Canada Annual Seal Hunt

Guide Note:Canada's holds a seal hunt every year to control seal populations. In 2008, the hunt began on March 29. The permitted quota has been raised slightly for 2008, and new regulations have been put in place to ensure that seals are dead before they are skinned. Hunters will be required to sever the arteries under a seal's flippers, before skinning them, to make sure that the seals are dead, not merely unconscious. The hunt is highly controversial, with animal rights activists maintaining that the new regulations don't go far enough. The United States has banned Canadian seal products since 1972, and the European Union is contemplating extending their ban on baby seal pelts to all seal products.

Fast Facts:

1. Quota: 275,000, up slightly from 270,000 in 2007, but down from 335,000 in 2006
2. 70% will be taken off Newfoundland, the remainder in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
3. Baby seals that haven't molted are now excluded from the hunt in Canada
4. 2006 seal hunt brought in $25 million to the hunters
5. Harp seal population up to 5.9 million in 2004, up from 1.8 million in the 1970's