The Truth about the Canadian Seal Hunt: A Response to the Canadian Department of Fisheries

In March 2005, Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans published a fact sheet about the commercial seal hunt entitled "Myths and Facts." Unfortunately, that report contains a number of inaccuracies and misleading statements.

The following is a rebuttal from The Humane Society of the United States

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth: The Canadian government allows sealers to kill adorable little white seals.

The DFO’s Explanation:

"The image of the whitecoat harp seal is used prominently by seal hunt opponents. This image gives the false impression that vulnerable seal pups are targeted by sealers during the commercial hunt."

This Is the Truth:
The Humane Society of the United States has never portrayed the seal hunt as a hunt for whitecoats. That said, the Canadian government does allow sealers to kill thousands of "adorable little white seals" each year (as well as hundreds of thousands of seal pups just a few days older).

As soon as newborn (also known as "whitecoat") harp seals begin to shed their white coats, as young as 12 days of age, they can be legally killed in Canada. Baby seals that are shedding their white coats are called "ragged jackets" and thousands of them are killed each year. Images of ragged jackets are nearly indistinguishable from those of whitecoats" and are sometimes used by animal protection groups.

Official DFO kill reports show 97% of the seals killed over the past five years have been under 3 months of age, and the majority has been less than one month old.

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
Seals are not independent animals when they are killed—they still rely on their mothers and can't even swim or fend for themselves.

The DFO's Explanation:
"Only weaned, self-reliant seals are hunted after they have been left by their mothers to fend for themselves.
The vast majority of harp seals are taken after more than 25 days of age, after their white coat has molted. Harp seals have the ability to swim at this stage of development. They are also opportunistic feeders and prey on whatever food source in readily available to them."

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
The seal hunt provides such low economic return for sealers that it is not an economically viable industry.

The DFO’s Explanation:
"The landed value of seals was $16 million in 2004. Pelt prices as high as $70 have recently been recorded. Seals are a significant source of income for some individual sealers. The money is earned over a very short period. Sealing also creates employment opportunities for buying and processing plants."

This Is the Truth:
The seal hunt provides very low economic returns for Canada, Newfoundland and individual sealers. In light of the negative impact the seal hunt has on Canada's international reputation, its continuation cannot be justified on economic grounds.

Even in Newfoundland, where more than 90% of sealers live, revenues from sealing account for less than 1% of the Gross Domestic Product and less than 3% of the landed value of the fishery. Even northern cod, considered by many to be commercially extinct, makes up 8% of the landed value of Newfoundland’s fishery today.
Sealing is an off-season activity conducted by a few thousand fishermen from Canada’s east coast. The Newfoundland government itself estimates there are only 4,000 active sealers in any given year. Media reports and government data confirm they make, on average, less than 5% of their incomes from sealing, and the rest from commercial fisheries.

Any profits from the seal hunt are offset by the large government subsidies that continue to be provided to the sealing industry. Moreover, vessel owners must cover the cost of repairs to their boats, which are often damaged by heavy ice at the seal hunt (insurance companies impose a high deductible for vessels participating in the hunt).

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
The Canadian government provides subsidies for the seal hunt.

The DFO’s Explanation:
"The Government of Canada does not subsidize the seal hunt. Sealing is an economically viable industry. All subsidies ceased in 2001. Even before that time, any subsidies provided were for market and product development, including a meat subsidy, to encourage full use of the seal. In fact, government has provided fewer subsidies to the sealing industry than recommended by the Royal Commission on Sealing."

This Is the Truth:
The Canadian government continues to provide large subsidies for the sealing industry—subsidies clearly listed on government websites.

The government of Canada regularly provides subsidies to the sealing industry through Human Resources Development Canada, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and other federal programs. These subsidies are provided in the form of grants and loans to seal processing plants, sealing industry associations and private companies, and cover capital costs, employee salaries, operating expenses, and product development and marketing.

In 2004 alone, more than $450,000 was provided by the Canadian government to two companies to develop seal products. Additionally, the Canadian Coast Guard continues to break ice for sealing vessels at taxpayer’s expense.
In 2001, the Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment produced a report detailing over $20 million that had been provided to the sealing industry in government subsidies from 1995–2001.

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
The seal hunt is not worth it—seals are only taken for their fur and the rest of the animal is wasted.

The DFO’s Explanation:
"Seals have been harvested for food, fuel and shelter and other products for hundreds of years. The subsistence hunt is a valuable link to Canadian cultural heritage. Canada exports seal products in three forms: pelts, oil and meat.
"Traditionally, the pelts have been the main commodity, but production of seal oil for human consumption has grown substantially in recent years. Seal oil markets remain positive, and a large percentage of seal oil is finding its way into areas other than traditional marine and industrial oils.
"DFO encourages the fullest use of seals, with the emphasis on leather, oil, handicrafts, and in recent years, meat for human and animal consumption as well as seal oil capsules rich in Omega-3. Any seal parts that are left on the ice provide sustenance to a wide variety of marine scavengers such as crustaceans, seabirds and fish."

This Is the Truth:
The commercial seal hunt is wasteful—seals are taken for their fur, and their carcasses are almost always left to rot on the ice. The Canadian government deliberately tries to blur the lines between the commercial seal hunt, which is conducted by non-native people off Canada's east coast, and subsistence hunting by Inuit people in Canada's arctic region. But animal protection groups, including The HSUS, are not opposed to Inuit subsistence hunting. Canada’s commercial seal hunt is an industrial-scale slaughter conducted by fishermen from Canada’s east coast. The seals are killed for their skins, which are sold in overseas fashion markets. The carcasses are almost always left to rot on the ice because there are virtually no markets for the meat.

Each year, video footage of the hunt shows stockpiles of carcasses left across the ice floes and sealers dumping carcasses over the sides of their boats. DFO inspectors have acknowledged the large number of carcasses left to rot on the ice in internal documents. Moreover, despite claims to the contrary by the Government of Canada, Canadian international trade data clearly shows that Canada has not exported even one dollar’s worth of seal meat at any point in the last 5 years.

Claims that seal oil markets have grown substantially in recent years are also untrue. Seal oil is a byproduct of the skin trade (blubber is attached to the skins when they are removed from the seals). Canadian international trade data shows that Canadian exports of marine mammal oil in 2004 were valued at just about half of what they were in 2000 It is impossible to characterize this as "substantial growth."
Make no mistake, sealers kill seals for their skins—there is no trade in seal meat and trade in seal oil is brings in very little additional income.

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
The majority of Canadians are opposed to the seal hunt.

The DFO’s Explanation:
"Canadians support federal policies regarding the seal hunt. An Ipsos-Reid survey conducted in February 2005 concluded that 60 per cent of Canadians are in favour of a responsible hunt. The survey methodology and results of this poll are available on request."

This Is the Truth:
National opinion polls consistently show the majority of Canadians are opposed to the seal hunt. Numerous national surveys have been commissioned in Canada to evaluate public opinion on the commercial seal hunt. They consistently show the solid majority of Canadians are opposed to the commercial seal hunt, and even higher percentage of Canadians opposes characteristic aspects of the commercial seal hunt.

The most recent of these, conducted in August 2005 by Environics Research, shows nearly 70% of Canadians holding an opinion oppose the commercial seal hunt outright. Opposition to specific aspects of the seal hunt was even higher with some 77% of voters, stating an opinion, calling for a ban on the killing of seals under three months of age and 78% opposed to government subsidies for the hunt. Seventy-eight per cent felt that killing seals by clubbing them is inherently cruel. Only 4% of respondents stated that they would be very upset if the hunt were ended.

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
The Canadian government is allowing sealers to kill nearly one million seals to help with the recovery of cod stocks.

The DFO’s Explanation:
"Several factors have contributed to the lack of recovery of Atlantic cod stocks, such as fishing effort, poor growth and physical condition of the fish, and environmental changes. Seals eat cod, but seals also eat other fish that prey on cod, therefore it is difficult to hold any one factor responsible for the decline in cod stocks. In addition, there are many uncertainties in the estimates of the amount of fish consumed by seals. The commercial quota is established on sound conservation principles, not an attempt to assist in the recovery of groundfish stocks."

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
The seal hunt is loosely monitored and DFO doesn't punish illegal hunting activity or practices.

The DFO’s Explanation:
"The seal hunt is closely monitored and tightly regulated. Canada's enforcement of sealing regulations is thorough and comprehensive. Regulations and licensing policies stipulate hunting seasons, quotas, vessel size and methods of dispatch. Fishery Officers monitor the seal hunt in numerous ways to ensure sealers comply with Canada's Marine Mammal Regulations. They conduct surveillance of the hunt by means of aerial patrols, surface (vessel) patrols, dockside inspections of vessels at landing sites and inspections at buying and processing facilities. In 2004, Fishery Officers spent approximately 8600 hours monitoring and enforcing the hunt. In the last five years, 94 charges were laid and convictions were upheld in 57 of those cases."

This Is the Truth:
It would be a practical impossibility for the DFO to adequately monitor the seal hunt. When provided with evidence of illegal activity at the seal hunt, the DFO fails to lay charges.

Canada's commercial seal hunt is conducted with hundreds of fishing vessels, by thousands of sealers, over hundreds of miles of ocean. Adequately monitoring the seal hunt would be a practical impossibility even if the Canadian government had the political will to do so.
Currently, the DFO in the Gulf of St. Lawrence says it has one enforcement officer present for every seven sealing vessels—about one person for every 80 sealers. In 2003, the Charlottetown Guardian reported that the DFO enforcement budget for patrol hours allocated only 1.5 percent to monitoring the seal hunt. In the "front" (northeast of Newfoundland) there is virtually no monitoring of the seal hunt at all by the DFO. Moreover, the few enforcement people who do attend the seal hunt are usually there to check quotas and hunting permits—not treatment of the animals.

While DFO may occasionally lay charges against sealers, the cases usually involve violations such as hunting without a proper license, and normally result in warnings or small fines. The inadequate monitoring and token fines make it economically worthwhile for sealers to continue violating the Marine Mammal Regulations.

Notably, since 1998, animal protection groups have submitted video evidence of more than 700 apparent violations of the Marine Mammal Regulations—including seals being skinned alive. To date, not a single charge has been laid in response.

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
If sealers take more than their allotted quota, The DFO simply further raises the quota for them.

The DFO’s Explanation:
"The Government of Canada has strict conservation measures in place, and is committed to the careful management of all seals to ensure strong, healthy populations in the years to come. 2005 is the last year of a three-year harp seal hunt management plan. The harp seal TAC was set at 975,000 for 2003-2005 and it has not been raised. This multi-year management plan was developed in consultation with more than 100 stakeholders, including conservation groups, at the 2002 Seal Forum in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador."

This Is the Truth:
The DFO actively encourages sealers to exceed their quotas—often extending the seal hunting season beyond the regulated closing date even when the quota has been surpassed.

In 2002, the Canadian government knowingly allowed sealers to exceed their quota by more than 37,000 seals. In 2004, it again allowed sealers to exceed the quota by nearly 16,000 seals. In both years, sealers had gone well over the quota by May 15 (the regulated closing date), and yet the DFO chose to extend the sealing season into June.

The DFO has a long track record of reckless mismanagement of marine species by setting unsustainable quotas and allowing fishermen to deplete populations. Its latest management plan for harp seals allows sealers to reduce the population by 70 percent before the commercial hunting is stopped—a reckless approach that has led scientistsaround the world to condemn the DFO plan.

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
Anyone can get a license—even those who have never hunted before, and there are no training requirements.

The DFO’s Explanation:
"Before sealers can qualify for a professional license they must obtain an assistant license and work under the supervision of a professional sealer for two years. Individuals applying for a personal use license must demonstrate they apply good sealing practices to ensure the seal is killed in a quick and humane fashion."

This Is the Truth:
Training for sealers is woefully inadequate and promotes continuation of illegal and cruel hunting methods.

The larger vessel quota in Newfoundland is usually taken in just two days. This means a "two year apprenticeship" for sealers could (and likely would) involve as little as four days of training.

Licensed sealers teaching apprentices to hunt seals is also problematic—because if a sealer uses illegal or substandard killing techniques, he will simply pass this behaviour on to the apprentice.

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
The "hunt" is simply a front for what is actually a cull aimed at reducing the population of harp seals.

The DFO's Explanation:
"The seal hunt is not a cull. It is a sustainable, commercially viable fishery based on sound conservation principles. In fact, the Department has adopted an Objective-Based Fisheries Management approach using control rules and reference points to establish management measures for the harp seal hunt. This process will facilitate a market-driven harvest that will enable sealers to maximize their benefits without compromising conservation."

This Is theTruth:
The hunt is actually a cull that will reduce the population of harp seals.

A cull by definition is any hunt designed to reduce a population. The latest harp seal management plan involved a quota of nearly a million seals over a three year period. According to that plan, commercial sealing will only be stopped when the population is reduced by 70%. Notably, it is so widely understood that the Canadian government is allowing sealers to cull harp seals that the Cambridge University Press Advanced Learner’s Dictionary provides the following definition for the word cull: "When people cull animals, they kill them, especially the weaker members of a particular group of them, in order to reduce or limit their number: The plan to cull large numbers of baby seals has angered environmental groups."

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
The hunt is unsustainable.

The DFO's Explanation:
"Since the 1960's, environmental groups have been saying the seal hunt is unsustainable. In fact, the harp seal population is healthy and abundant. In excess of five million animals, the Northwest Atlantic seal herd is nearly triple what it was in the 1970s. DFO sets quotas at levels that ensure the health and abundance of seal herds. In no way are seals—and harp seals in particular—an 'endangered species'."

This Is the Truth:
History clearly shows today's kill levels are unsustainable.
We know current kill levels are unsustainable because we have already witnessed the impact of this level of hunting on the harp seal population. Today's kill levels meet and exceed those of the 1950s and 60s, when over-hunting reduced by harp seal population by nearly two thirds. By 1971, the population reach such a dangerous low (at 1.8 million) that senior Canadian government scientists said all commercial hunting should be stopped for at least ten years or we would risk losing the population. Thus, when the DFO says the harp seal population has "tripled" since the 1970s, they are conveniently neglecting to mention that the population was simply recovering from a dangerously low level.

Scientists condemn Canada's current management plan for harp seals as reckless and unsustainable. A recent report on the matter by Greenpeace, entitled "The Canadian Seal Hunt: No Management and No Plan" notes that the DFO fails to take into account the impact of new threats to the harp seal population, such as climate change.

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
Countless seals that slip off the ice after being clubbed or shot are lost and never accounted for.

The DFO's Explanation:
"'Struck and lost' data from at-sea observers as well as the CVMA indicate that this is not true. In fact, the record of struck and loss for the Canadian commercial seal hunt stands at less than five per cent."

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
The club—or hakapik—is a barbaric tool that has no place in today's world.

The DFO’s Explanation:
"Clubs have been used by sealers since the onset of the hunt hundreds of years ago. Hakapiks originated with Norwegian sealers who found it very effective. Over the years, studies conducted by the various veterinary experts, and American studies carried out between 1969 and 1972 on the Pribilof Islands hunt (Alaska) have consistently proven that the club or hakapik is an efficient tool designed to kill the animal quickly and humanely. A recent report in September, 2002, by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, had results that parallel these findings."

This Is the Truth:
Regardless of the killing implement used, the commercial seal hunt is inherently cruel because of the environment in which it operates. Canada's commercial seal hunt is an industrial scale slaughter conducted with hundreds of vessels over hundreds of miles of ocean. Sealers compete against each other to fill quotas, killing as many animals as quickly as they can. In 2005, more than 146,000 seals were killed in just two days in Newfoundland; another 101,000 were killed over three days in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Weather conditions, ocean swell, the experience of the sealer, and many other factors contribute to the amount of time it takes to render the seal unconscious or dead.

The 2002 veterinary study referred to by the DFO was conducted on sealing vessels in the presence of enforcement officers, while sealers knew they were being observed. It is our contention that given the methodology, the results of this study were not only predictable, but inevitable.

The DFO Says the Following Is a Myth:
The methods used to kill seals are far less humane than those used to hunt or slaughter any other domestic or wild animal.

The DFO’s Explanation:
"Hunting methods were studied by the Royal Commission on Sealing in Canada and they found that the clubbing of seals, when properly performed, is at least as humane as, and often more humane than, the killing methods used in commercial slaughterhouses, which are accepted by the majority of the public."

This Is the Truth:
The Canadian commercial seal hunt involves a level of cruelty that no thinking, compassionate person would tolerate if they could see it for themselves.

While cruelty may exist in other wildlife hunts and in domestic animal slaughters, this does not change the irrefutable fact that Canada’s commercial seal hunt results in considerable, unacceptable, and needless suffering. Veterinary studies, video evidence and eye-witness testimony by independent journalists, scientists and parliamentarians confirms that seals are often skinned alive, that conscious seal pups are routinely hooked with metal spikes and dragged across the ice, that injured seals are often thrown into stockpiles and left to suffocate in their own blood, that seals are shot and left to suffer in agony, and that wounded seals often slip beneath the surface of the water where they bleed to death slowly and are never recovered. This is a level of cruelty to animals that Canadians find unacceptableespecially given it occurs to produce frivolous fashion items.