Canada’s Cruel Seal Hunt Starts
8 April 2010
Twenty-three boats went out to begin killing seals as dawn broke. Despite poor weather conditions earlier on, observers were able to witness the killing.
Sealers were seen violating the regulations such as failing to check for death before beginning skinning.
Usually, over 100 boats would head out hunting but poor pelt prices and a general lack of buyers means many have chosen to stay home. The Canadian government set a quota of 388,200 for this year’s hunt but it is unlikely that this will be reached. Since the EU banned the placing on the market of seal products demand has fallen dramatically and buyers already have stockpiles of pelts they cannot move.
The poor ice conditions mean most of the hunting is taking place in open water with boats searching for small pans of ice rather than on solid pack ice. The seals are only a few weeks old and cannot yet swim and have not yet eaten a solid meal.