Canada’s annual commercial seal hunt has opened in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence, setting the stage for the cruel slaughter and blood-letting of hundreds of thousands of seals. At least 275,000 baby seals will be killed so that their skins can be made into cheap fur coats, leather shoes, and tacky trinkets.
A newborn harp seal pup with on an ice floe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence March, 2008. Photo Xinhua
“The hunt is undeniably cruel.” said Rebecca Aldworth, director of Canadian wildlife issues for The Humane Society of the United States. “Every year we see conscious seal pups stabbed with metal hooks and dragged across the ice, wounded seals left to suffer in agony and seals skinned alive.”
Photo Xinhua
Seal hunting — or sealing — for their pelts, blubber, penises, and meat, is practiced in 5 countries: Canada — where most of the world’s seal hunting takes place — Greenland, Namibia, Norway, and Russia. Seal oil was often used as lamp fuel, lubricating and cooking oil, for processing such materials as leather and jute, as a constituent of soap, and the liquid base for red ochre paint.
Images from the hunts have become iconic symbols for conservation, animal welfare, and animal rights advocates.
The main method of killing seals is with a hakapik — a heavy wooden club with a hammer head and metal hook on the end. The use of guns is also allowed, but the hakapik is for some unknown barbaric reason preferred. The hammer head is used to crush the skull, while the hook is used to move the carcass.
Hakapiks displayed on the wall of a gun shop in Tromsø, Norway.
Harp seals are born on the ice flows off the east coast of Canada every March, but hundreds of thousands of baby seals perished this year as global warming caused the sea ice to melt before they were old enough to survive in the water. Despite this ecological disaster, the Canadian government has authorized yet another 270,000 seals to be cruelly killed for their fur.
The slaughter was stopped 25 years ago, following a ban on the import of seal pelts into the European Union, which destroyed the economics of the industry.
But the Canadian government found a loophole and ruthlessly exploited it. 5 years ago, the cull re-started with a vengeance when the authorities ordered the battering to death of a million baby seals.
British reporter Danny Penman from the Daily Mail spent nearly a week in Nova Scotia, Canada, to investigate this year’s ruthless slaughter at close range as the horror unfolded.
Photo Daily Mail
“The baby seal looked into the eyes of her executioner. Barely a flicker of emotion shows on the fisherman’s face as he smashes a steel-tipped club into her mouth. She lay whimpering on the ice, blood pouring from her jaw and nose.”
“But she wasn’t yet dead, so the sealer hit her in the face another 4 times before slamming a hooked “hakapik” club into her stomach and dragging her across the ice towards the ship.”
“Yet even this savagery is not enough to kill the poor creature. A few seconds later, the pup starts wriggling furiously. She was clearly still alive, though in terrible agony. The fisherman smashed her head another 3 times.”
Sadly, Penman stated that this incident was far from unique during his visit, and that new laws are being entirely ignored. This scene will be repeated hundreds of thousands of times over the coming weeks.
New regulations have been introduced to make Canada’s seal hunt more ‘humane,” requiring a pup must first be shot or battered into unconsciousness. Then the fisherman has to check that an animal is fully “insensible” before slicing open the arteries near its flippers, allowing the creature to “bleed out” before it can be skinned.
Mark Glover of the Humane Society International said, “It’s quite clear that the sealers are failing to adhere to the new regulations. It’s the same old hunt we’ve seen in the past.”
Dr. Jerry Vlasak (right), spokesman for the Animal Liberation Press Office, and a colleague from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society inspect seal carcasses
during the 2005 Canadian hunt.
The ProtectSeals team from The Humane Society of the United States is there to bear witness and capturing images to bring the truth of this cruel practice to the public.
The hunt began in the southern Gulf on Monday, but the Department of Fisheries and Oceans refused to issue observation permits. The DFO provided observation permits to the ProtectSeals team to observe the hunt in the northern Gulf.
Canadian authorities are allegedly making no attempts to enforce the new legislation, and preventing media and other observers from witnessing what really goes on, consistently refusing to issue the media and animal welfare campaigners with the necessary permits to observe the cull.
Authorities justify reporting restrictions, claiming animal welfare campaigners and media have consistently misrepresented the cull, stating the images used to accompany reporting are in some cases decades out of date. But Penman said the carnage was every bit as horrific as the pictures suggest.
Fishermen armed with hakapiks were spread out across the ice, killing all that came within range. Swathes of ice were drenched in blood as piles of carcasses laid there steaming.
The sea turned scarlet from fishing boats pouring the seal blood into it, while other sealers casually tossed the skinned bodies of pups into the waters.
Some cut the hearts out of the baby seals to eat for breakfast — an age-old tradition amongst sealers.
Actress Alison Steadman lies next to a harp seal on an ice floe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, March, 2008. The British actress was flown out by helicopter in support of the organizations Humane Society of the U.S. and Respect for Animals.
Photo Xinhua
“We are not going to be bullied or blackmailed into forcing people who depend on the sealing industry out of their livelihoods using baseless allegations.” said Loyola Sullivan, Canada’s fisheries ambassador.
Sealers themselves have become increasingly aggressive and hostile towards independent observers.
“I spent almost a week on the east coast of Canada trying to observe the cull but at every step the local authorities did their best to stop me.” said Penman.
“On previous trips, Canadian fishermen have threatened me with knives, guns and hakapiks. 2 years ago, when I visited the floes with a group of MEPs, we were involved in a high-speed car chase in which sealers repeatedly tried to force us off the road.”
“We were eventually forced to barricade ourselves into a hotel, where we remained for 8 hours while officials from the European Commission and the U.S. embassy negotiated our release.”
A newborn harp seal pup calls out on an ice floe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence March, 2008. Photo Xinhua
Stavros Dimas, the EU’s Commissioner for the Environment, said this week that the European Commission would soon propose an outright ban on the import of seal pelts.
“The Commissioner is very concerned at the inhumane way that baby seals are killed.” said a spokeswoman. “Last year, we sent a team of expert observers. What the team saw did not alleviate the Commissioner’s worries.”
Several countries have already banned seal pelt imports.
To pressure the Canadian government and the fishing industry to end the seal hunt for good, The HSUS launched a boycott of Canadian seafood in March 2005. To date, hundreds of thousands of people and thousands of seafood businesses have pledged their support for the campaign. The HSUS is also working overseas to close markets for seal products, removing the financial incentive for the sealers to kill the seals.
“We are confident the end of the commercial sealing industry is now clearly in sight.” said Aldworth.
A newborn harp seal pup with its distinctive white coat rests on an ice floe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Photo Xinhua
Seal Watching Tours
Tourists come from around the world to witness the unique Canadian winter event of the birth of thousands of harp seal pups on the ice floes of the
Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Eco-tour operators have taken advantage of the international fascination with the limpid-eyed pups that have become the poster babies for animal rights organizations everywhere for more than 25 years..
Emile Richard, manager of the Chateau Madelinot in Quebec says some tourists have told him more people would come for the eco tours if the hunt was stopped. But the seal tours have never made enough money to displace the profitable hunt.
“The fact that the tours are still going on indicates that they are sustainable.” Lavigne says.
A newborn harp seal pup is seen with its mother on an ice floe in the
Gulf of St. Lawrence. Photo Xinhua
Tourists are ferried to the ice floes by helicopters to experience a place that is almost otherworldly. Sea ice stretches as far as the eye can see in a frigid landscape broken by thousands of bleating seals, many of them nursing tiny newborns with coats as white as snow.
While the mothers are skittish and will usually slip into the water through holes in the ice when tourists approach, it’s possible to get quite close to the pups, but visitors are advised not to touch the whitecoats.
“It is truly one of the wonders of the world,” says David Lavigne, science adviser for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which created the first tours to the seal nursery in the 1970’s.
“When you see hundreds of thousands of seals stretched out on the ice before you, it is a remarkable scene and it’s one that many tourists really enjoy.”
The IFAW started the tours as a possible economic alternative to the annual seal hunt, but the animal rights organization has not been part of the tour business for years.
The seal-watching tours add more than $1 million a year to the local economy.
A newborn harp seal pup sleeps next to its mother. Photo Xinhua
Seal Hunt Regulations
Canadian sealing regulations describe the dimensions of the clubs and the hakapiks, and caliber of the rifles and minimum bullet velocity that can be used. They state that: “Every person who strikes a seal with a club or hakapik shall strike the seal on the forehead until its skull has been crushed. No person shall commence to skin or bleed a seal until the seal is dead, “which occurs when it “has a glassy-eyed, staring appearance and exhibits no blinking reflex when its eye is touched while it is in a relaxed condition.”
The regulations also state that every person “who fishes for seals for personal or commercial use shall land the pelt or the carcass of the seal.” The commercial hunting of infant harp seals (whitecoats) and infant hooded seals (bluebacks) was banned in Canada in 1987 under pressure from animal rights groups.
Now seals may only be killed once they have started molting — from 12 to 15 days of age for harp seals — as this coincides with the time when they’re abandoned by their mothers. These pups, who have not yet completely molted, are known as “ragged-jackets”. Once the pups have completely molted, they’re called “beaters”.
Seal populations were severely depleted when commercial sealing became a major industry, with the world harp seal population declining to 1.5 million. As a result of population concerns and public protests, hunting is now controlled by quotas based on recommendations from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. In 2003, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans set the “total allowable catch” (TAC) of harp seals at 350,000 per year.
A newborn harp seal pup. Photo Xinhua
Traditional Inuit hunt
Archeological evidence indicates that the Native Americans and First Nations People in Canada have been hunting seals for at least 4,000 years. Traditionally, when an Inuit boy killed his first seal, a feast was held.
The Inuit seal hunting accounts for 3% of the total hunt. The traditional Inuit seal hunting is excluded from The European Commission’s call in 2006 for a ban on the import, export and sale of all harp and hooded seal products.
The Natsiq (ringed seal) have been the main staple for food, and have been used for clothing, boots, fuel for lamps, a delicacy, containers, igloo windows, and furnished harnesses for huskies. The Natsiq is no longer used to this extent, but ringed seal is still an important food source for the people of Nunavut
Nigel Barker, fashion photographer and judge for TV series “America’s Next Top Model,” photographs a harp seal pup on an ice floe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
March, 2008. Barker arrived on the ice to support the Humane Society of the U.S.
Photo Xinhua
Belgian Ban
In January 2007, Belgium became the first European country to ban all seal products. Greenland claimed it would sue Belgium for a move that it said would violate European Union law and cripple the livelihood of Inuit hunters. Greenland’s minister for finance and foreign affairs expressed concern that other EU countries might follow suit. Canada has launched a challenge to the ban.
The United States, which had been heavily involved in the sealing industry, now maintains a complete ban on the commercial hunting of marine mammals, with the exception of indigenous peoples who are allowed to hunt a small number of seals each year.
A commercial seal hunt, 2007.
Export
Canada’s largest market for seal pelts is Norway. Carino Limited — one of Newfoundland’s largest seal pelt producers — is marketing its seal pelts mainly through its parent company, GC Rieber Skinn, Bergen, Norway.
Canada sold pelts to 11 countries in 2004, with Norway, Germany, Greenland, and China, including Hong Kong, purchasing the largest quantities. Other countries included Finland, Denmark, France, Greece, South Korea, and Russia. Asia remains the principal market for seal meat exports.
One of Canada’s market access priorities for 2002 was to “continue to press Korean authorities to obtain the necessary approvals for the sale of seal meat for human consumption in Korea.” Canadian and Korean officials agreed in 2003 on specific Korean import requirements for seal meat. For 2004, only Taiwan and South Korea purchased seal meat from Canada.
Seals are hunted for their pelts for coats, blubber for oil, meat for pet food, and genitals as reported aphrodisiacs.
HSUS
The Humane Society of the United States is its nation’s largest animal protection organization, backed by 10 million Americans. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs, celebrating animals and confronting cruelty.
For more information, visit ProtectSeals. To view video from last year’s hunt, visit Animal Channel.
Sources: HSUS, Daily Mail, Canoe and Wikipedia
Related stories:
Mara Triangle Animals on Brink of Disaster
Congo Rebels Capture Wildlife Habitat for Rare Gorillas
Palm Oil Risks Orangutans Existence
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animal rights,
animals,
Canada,
Canadian,
cruelty,
Gulf of St. Lawrence,
Humane Society,
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加拿大野蛮而血腥的海豹捕猎
圣劳伦斯湾北部，加拿大年度商业性海豹捕猎活动的开禁为成百上千的海豹被残忍地血腥屠杀搭好了舞台。至少有275，000只海豹宝宝将惨遭屠戮，而它们的皮毛将被用来制成便宜的皮毛外套和廉价饰品。
2008年3月 圣劳伦斯湾冰面上一只新生的格陵兰海豹幼崽
照片 新华社
“不可否认，捕猎是残忍的。”美国人道主义组织加拿大野生动物事务处负责人丽贝卡.沃德华斯说道，“每年我们都看到捕猎的人用金属挂钩刺穿神志尚还清醒的海豹幼崽然后拖拽着它们穿过冰面。而受伤的海豹们还不得不承受极大的痛苦。海豹皮是被活活剥下来的。
照片 新华社
海豹捕猎——或者说海豹捕猎业——目的是获取海豹的皮毛、油脂、鞭和肉。目前有五个国家允许海豹捕猎：加拿大——世界上捕猎海豹最多的地区、格陵兰、纳米比亚、挪威以及俄罗斯。海豹油通常用来作为照明灯油、润滑剂及食用油；加工这种材料的皮草和黄麻制品；作为肥皂原料之一或红色赭石颜料的液体底料。
捕猎海豹的形象已经成为动物保护、动物福利和提倡动物权益的标志性符号。
对海豹的猎杀采用的主要方式是毛利式的--一只沉重的木棒。木棒顶端套了一只锤子，下面套了一个金属挂钩。使用枪支也是允许的，但由于一些不为人所知的野蛮原因，毛利式捕猎方法更常用：先用锤子敲碎海豹的头骨，再用钩子拖走尸体。
挪威特罗姆瑟的枪支商店墙上展示的毛利狩猎工具
每年三月，格陵兰海豹在加拿大东海岸的浮冰上出生。而今年由于全球变暖造成的海洋冰面融化，成百上千的海豹宝宝还没有长大到足以在水里生存便夭折了。除了生态灾难，由于加拿大政府的授权，还有270000只海豹将因它们的皮毛而被残忍杀害。
25年前，本来随着欧盟对海豹皮毛进口禁令的颁布，这场大屠杀已经停止。该禁令曾彻底摧毁整个海豹捕猎业经济。
然而加拿大政府还是找到了漏洞并且还残忍地钻了漏洞的空子。五年前，猎杀的再次启动有如一场复仇。在当局的授权下，数以百万的海豹宝宝被活活打死。
英国每日邮报的记者丹尼·彭曼在加拿大的新斯科舍省呆了近一周的时间来近距离调查这场赤裸裸的恐怖屠杀。
照片 每日邮报
“海豹宝宝的眼睛凝望着将要宰杀它的人的眼睛。 而当渔夫把带铁锤的木棒捣进海豹宝宝的嘴里时，从他脸上几乎看不出一丝感情上的动摇。海豹宝宝就这么躺在冰面上，呜咽呻吟着，血从她的颌部和鼻子里流出来。”
但这时她还没有死，因此猎杀她的人还要在她脸上再锤四下，之后才用带钩的毛利木棒穿进她的胃部然后拖着她穿过冰面向捕鱼船走去。
然而即使是这么野蛮的行径也还不足以杀死这可怜的生物。几秒钟后，海豹幼崽开始猛烈地痉挛。虽然遭受到如此大的痛苦，很明显，她还活着。这时渔夫又举起木棒她头上猛锤三下。
很遗憾的是，彭曼说在他的探访中这样的情形并不鲜见。捕猎者对新的法令完全置若罔闻。在未来的几周里，这样的场景还将重复成百上千次。
为了使加拿大海豹捕猎显得更“人道”，加拿大出台了新的法令，规定：应先开枪打死海豹幼崽或在海豹幼崽没有意识到的情况下将其打死。然后渔夫必须确定动物完全无意识以后再切开鳍旁边的动脉给它放血，然后才能剥皮。
国际人道组织的马克格·罗佛说：“很显然，捕猎者并没有遵守新的法规。他们依然用我们过去看到的方式猎杀海豹。”
动物解放阵线新闻办公室发言人杰瑞瓦萨克博士（右）和一位海洋守护协会的同僚在2005年加拿大海豹捕猎中检查海豹尸体
来自美国人道主义组织的海豹保护小分队来到这里取证并获得图像资料，以便将这一野蛮行为公之于众。
捕猎在星期一开始，地点是圣劳伦斯湾南部。而海豹保护小分队只能在北部观察，否则渔业和海洋部拒绝签发观察许可。
据说加拿大当局并不准备实施新的法规。非但如此，当局还阻止媒体和其他观察员见证事实真相。他们一直拒绝向媒体和提倡动物福利人士签发必要的观察许可。
当局辩解称其限制的理由是由于提倡动物福利人士和媒体一直在错误报道捕杀行动，那些伴随错误报道的图片其实已经是几十年前的过时图片。但是彭曼说这些图片所展示和大屠杀一样令人毛骨悚然。
渔夫手持着毛利式的捕猎工具在冰面上四处游荡，捕杀一切目之所及的海豹。大块的冰面被鲜血浸染，成堆的尸体躺在那里冒着热气
海豹血从捕鱼船倾泻出来，把大海也染成了深红色。与此同时，其他海豹捕猎者还不时随意地把剥了皮的海豹幼崽尸体扔进水中。
有的海豹捕猎者还把小海豹的心脏挖出来作为早餐食用—这是海豹捕猎者之间的一项旧传统。
照片2008年3月加拿大圣劳伦斯湾的一个冰面上，女演员艾莉森·斯蒂曼躺在一只格陵兰海豹旁。这位英国女演员乘直升机来到这里是为了支持美国人道主义组织和尊重动物团体
照片 新华社
“我们不会因为被毫无理由的指责恐吓或勒索就强迫那些以海豹捕猎业为生的人放弃他们的生计。”加拿大渔业大使罗约拉·苏利文说
海豹捕猎者们对那些独立观察员们越来越不满和敌视
“我在圣劳伦斯湾东岸呆了将近一周，试着观察海豹捕猎。但我所进行的每一步当地总是尽一切可能来阻止我。”彭曼说。
“刚开始的时候，加拿大渔夫用的是刀子、枪和毛利武器来施以威胁。两年前，当我和一组环境保护人员一起在冰面上时，我们被卷入了一场高速汽车追逐中。海豹捕猎者的车一直在尝试把我们挤下公路。
“最后，我们还是撞进了一家旅馆。在那里被困了八个小时后，直到欧委会和美国大使馆的官员过来调解，才得以脱困。
一只在圣劳伦斯湾冰面上叫唤的刚出生的格陵兰海豹幼崽
2008年3月 照片新华社
环境委员斯坦佛罗斯·迪马斯说本周欧盟委员会将通过一项法令尽快彻底禁止海豹皮毛制品的进口。
“委员十分关注非人道残杀海豹宝宝的行为。一位发言人说，“去年，我们专门派了一支出口观察小队。这支小队所看到的并没有减轻委员的担忧。
有的国家已经禁止了海豹毛皮制品进口。
为了向加拿大政府和渔业施加压力，期望最终终止商业性海豹捕猎，2005年3月，美国仁慈协会发起了一场联合抵制加拿大海产食品的活动。直到今天，成百上千的人和数千家海产食品企业仍继续支持该阵营。美国慈善协会还在世界各地致力于关闭海豹制品市场，去除经济方面的刺激促使海豹捕猎者捕杀海豹
“现在我们有信心商业性海豹捕猎的末日显然指日可待”沃德华斯说。
圣劳伦斯湾上的一只新生的格陵兰海豹幼崽，身披着那身与众不同的白色外衣在冰面上休息
照片 新华社
海豹观光游
来自世界各地的游客齐聚圣劳伦斯湾的冰面上亲眼见证加拿大冬季数以千计的格陵兰海豹幼崽诞生的盛况
那些有着令全世界着迷的清澈的眼神海豹宝宝形象被动物权益组织印成海报已有超过25年了，这些海报四处可见。生态游操作者们也从中获益。
魁北克省曼德里诺特庄园的经理伊美尔·理查德说一些游客告诉他如果捕猎停止，会有更多的人来参加生态旅游。但是由海豹观光所挣的钱根本不足以取代海豹捕猎带来的利润。
拉维尼说：“生态游仍然有发展的可能，这说明它是可持续的。”
圣劳伦斯湾冰面上发现的一只和妈妈在一起的新生的格陵兰海豹幼崽
照片 新华社
游客们搭乘直升飞机来到冰川上感受到的是一个完全不同的世界。在这无比寒冷的风景里，海上的冰面一直延伸着，一眼望不到边。海豹的轻声叫唤打破寂静，他们中的大多数都在照料那些柔弱的皮毛如同雪般洁白的新生小海豹。
海豹妈妈们总是很害羞，当游客接近时，她们会顺着冰上的洞穴滑进水里。因此游客可以近距离接触海豹宝宝。但是最好还是不要碰触它们的白色外套。
“这真的是世界一大奇景。”国际动物福利基金会科学顾问 大卫拉·维尼说。1970年动物福利基金会组织了首次海豹育儿观光游
“当你看到眼前成百上千的海豹在冰面上延绵不绝，这真是令人印象深刻。这也正是许多游客想看到的。”
动物福利基金会发起的这些旅游项目，目的以通过旅游带来的经济效益来替代每年的海豹捕猎。但现在动物权益组织已多年没有参与旅游业了。
海豹观光业每年为当地经济带来100万美元的额外收入。
一只新生的格陵兰海豹幼崽在妈妈身边睡觉
照片 新华社
海豹捕猎规范
加拿大海豹捕猎规范描述了允许使用的木棒和毛利狩猎工具的尺寸以及步枪的口径，子弹的最小速度。规范规定：“任何用木棒或毛利狩猎工具击打海豹的人，都必须击打其前额直到颅骨粉碎为止。海豹死之前，任何人不得开始剥皮或放血。但如碰触海豹眼睛，其目光呆滞，没有瞬目反应，这种情况可视作例外
规范还规定：任何人“不论出于个人或商业用途捕猎海豹，都需把海豹皮或尸体带上岸。”1987年迫于动物权益组织的压力，禁止在加拿大对未成年格陵兰海豹（白皮）和未成年冠海豹（蓝黑色）的商业捕猎行为。
现在，只有当海豹开始换毛后，即12到15天--这恰好也是海豹妈妈离开的时间，才能捕杀。那些没有完全换毛的海豹幼崽被称作“破夹克”，而毛已经完全换好了的被称作“搅拌器”
商业性海豹捕猎成为一项主要工业后，海豹数量锐减。目前格陵兰海豹的总数缩减到一百五十万只。由于对海豹总数的担忧和公众的反对，海豹捕猎由一定配额限制。该配额依据国际海洋开发委员会的建议制定。
一只新生的格陵兰海豹幼崽
照片 新华社
传统的纽因特狩猎
考古学证据显示加拿大的美洲原住民和第一民族捕猎海豹的历史以超过4000年了。按照传统，当一个因纽特男孩杀死第一只海豹时，就会举行一场宴会来庆祝。
纽因特海豹捕猎只占海豹捕猎总数的3%。2006年欧委会号召对格陵兰海豹和冠海豹制品的进出口颁布禁令，传统的纽因特海豹捕猎没有包括在内。
北欧海豹（贝加尔环斑海豹）一直是纽因特人的主要食品，而且还被用于服装、靴子、燃油灯、美食、容器、冰雪小屋的窗户以及爱斯基摩狗的挽具。虽然对北欧海豹的利用范围已经没有那么广泛了，但它仍是纽因特人食物的一个重要来源。
圣劳伦斯湾的一座冰川上，时尚摄影师及电视系列节目“美国下一个顶级模特”评委，尼格·巴克正在为一只格陵兰海豹宝宝拍照。2008年3月，巴克来到冰面上支持美国人道主义组织。
照片 新华社
比利时禁令
2007年1月，比利时成为欧洲第一个全面禁止海豹制品的国家。格陵兰声称将控告比利时采取的这一行动，因为它有可能危害到欧盟的法律并因此伤害到纽因特猎人的生计。
格陵兰金融和外事部部长表达了对其他欧盟国家可能效仿比利时的担心。加拿大已经发起了对这项禁令的挑战。
尽管美国曾和海豹捕猎业有很深的联系，而现在美国保持全面禁止对海洋哺乳动物的商业捕猎行为，只允许土著居民每年捕猎少量的海豹。
2007年的一场商业性海豹捕猎行动
出口
加拿大最大的海豹皮毛市场是挪威。卡里诺有限公司——纽芬兰最大的海豹皮毛制品生产商——主要通过它的母公司挪威卑尔根市的瑞博贸易有限公司销售其海豹皮毛制品。
2004年，加拿大向11个国家销售海豹皮毛制品。挪威、德国、格陵兰和中国包括香港的消费需求最大。其他国家还有芬兰、丹麦、法国、韩国及俄罗斯。亚洲依然是海豹肉的主要出口市场。
2002年加拿大的一项市场准入优先权是“继续促使朝鲜当局接受在朝鲜销售人类消费的海豹肉制品的必要许可。”2003年，加拿大在细节上和朝鲜官方就海豹肉制品进口需求达成协定。2004年，只有韩国和台湾消费来自加拿大的海豹肉制品。
人类猎杀海豹是为了取得制作外套的毛皮、油脂、添加在宠物食品中的肉类以及据说哟壮阳作用的海豹鞭
美国慈善协会
美国慈善协会是拥有千万支持者的美国最大的动物保护组织。半个多世纪以来，美国慈善协会一直致力于通过拥护，教育保护所有动物。并且实践庆祝动物和反击残忍行为的项目。
欲了解更多信息，请访问保护海豹。观看去年捕猎视频，请访问动物频道
来源：美国慈善协会、每日邮报、独木舟和维基百科
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