Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About the Seal Hunt

Is this a hunt or a cull?
A hunt is usually intended to remove a certain number of animals each year while maintaining a relatively large and constant population size. A cull, on the other hand, is meant to reduce the number of animals in a population. The current harp seal quota - almost a million animals over a three year period - is expected to reduce the size of the seal herd by 600,000 animals. Clearly, this is a cull. The Canadian government has initiated a harp seal cull without conducting a proper scientific assessment to determine whether it is likely to achieve any particular objective. The United Nations Environment Programme has produced a protocol for the scientific evaluation of proposals to cull marine mammals for the benefit of fisheries. The Canadian cull falls far short of what is required by the protocol.

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Do harp seals eat Atlantic cod?
Yes, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) represent a small part - usually estimated to be 3% or less - of the harp seal’s annual diet. Atlantic cod are not, however, consumed throughout the entire year, but rather in certain places at certain times of the year. Canadian government scientists have recently lowered their estimates of seal predation on cod in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Most of the harp seal’s annual diet is comprised of smaller, fatty fishes, like capelin (Mallotus villosus) and Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) and a variety of small shrimp-like organisms including mysids and euphausids.

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Will culling seals help fish stocks recover?
The proper answer to the question is “we do not know.” According to a recent paper by two Canadian government scientists, “it will not be possible to assess the relative impact of seal predation on fish stock abundance until other sources of natural mortality are quantified.” In short, there is no evidence to support the frequent claims that harp seal are impeding the recovery of cod.

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Is the seal population exploding? Do we need a seal cull to keep the herd in check?
The harp seal population is not "exploding." In fact, government scientists say the size of the seal herd has actually been slightly decreasing since the expansion of the hunt in 1996. Poor ice conditions in recent years may have lowered the survival rate of newborn pups, and made this population decline even worse. The Canadian government likes to say that the harp seal herd has tripled in size since 1970. But it is important to remember that between 1950 and 1970, excessive and uncontrolled hunting had reduced the population as much as 66%. The seal herd was gradually being destroyed. The 1970 population size was not considered to be healthy by anyone's estimates, which is one of the reasons why quota management was introduced. This, combined with reduced markets for seal products since the 1980s, have helped the seal herd to recover to healthy levels.

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Are baby seals killed during the hunt?
In recent years, about 95% of the harp seals killed have been pups between the ages of about 2 weeks and 3 months. It is legal to kill harp seal pups once they have begun to moult their white pelts, beginning at about 12 days of age. The killing of whitecoat seals is prohibited, and so is the sale of their pelts. These young animals have poorly developed swimming skills and are reluctant to leave the ice, making them easy prey for sealers.

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How many seals are killed?
In 2003, a three-year quota of 975,000 harp seals was announced. According to the government’s 2003-2005 Management Plan, the hunt was not to exceed 350,000 in any two of the three years, leaving 275,000 for the third year. In actuality, 289,512 harp seals were landed in 2003, and 365,971 in 2004. For 2005, the Canadian government has announced that the total allowable catch will be 319,500.

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Is the seal hunt sustainable?
Department of Fisheries and Oceans defined a sustainable seal hunt as one that did not cause the seal population to decline from one year to the next. Today, the government’s management plan is actually designed to reduce the population. Quotas are intentionally set above the government’s estimated replacement yield in order to reduce the size of the seal population. In short, the current management plan is not even intended to achieve the government’s own definition of a sustainable hunt.

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Is the government's management plan precautionary?
Canada still does not take a precautionary approach to its management of the sealing activities off its East coast. Canada’s risky, politically-driven approach to natural resources management contributed greatly to the collapse of cod and other fish stocks off Canada’s East coast in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Superficially, the Canadian government’s management plan might look like it is based on a precautionary approach. It contains words like “conservation [and] precautionary reference points,” and “control rules,” among other language usually found in precautionary management plans. Yet, viewed more closely, it becomes quite evident that the plan does NOT even begin to satisfy modern conservation standards of precaution. The management plan does not adequately account either for scientific or environmental uncertainty. The history of wildlife conservation has shown that when large mammals like seals have a price placed on their heads – or hides – the end result is almost always overexploitation.

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Where does the hunt take place?
The main hunting areas for the commercial hunt are in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near the Magdalen Islands, and on the "Front," east of Newfoundland and Labrador.

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How many sealers are there?
The number of sealers that actually go sealing is much smaller than the number who hold licences. In 2001, Tina Fagan, then the Executive Director of the Canadian Sealers Association, stated that there were about 11,000 licensed sealers in Newfoundland, with only about 2,500 active in any given year. If sealers do not renew their licence in any given year, they may not be eligible for a licence the following year. Thus there will always be more sealing licences sold than there are active sealers.

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When does the hunt start?
Officially, the commercial hunt for harp and hooded seals begins November 15 and continues through May 15. The majority of the hunting takes place in March and April, but the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans may shorten or extend the closing date as he sees fit.

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What species of seals are hunted?
Although harp seals are the focus of the commercial hunt, a smaller number of hooded seals are also commercially hunted each year. Other species of seals, including ringed (Pusa hispida), harbour (Phoca vitulina), grey (Halichoerus grypus), and bearded (Erignathus barbatus) are killed in non-commercial hunts.

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How are the seals killed?
Early in the season, younger seals are usually killed on the ice with clubs or hakapiks. Later in the season, beaters and older seals are usually shot with a rifle, both on the ice and in the water. Seal pups have traditionally been clubbed to death, but in recent years thinning ice has led to increased shooting on ice and in open water. When clubbing, sealers may only "stun" a pup, resulting in the skinning or bleeding of a live seal. Shooting also causes significant suffering. The Royal Commission on Seals and Sealing recognized it is extremely difficult to guarantee a clean kill when shooting at seals in the water or on moving ice floes. Seals are often wounded and escape to die under the ice. (These "uncounted kills" are not included in government catch statistics.)

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Who is responsible for the seal hunt?
The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is completely responsible for the hunt, including determining how many seals are killed, how they are killed, and the age at which they can be killed. However, the enforcement efforts of DFO are inadequate. The Department spends a mere 1.5% of their patrol hours monitoring sealers. Not suprisingly, a report by an independent team of veterinarians found that the Marine Mammal Regulations were not being respected by sealers, or enforced by the government.