East Coast seal hunt quota increases despite very poor ice
conditions
The federal government has increased the quota for this
year%u2019s East Coast seal hunt despite ice conditions that some fishermen
say are the worst in years.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has set this year%u2019s
total allowable catch for harp, hooded and grey seals at 388,200 %u2014 up
50,000 from last year%u2019s total quota.
The higher quota is solely due to an increase of 50,000 harp
seals.
The harp seal quota includes an allocation of 20,000 seals to
support three projects proposed by the sealing industry that the
department says aim to make the fullest possible use of the hunted
animals.
Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea says the population of
harp seals is about 6.9 million, more than triple what it was in the
1970s.
As in the past, about 70 per cent of the quota is allocated
to fishermen working in the waters northeast of Newfoundland and
Labrador, while the Gulf of St. Lawrence receives the rest.
Stop The Cruelty!
Please sign Petition!
Dear Prime Minister Harper,
I am deeply opposed to Canada's annual cruel, wasteful, and unsustainable commercial slaughter of harp seal pups.
Harp seals are facing a new threat - global warming - which is resulting in dramatically reduced ice coverage in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off Newfoundland.
Your government is on record stating it will take 'real action' on global warming. And yet you have ignored the one tangible action your government could take to combat the effects of global warming - dramatically
reducing the seal hunt quota.
Apart from these serious conservation concerns shared by many Canadians, the seal hunt targets baby animals, a practice that is unacceptable to the majority of Canadians. In the past two years, 98% of the seals killed have been
less than three months old. Severe cruelty has been witnessed and documented at
the hunt during the past 30 years and incidents of cruelty are not decreasing.
This hunt only continues to exist because it is propped up by a range of government subsidies and tax-payers money. More and more countries around the world are adopting legislation to ban the import of seal products.
Instead of investing in meaningful employment opportunities for Newfoundlanders, the federal government continues to fund and support a seasonal and wasteful seal hunt which draws national and international
criticism to a proud region of Canada trying to build a reputation for
high-tech research and first-class environmental tourism.
I urge you to act immediately to end this unnecessary cruelty to seals and to restore Canada's pride as a humane and ecologically responsible society.
Sincerely,
we, the undersigned
