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Massive seal hunt quota increase seen as political message to EU - Embassy Magazine, Mar 24, 2010
2009 Parliamentary restaurant to serve seal meat - Toronto Star- November 18th 2009
Canada Requests WTO Consultations on EU Seal Products Ban - DFAIT News Release- November 2nd 2009
Seal product ban will withstand WTO challenge: EU - CBC, July 28, 2009 March 23, 2009 - Canada's 2009 seal hunt has now been officially opened by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The quota for the hunt had been set at 338,200 seals - an increase of 55,000 from last year's quota. The 2009 quota includes 280,000 harp seals, 50,000 grey seals and 8,200 hooded seals. In 2007 harp seals had to contend with a disastrous ice break up which resulted in up to a 90% pup mortality rate. The Humane Society of Canada does not believe that these excessively high quota levels are based on valid population estimates; and we are concerned that effects that climate change will have on these seal populations is not being properly taken into account when these quotas are being set. While last year resulted in thick sea ice, in 2007, 2006 and 2002 the pack ice melted before the baby seals had a chance to learn to swim and molt into their grey and black fur which would have insulated them from the cold of the sea. Between 75 to 90% of the seal pups died in each of these years. To protest the largest taxpayer subsidized slaughter of marine mammals in the world, please send a letter to the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper at: The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2 The Humane Society of Canada Slams Cruel Seal Hunt - read about it here Number of kills in Canadian seal hunt drops Bay Ledger News Zone - June 18 th , 2009
EU VOTES TO BAN ALL SEAL PRODUCTS
CBC Coverage - May 5 th , 2009
UK Guardian - May 5 th , 2009
Wild Singapore News - May 5 th , 2009
Seal hunt winds down as EU prepares vote on ban - CTV.CA - May 4 th , 2009
Canada seal hunt continues amid growing opposition, and support - LA Times - Apr 24 th , 2009
Norway threatens action if EU bans seal products - Reuters - Apr 20 th , 2009
Newfoundland Official Meets With EU Representatives To Discuss Seal Hunt - AHN - Apr 16 th , 2009
Canada’s seal hunt left Obama outraged - Toronto Star - Apr 15 th , 2009
Newfoundland's northeast coast sealers staying home - CBC News - Apr 15 th , 2009
Seal Hunt, after brief interlude, to resume as early as Thursday - LA Times, April 1st, 2009
Most European countries back seal products embargo - AFP -March 31st, 2009
Spain Votes to Ban All Seal Products - SuperVegan.com - March 31 st , 2009
Canada’s seal hunt lacks justification - Tandem Online - March 29 th , 2009 Issue
Sealers and protesters headed for showdown - Cape Breton Post - March 23 rd , 2009
IFAW Condemns Conservative Government's Attempt to Hide Outrageous Seal Hunt Quota - IFAW - March 20 th , 2009
European vote brings new focus to seal hunt - CBC News - March 18 th , 2009
Read the Humane Society of Canada's letter to the European Environment Commissioner Russia to Ban Hunting of Baby Seals - New York Times - March 18 th , 2009 10 of 11 sealers guilty of selling blueback seal pelts - CBC - January 27 th , 2009 EU is moving closer to banning Seal Products - EU Press Release - March 2009 N.L. sealer tells court officials led him to believe activities were legal - The Cape Breton Post - Jan 05, 2009 Canada 'Tweaks' Seal Hunt Rules to Avert EU Trade Ban - Environment News Service - Dec 30, 2008 Banning hakapik won't calm seal hunt critics: Sealer - Cape Breton Post - December 29 th , 2008 Older News Archive Current thick ice conditions at the start of the 2008 hunt hampered the sealers; one disabled sealing ship being towed by the Coast Guard sank killing four of the men aboard in the Gulf of St Laurence. Three other ships were lost off the coast of Newfoundland in mid April, one sank, another burned to the water line, and the third ran aground. An additional dozen more ships required some assistance from the Coast Guard. In 2008 The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) delayed the issuing of permits for observers and journalists to view the hunt. On October 19th, 2006, Germany's parliament voted unanimously on a motion to ban the import of seal products, eliminating the German market from the commercial seal trade - read about it here. Belgium's Parliament voted for a national ban on the import of all seal products, the first European country to do so. Since then bans have been introduced in the Netherlands, Croatia and Slovenia, with other countries looking to follow suit. The European Parliament has made a written declaration which has been sent to the European Commission to draft a ban for subsequent vote by the EU Parliament A Declaration to Ban Seal Products in the European Union was submitted by the Green Party on Sept 15, 2006 The Humane Society of Canada supports the European Parliament's Declaration to ban the import of seal products - read about it here The Humane Society of Canada called on the Harper Government to create an intergovermental taskforce to establish and maintain a fund to buy back sealing licences and launch new initiaties to promote ecotourism and other sources of income. To this end we donated $10,000 to help create this program - this is the response that we received from the Prime Minister, and this is the response that we received from the Department of Fisheries & Oceans Read our initial letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper calling on his government to institute this "Made in Canada" solution to end to the largest taxpayer subsidized slaughter of marine mammals on the planet, and the cheque that we sent to start the licence buyback program Canada Scoop - Plans Presented To Ban Seal Fur Trade In Europe - July 23, 2008 CBC - Sealing charges politically motivated, lawyer says - July 16, 2008 News Blaze - Canadians Speak Out on the Commercial Seal Hunt: Not with our Money! - July 15, 2008 Daily Express - Seal Hunt Ban Close - July 14, 2008 AFP - Canada Rejects Brussels Ban on its Seal Skins - July 11, 2008 CBC - May take weeks to finish small-boat hunt: sealers - April 21, 2008
ABC - Canada's seal hunt wraps up - April 21, 2008 Western Star - Another vessel sinks off coast - April 18, 2008 National Post - The millions Ottawa spends subsidizing the seal hunt - April 17, 2008 Vancouver Sun - EU official criticizes Canada for blocking seal hunt observers - April 17, 2008 Canoe - Why do they call this slaughter a 'hunt?' - April 17, 2008 The Telegram - Third vessel abandoned in seal hunt - April 17, 2008 Canwest News Service - Jailed sealing protesters to be deported back to Europe - April 17, 2008 National Geographic Video - Canada Seal Hunt to Begin - April 16, 2008 ****Caution Graphic Content**** Times Colonist - Seal hunt a gruesome slaughter in pursuit of fashion - April 16, 2008 The Western Star - Seal hunt off to slow start - April 15, 2008 Edmonton Journal - Seal-hunt defence may hurt, not help - April 15, 2008 CBC - Ban hakapiks at seal hunt, premiers tell Ottawa - April 15, 2008 CBC - Sealers rescued off Newfoundland coast after signal heard in Ont - April 14, 2008 Toronto Star - Farley Mowat bails out anti-sealing activists, ship - April 14, 2008
National Post - War of words over Sea Shepherd's anti-seal hunt ship seizure - April 13, 2008 Herald Sun - Pro-seal Aussie doc held - April 14, 2008 Toronto Star - RCMP seizes seal hunt protest ship - April 12, 2008 CTV - Anti-sealing vessel seized, two arrested - April 12, 2008 Montreal Gazette - No longer worth it, some sealers say - April 12, 2008 CBC - More training needed for sealers: vet - April 9, 2008 CBC - Fisheries changes towing practices after sealers' deaths - April 9, 2008 National Post - Seal hunt, for some cut short by tragedy, reopens - April 7, 2008
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