2008 Canadian commercial seal hunt
| 2008 Canadian commercial seal hunt | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | March 28, 2008 - April 2008 (November 2007 - May 2008) |
| Location(s) | The Gulf of St. Lawrence and around Newfoundland, Quebec and Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Inaugurated | 1723 |
| Most recent | - |
Canada's 2008 annual commercial seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and around Newfoundland, Quebec and Nova Scotia began on March 28. The hunting season lasts from mid-November to mid-May, but the hunt mainly occurs in March and April. Canada's seal hunt is the world's largest hunt for marine mammals.
Some animal rights groups have been given observer permits and will be monitoring the hunt. They say it is cruel and that it ravages the seal population. Sealers say it is sustainable, humane, and well-managed.
The pelts and oil are sold to buyers in Norway, Russia, and China.
The total allowable catch for 2008 is set by the Canadian government to 275,000 harp seals, (the quota includes 2,000 seals for personal seal hunting, and 4,950 seals for the Aboriginal seal hunt,) 8,200 hooded seals and 12,000 grey seals.
A new rule in the Marine Mammal Regulations for 2008, require hunters to slit the seal's main arteries under its flippers, after clubbing or shooting a seal. The European Union recommended to add this rule, in a report released in December 2007. This is to prevent the seal from being skinned alive and having to withstand that pain.
The hunt in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence started on Friday March 28, 2008. A handful of sealing vessels set out before dawn from the Magdalen Islands. In the first hour of the hunt, only 15 seals were killed. The ice had made it hard for the 16 vessels, carrying roughly 100 hunters, to get near the seals. The majority of the hunters for these first days of the hunt, are from the Magdalen Islands. The average seal hunt brings in about $1 million annually to the Magdalen Islands. Per March 30, about 1000 had been killed. On March 30, the hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, opened for the people from New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Per April 18, Sealers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence had taken about half of their total allowable catch (TAC) of 51,500 seals.
...
Wikipedia