the seal herd has already blown out of the gulf and the other half (is) basically beached here," he said.

"There are many more (seals) accessible closer to shore this year."

Some sealers might choose to hold off on heading out in their boats until the wind changes direction and the heavy ice breaks up along the shore, added Simon.

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