Canada permits an annual seal hunt, which usually runs from the end of March through May.CBC: The Atlantic Seal Hunt – FAQs (April 17, 2008

Canada has modified the rules surrounding the hunt for 2009, to provide further assurances that seals will be dead before they are skinned.Environment News Service: Canada 'Tweaks' Seal Hunt Rules to Avert EU Trade Ban (December 2008)

In 2008, the hunt began on March 29. The permitted quota was raised slightly for 2008, and new regulations were 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.

• Guardian Unlimited: Blood on the ice (March 28, 2008)

• Sea Shepherd Conservation Society: Stop the Canadian Seal Slaughter

• Stephen Leahy Environmental Journalist: About Canada's Seal Hunt (March 10, 2008)

• Ancora Imparo: Canada's Seal Hunt is Deplorable (March 24, 2008)

• Google Blog Search: Canada Annual Seal Hunt

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