Frequently Asked Questions

• What species of seals are being killed in Eastern Canada?
• Who are the sealers and how many are there?
• Does the seal hunt provide an important income to 16,000 sealers and their families?
• Where are the seals killed?
• How are the seals killed?
• Is the seal hunt cruel?
• Is the seal hunt humane?
• Are the sealers killing baby seals?
• Is it illegal to kill baby seals in Canada?
• Why do hunters target young animals?
• Are they killing too many seals?
• Is the seal hunt sustainable?
• Are There Any Penalties When Hunters Exceed the Government Quota?
• Is It True Seals Are Jeopardizing the Canadian Cod Fishery?
• Are Seals Overpopulated?
• Is the seal population "exploding" and is a cull necessary?
• What parts of the seal are used?
• Does the Government Subsidize the Hunt?
• Where is the market for seals?
• What fashion companies are marketing seal products?
• Who processes the pelts?
• How are pelts processed?
• What countries are seal pelts sold in?
• Are there economically-viable alternatives to killing the seals for the local communities?
• Is Newfoundland a poor province?
• What species of seals are being killed in Northern Canada?
• Do Native people in the North depend on the East Coast commercial seal hunt?
• Why do Canadian Inuit leaders support the commercial seal hunt?
• Why are Newfoundland Native people not participating in the commercial hunt?
• Do animal protection groups campaign to save the seals just to raise funds?
• Do Canadians support a "humane" and "sustainable" seal hunt?

What species of seals are being killed in Eastern Canada?

Canada is killing three different species of seals on the East Coast. The largest number of a seal species killed are harp seals (Phoca Groenlandica). The average length of an adult harp seal is 1.7 meters or 5.6 feet for both male and females. The average weight of an adult is 130 kilos or 287 pounds. The population is between 2.8 and 3.8 million according to the David Miller of the Scottish Natural Heritage Trust. A harp seal has a life span of approximately 30 years. They feed on crustaceans and small fish. Ironically, they do not feed during the birthing and mating season between February and May. They return to Arctic regions for feeding. Canada has set a quota of 325,000 for 2006 for this species, 5,000 more than were killed in 2005.

For the first 7 days of a harp seals life they have a yellowish-white coat and are called yellowcoats. During the 2nd and 3rd week of their life, they are called whitecoats. Although the hair follicles are actually transparent and hollow they appear white. In the 3rd and 4th week of their life, they are called raggedy jackets as they lose their whitecoats. Once they have lost their whitecoats completely they are called beaters. The pups are weaned by about the 4th week and begin to learn to swim in the 4th and 5th week.

10,000 hood seals are also allowed to be killed by the Canadian government. The hood seal (Cystophora Cristata) is larger than the harp seals with the males measuring 2.5 meters or 8.2 feet and the females measuring 2.2 meters or 7.2 feet. The males weigh an average of 300 kilos or 661 pounds and the females weighing 200 kilos or 441 pounds. The estimated population is around 300,000. Hood seal pups are referred to as Bluebacks. The killing of Bluebacks is now prohibited.

Canada also encourages the killing of grey seals in the Atlantic coast region with a quota of 10,000 set for 2005 and 2006.

Walrus were once found on the Atlantic coast with evidence found on the Magdalen Islands, Sable Island, and the coast of Nova Scotia and Maine but this species has been extirpated from this region.

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Who are the sealers and how many are there?

There are 14,000 registered sealers of which 9,000 are considered professional sealers.

The sealing season lasts only a few weeks each year. Not all registered sealers kill seals. Some people register as sealers without having ever gone to the ice and they have no intention of going. Wearing their seal license button gets them free drinks in some areas of Atlantic Canada. All it takes to get a license is CAD$2.00. The Canadian government states that about 6,000 people receive some income from sealing. This amounts to about 1% of the population of Atlantic Canada. It is limited employment and highly subsidized. In 2005, the seal hunt brought in $16.2 million* in gross revenues. This amounts to $2,700 average per sealer before deductions for fuel, vessel maintenance and operation, provisions, gear and clothing. Some like sealing boat owners may make over $50,000 and some working as crew may only make a $1,000 or less.

Subsidies are provided by the Canadian government in the form of ships which break the ice to assist the sealers in reaching the seals; search and rescue by the Coast Guard; surveillance and location of the seal herds for the sealers; regulatory costs; marketing research; and public relations.

The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) states that there are no subsidies by DFO. There is if the regulatory and surveillance cost are considered. Most of the costs for supporting the seal slaughter are from the Department of Transport for ice-breakers and search and rescue. Subsidies are also given by the government of Newfoundland.

Overall, the sealing industry is negligible and costs more in tax dollars to support than it brings in.

A few individuals do make large amounts of money. Bill Barry of the Barry group, (a close friend of Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams), does quite well processing seal oil into a purported health supplement. Former federal Fisheries Minister John Crosbie is a millionaire heir to the fortunes made from the Crosbie Sealing Company. back to top
*All figures quoted in Canadian dollars.

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Does the seal hunt provide an important income to 16,000 sealers and their families?

Sealers are commercial fishermen who earn a small fraction of their incomes from killing seals—the rest from commercial fisheries such as crab, shrimp and lobster. Even in Newfoundland, where more than 90 percent of sealers live, the government estimates that there are only about 4000 active sealers. Tina Fagan, former executive director for the Canadian Sealers Association, explains that while many fishermen may take out licenses to kill seals, a much smaller number participate each year: "The reason for the large number of licenses vis-à-vis the smaller number of active sealers is the fact that if they do not renew their license in any given year, they will not be eligible in the following year" (http://www.norden.org/pub/miljo/miljo/sk/2001-580.pdf).

Newfoundland's fishery has never been wealthier, earning nearly $200 million more annually than it did prior to the 1992 cod collapse. This economic growth is because of the expansion of the shellfish industry, which today accounts for 80 percent of the value of Newfoundland's fishery. Sealing, in contrast, brings in only 2 percent. Revenues from the hunt account for less than one-half of 1 percent of the province's economy.

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Where Are the Seals Killed?

Canada's commercial seal hunt occurs on the ice floes off Canada's East Coast in two areas: the Gulf of St. Lawrence (west of Newfoundland and east of the Magdalen Islands) and the "Front" (northeast of Newfoundland). Back to top

How are the seals killed?

The Canadian Marine Mammal Regulations, which govern the hunt, stipulate sealers may kill seals with wooden clubs, hakapiks (large ice-pick-like clubs) and guns. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, clubs and hakapiks are the killing implement of choice, and in the Front, guns are more widely used.

It is important to note that each killing method is demonstrably cruel. Because sealers shoot at seals from moving boats, the pups are often only wounded. The main sealskin processing plant in Canada deducts $2 from the price they pay for the skins for each bullet hole they find—therefore sealers are loath to shoot seals more than once. As a result, wounded seals are often left to suffer in agony—many slip beneath the surface of the water where they die slowly and are never recovered.

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Is the Seal Hunt Cruel?

Parliamentarians, journalists, and scientists who observe Canada's commercial seal hunt each year continue to report unacceptable levels of cruelty, including sealers dragging conscious seals across the ice floes with boat hooks, shooting seals and leaving them to suffer in agony, stockpiling dead and dying animals, and even skinning seals alive.

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Is the seal hunt humane?

In 2001, an independent veterinary panel performed post-mortems on seal carcasses abandoned on the ice floes. Their report concluded that in 42 percent of cases, the seals did not show enough evidence of cranial injury to even guarantee unconsciousness at the time of skinning. This report is supported by the testimony of independent journalists, parliamentarians and scientists who observe and document the commercial seal hunt each year. Footage from the commercial seal hunt consistently shows conscious pups stabbed with boathooks and dragged across the ice, wounded pups left to choke on their own blood and conscious seal pups cut open. Video footage of the 2005 hunt can be viewed at www.protectseals.org. 

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Are the sealers killing baby seals?

The Canadian government keeps insisting that only adult harp seals are killed. Yet, the following questions marked "#8 and #9" are taken verbatim from the DFO website:
8. How old must harp and hooded seals be before hunters can take them?
Harp seals can be legally hunted once they have moulted their white coat, which occurs at about 12-14 days of age. However, they are not usually hunted until they reach the "beater" stage of development at around 25 days old.

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Is it illegal to kill baby seals in Canada?

Canada's commercial seal hunt is a slaughter of defenseless baby seals. It is true that in Canada, newborn "whitecoat" harp seals are protected from hunting. But as soon as they begin to shed their fluffy white coats—as young as 12 days old—these baby seals are legally hunted by sealers. In fact, 97 percent of the seals killed in the commercial seal hunt over the past three years have been younger than 3 months, and most were younger than 1 month old. At the time of slaughter, many of these pups had not yet eaten their first solid meal or taken their first swim. Sealers prefer to kill the baby seals because their skins are in "prime" condition and fetch the highest prices.

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Why do hunters target young animals?

Young harp seals between approximately 3-4 weeks and one year of age are called beaters - so named because they tend to slap the water when they swim. Beater seals provide the most valuable pelts and market conditions are stronger for this type of pelt.

Twelve to fourteen days is not the definition of an adult seal. Nor is 25 days (which is three-four weeks). The seals from birth to four weeks old are helpless and cannot escape or defend themselves from their killers. These are seal pups. Seal pups are baby seals.

So when seal defenders state that the sealers are killing baby seals, what they mean is that sealers are killing baby seals
When the Canadian government states that the sealers kill only adult seals, they are redefining the meaning of baby seals. Baby seals cease to be baby seals and become adult seals at 12 days old according to the government definition. So when government and industry spokespeople say that the sealers are killing adult seals what they really mean is that sealers are killing baby seals.

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Are they killing too many seals?

According the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission: The TAC (Total Allowable Catch) levels in the Canadian Management plan in combination with the Greenlandic harvest exceed the estimated replacement yield and would, if taken, lead to a decline in the size of the stock. -- 2004 annual report of the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission [3.1.3]

The Management Committee noted the conclusion of the scientific committee that the likely effect of the harvest levels outlined in the Canadian management plan was a slight drop in total abundance in the short term (3-5) years and an accelerating decline if these harvest levels are maintained over a longer period (10 years) and that the availability of seals to Greenland hunters would likely decrease as the total population decreases. --2004 Annual Report of NAMMC [7.2.1].

The quotas are being set by politicians for political reasons. This year the quota was raised to 325,000 from 320,000 in 2005 despite diminished ice conditions in the Gulf and the Front which caused excessive natural mortality amongst pups. However, this mortality was not factored in. The Gulf quota was exceeded by more than 1,000 for 2006. The quotas do not include strikes, (i.e. seals shot in the water and not recovered). It is estimated that unrecovered seals may amount to 20% to 40% of the total taken and reported.

The Canadian commercial seal hunt is the largest mass slaughter of a wild marine mammal population in the world. It is the 2nd largest commercial slaughter of a wild mammal population in the world exceeded only by the slaughter of kangaroos in Australia.

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Is the seal hunt sustainable?

Scientists agree that current kill levels are not sustainable. A recent study by Stephen Harris, a professor at Bristol University in the UK, asserts that the Canadian management regime for harp seals does not apply a precautionary principle and threatens the survival of seal populations. (The report is available on www.protectseals.org.) Over the past 10 years, between one-third and one-half of all seal pups have been slaughtered by commercial sealers. Because seals only reach breeding age at 6 years, the impacts of high hunting levels are only starting to be felt. Under the current management plan, by the time the Canadian government decides to take action to save the population, it may be too late to intervene. Today's kill levels meet and even exceed those of the 1950s and 1960s, when over-hunting quickly reduced the harp seal population by nearly two-thirds.

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Are There Any Penalties When Hunters Exceed the Government's Quota?

No. In 2002, the Canadian government knowingly allowed sealers to exceed the quota by more than 37,000 animals. Sealers had already killed substantially more than the quota allowed by May 15 (the regulated closing date of the seal hunt), and yet the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans chose to extend the sealing season until June. In 2004, sealers killed close to 16,000 seals more than the permitted quota. Again, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans extended the sealing season until well into June.

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Is It True Seals Are Jeopardizing the Canadian Cod Fishery?

There is no evidence to support this contention. Some fishing industry lobby groups try to claim that seals must be culled to protect fish stocks, but nothing could be further from the truth.

The scientific community agrees that the true cause of the depletion of fish stocks off Canada's East Coast is human over-fishing. Blaming seals for disappearing fish is a convenient way for the fishing industry to divert attention from its irresponsible and environmentally destructive practices that continue today.

In truth, seals, like all marine mammals, are a vital part of the ecosystem of the Northwest Atlantic. Harp seals, which are the primary target of the hunt, are opportunistic feeders, meaning they eat many different species. So while approximately 3 percent of a harp seal's diet may be commercially fished cod, harp seals also eat many significant predators of cod, such as squid. That is why some scientists are concerned that culling harp seals could further inhibit recovery of commercially valuable fish stocks in the Northwest Atlantic.

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Are Seals Overpopulated?

No. The Canadian government and sealing industry have, at various times, tried to claim that the harp seal population has "tripled" over the past three decades, or that the harp seal population is "exploding," or that seals are overpopulated.

This is misleading at best. The harp seal population in the Northwest Atlantic is the world's largest; it is a migratory population that spans the distance between Canada and Greenland, and is supposed to number in the many millions.

In the 1950s and '60s, over-hunting wiped out close to two-thirds of the harp seal population. By 1974, the population was considered to be in serious trouble, and senior government scientists recommended suspending the commercial hunt for at least 10 years.

In the early 1980s, the European Union banned the import of whitecoat seal skins, effectively removing the principal market for the hunt at the time. For the next decade, the numbers of seals killed in the hunt dramatically declined, and the harp seal population began to recover.

But in the 1990s, the Canadian government rejuvenated the commercial seal hunt through massive subsidies. And with nearly one million seal pups killed in the past three years alone, we can only wonder what the impact will be on the harp seal population in coming years. Scientists have already sounded the alarm regarding the poor science used by the Canadian government to set quotas for the number of seals killed.

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Is the seal population "exploding" and is a cull necessary?

In an attempt to defend the commercial seal hunt, the Canadian government often states that the harp seal population has 'tripled' over the past three decades. But they conveniently neglect to mention that over-hunting in the 1950s and '60s had reduced the population by nearly two-thirds. A dramatic decline in hunting levels in the 1980s allowed the population to rebuild, but today's kill levels now meet and even exceed those of the 1950s and '60s. Harp seals already have many natural predators, including sharks, whales and polar bears—and now the seals have a new threat to contend with—climate change. As the ice cover the harp seals need to give birth and nurse their pups on rapidly begins to disappear, the population will face devastating rates of natural mortalities. Those advocating a cull of harp seals are ignoring sound science and common sense.

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What parts of the seal are used?

According to the Canadian Government regulations: Sealers must also land the entire carcass or pelt to ensure the fullest possible commercial use of the animal and to prevent seals from being harvested strictly for their organs.
Look at the wording. They must land the entire carcass (OR) pelt. In practice, this means only the pelt. Of the 320,000 seals taken in 2005, the flippers of only 37,000 were landed as meat. There was a limited take of seal penises. All the rest of the remains of the seals were left on the ice.
The pelts yield seal oil (also called train oil) and the fur. The fur is used for fashion production and the oil is used as a health supplement and for industrial purposes. Except for the flippers of just over 10% of the bodies killed, all 325,000 seals plus the overkill and the struck and lost seals will be left on the ice or in the sea. It is incredibly wasteful and quite different than the Inuit utilization of seals which the Canadian government attempts to compare this commercial hunt to.

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Does the Government Subsidize the Hunt?

Yes. According to reports from the Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment, more than $20 million in subsidies were provided to the sealing industry between 1995 and 2001. Those subsidies came from entities such as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Human Resources Development Council, and Canada Economic Development–Quebec. These subsidies take a variety of forms, including funding the salaries for seal processing plant workers, market research and development trips, and capital acquisitions for processing plants.

Moreover, Canada's commercial seal hunt is also indirectly subsidized by the Norwegian government. A Norwegian company purchases close to 80% of the sealskins produced in Canada in any given year through its Canadian subsidiary. These skins are shipped in an unprocessed state directly to Norway, where they are tanned and re-exported. The Norwegian government provides significant financial assistance to this company each year.

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Where is the market for seals?

Seal products are 100% banned in the United States. Seal pelts are now banned in Italy, Croatia, Belgium and the Netherlands, and soon to be in the United Kingdom and Germany. The markets for fur are primarily in Norway, Russia, Eastern Europe, China, and Japan. There is a market for the seal penis for use as a snake oil remedy for impotence in China. The processing of seal penises is done in Dildoe, Newfoundland. [This is an actual town in Newfoundland].

There is a growing market being developed for seal oil as a health supplement despite the fact that the product contains PCB's mercury, arsenic, and DDT. The primary producer of seal oil capsules is the Barry Group of Companies. They have produced 900 tons of oil in 2005 and his marketing is being helped along by his close friend Premier Danny Williams.

Sea Shepherd has called a boycott of the giant retailer Costco after they reneged on their decision to withdraw seal oil capsules from the shelves of their store in Newfoundland. Sea Shepherd is now pursuing Costco's Sealgate Campaign with an international boycott of all Costco outlets worldwide.

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What fashion companies are marketing seal products?

Annika Heinadottir
Oehlenschlaegersgade 30
Copenhagen
Denmark
Phone: 45 26192611
Email: annika@dottir.dk

Birger Christensen
Ostergade 38
DK-1100 Copenhagen K
Denmark
Phone: 45 33 11 55 55
Fax: 45 33 93 21 35
Email: bc@birger-christensen.com

Gucci
685 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10022
212-750-5220
Email: clientservice-europe@gucci.it

The Odette Leblanc Collection
022 de l'ecole Rd., Pointe-aux-Loups
Iles de la madeleine PQ. G4T 8B1
Canada
Phone: 418-969-9385
Email: oleblanc@tlb.sympatico.ca

Petit Nord OU
Marielundvej 28, 1
2730 Herlev, Copenhagen
Denmark
Phone: 45 44 85 20 50
Fax: 45 44 85 20 51
Email: Use the form at http://www.base-1.com/petit.html

Prada World Headquarters

Prada S.P.A.
Via Andrea Maffei, 2
Milan, Italy 20154
Phone: 39 02 54 67 01

Prada U.S.
610 W. 52nd St.
New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212 307 9300

Versace
Donatella Versace
Versace S.P.A. Headquarters
Via Manzoni, 38
Milan, Italy 20121
Phone: 39 02 76 09 31
Fax: 39 02 76 00 41 22

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Who processes the pelts?

There are only a few major processing companies:

Atlantic Marine Products
PO Box 39, Main St.
Catalina, NL A0C 1J0
Canada
Tel: (709) 469-2849
Fax: (709) 469-3211
Contact: Chris Pilgrim.
Sales manager: Martin Duchesne, 709-785-7387, aag819@thezone.net
Plant manager: Dean Russell, 709-469-2849, cell 709-468-6347

Atlantic Marine Products now sells over 100,000 pelts each year. They are capable of processing up to about 150,000 pelts in their Catalina plant. This company is a division of the Barry Group, which is one of the largest seafood companies in Atlantic Canada.

Carino Company Ltd.
P.O. Box 6146
St. John's, NL A1C 5X8
Canada
Tel: (709) 582-2100
Fax: (709) 582-2487
Contact: John Kearley

Plant
P.O. Box 39, South Dildo, NL, A0B 1R0
Telephone: (709) 582-2100
Telefax: (709) 582-2487
Email: office@carino.ca

Carino is owned by the Norwegian Rieber Corporation and has a plant in a sealing town called South Dildo, Newfoundland. (We are not making this up!) The plant is located in a small industrial complex next to a fish processing plant. There, employees make great efforts to maintain a low profile, worrying that any attention they get will be negative. There are no signs that say "Carino" on their building.

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How are pelts processed?

The processing of the pelts requires more than a month and involves several steps. Each pelt is approximately 3-4 feet long by 2-3 feet wide. The usual process involves soaking them in brine for several weeks and then tanning them, but the pelts can be stored for several months in brine without any degradation. Some of the pelts are also dyed. After the pelts are tanned, they sell them to brokers, who in turn sell them to fur coat and accessory manufacturers in China and other countries in the Far East, Russia, Siberia, and Western Europe.

Thousands of excess pelts are stacked in warehouses throughout eastern Canada and Norway. Norway subsidizes the cost of storage of these pelts.

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What countries are seal pelts sold in?

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Are there economically-viable alternatives to killing the seals for the local communities?

Yes. There are four viable alternatives:

(1) Eco-Tourism: There are presently successful tours to the ice floes for people to see the seals in the wild. These tours could be expanded and a winter tourist industry built on the foundation of seal watching.

(2) A cruelty free, non-lethal sealing industry: This idea was created by Captain Paul Watson and involves the brushing of naturally-molted seal hairs from whitecoats at the stage when they lose their baby hair. The seals appear to enjoy the brushing and each seal yields about 300 grams of harp seal hair. The hairs, which are composed of hollow transparent follicles, have qualities similar to eider down. Sea Shepherd found a German fabric manufacturer eager to purchase all the seal hairs that could be obtained. This was an alternative that could provide hundreds of jobs but the Canadian government refused to issue permits for it.

(3) This year (2006) Cathy Kangas, the CEO of the major cosmetic firm PRAI, offered to raise $16 million to buy the seals lives. There are enough people willing to buy the lives of the seals that this should be considered a viable alternative to those who buy the products from dead seals.

(4) The sealers could be paid by the government of Canada to not kill seals. Such a subsidy would actually save the country money by removing the costs of supporting the hunt and avoiding the economic repercussions of tourist and seafood boycotts.

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Is Newfoundland a poor province?

The answer is a resounding "no." Revenues from offshore oil wells have put the Newfoundland economy in the black. It is not a have-not province. However, the fishing industry is a dying industry, and the government of Newfoundland and the Federal government have helped considerably to kill it by exporting fish processing jobs to China and other countries and by licensing foreign trawlers to fish on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The DFO incompetence and mismanagement destroyed the cod fishery and the same incompetent bureaucrats now claim they can manage the seals.

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What species of seals are being killed in Northern Canada?

In Nunavut, which is in Northern Canada, there are five species of seals that are hunted by aboriginal people. These are ringed, bearded, harp, hood, and harbor seals.

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Do Native people in the North depend on the East Coast commercial seal hunt?

No. There are no Inuit people involved in the annual taking of the 325,000 seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off the Northern coast of Newfoundland and the Southern coast of Labrador. The Inuit do not favor harp seals, but rather target ring and bearded seals. According to the 2004 Annual Report of the North American Marine Mammal Commission harp seals are taken by the Inuit people only for use as food for their dogs.

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Why do Canadian Inuit leaders support the commercial seal hunt?

The only reason that makes sense is that they are doing it at the behest of the government of Canada. If harp seals represented a real value to them they would logically be opposed to the excessive slaughter of 325,000 harp seals which translates into less seals returning to the Arctic regions to be hunted. It makes sense if the harp seal has no value and the NAMMC report states that the harp seals are only used for dog food. The Inuit may also view the harp seal as competition for the more valued ringed and bearded seals.

The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has a public relations policy of linking the commercial seal hunt on the East Coast of Canada with aboriginal communities in the Arctic regions of Canada. This is done purposely and fraudulently to motivate sympathy from the general public for the commercial seal hunt.

It must be remembered that Native communities and fur companies like the Hudson Bay Company have been in partnership for hundreds of years. Together they have killed hundreds of millions of animals. Native communities in Northern Canada continue to have a working relationship with the Hudson Bay Company and with other fur companies.

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Why are Newfoundland Native people not participating in the commercial hunt?

There are no Newfoundland native people anymore! The Beothuks, the aboriginal people of Newfoundland, were exterminated by the European invaders of Newfoundland. The colonial government posted a bounty on Beothuk scalps. Newfoundland also helped drive the giant auk, the Newfoundland wolf, the North Atlantic grey whale, the sea mink and the Labrador duck to extinction; and extirpated the populations of walrus and polar bears; and greatly diminished the populations of pilot whales, large whales, orcas and most recently the Northern cod.

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Do animal protection groups campaign to save the seals just to raise funds?

Animal protection groups working to stop the commercial seal hunt are charities and non-profits. They rely on donations from the public to carry out their work, and all the funds that are raised are spent on campaigns to save animals.

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Do Canadians support a "humane" and "sustainable" seal hunt?

National public opinion polling consistently shows that the overwhelming majority of Canadians oppose the commercial seal hunt. A poll conducted by Environics Research in 2005 shows 69 percent of Canadians are opposed to the seal hunt outright, and even higher percentages oppose inherent aspects of the hunt, such as the killing of seal pups. Attempts by the Canadian government to show the opposite consistently fail.

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FAQ reprinted with kind permission from
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and HSUS