FAQ:

Are seals consumed or eaten?
In the commercial seal hunt, no part of the seal is consumed or eaten. The seal pelts are sold to fashion houses.

Is the hunt performed by aboriginals?
While aboriginals hunt seals in Canada, this is a small number and is unrelated to the commercial Canadian seal hunt.  No one is opposing aboriginal hunting.  Commercial sealers like to confuse the public by throwing the word aboriginals around. They are not aboriginals. They are white men that live as you do,  they own houses, garages, automobiles, they watch movies, and they shop at the local mall and buy food in supermarkets.

Is there a seal over population?
No, if anything there is a severe shortage in the population. When European explorers landed on the East coast of Canada, there were an estimated 30 million seals. Between 1950 and 1970 it was estimated that the seal population had declined  to 2 million. This prompted the US government and European nations to ban the importation of seal products.  The Canadian government worked afterwards at population stability but in recent years has moved away from this in order to employ out of work fishermen. The reason behind this is false scientific logic and scapegoating the seals for a decline in the cod population. Cod were over fished which resulted a collapse in the Canadian fishery industry.  In 1999 a survey reported the seals to number above 4 million. This report was severely flawed.

Who hunts the seals?
Out of work fishermen in the provinces of Newfoundland, Labrador, and Prince Edward Island are mostly responsible. The hunters are not aboriginals. They hunt seals to earn money and to sell seal pelts to the fashion industry.

Who pays the fishermen?
The government subsidizes the hunt with Canadian tax dollars.  The government also spends tax dollars in attempts to create markets for the pelts. Some pelts are sold to undisclosed fashion houses.

How much does this cost tax payers?
In the late 1990s the Canadian government pumped 20 million in subsidies. This amount has increased since then, but the government refuses to release figures. While those subsidies have disappeared, others have replaced them, one example is for funding of a seal processing plant in Quebec. The government also spends money to promote seal products in Europe and elsewhere in order to 'open new markets'.

Is this to help the cod recuperate from over fishing?
This is the propaganda that the Canadian government has been releasing. The truth is the cods were in higher numbers long before the seal hunt started.  Cod consists of less than 3% of a seals diet. Seals actually feed on squid, skate, and other predators of cod. In other words seals serve as the ecosystems check in keeping cod populations in high numbers. By killing seals, hunters are hurting the cod population.

What would you suggest out of work fishermen do instead?
The government should spend the money that is used on this cruel hunt to reeducate these hunters in sustainable fishing, or to enter into new industries. There is no scientific justification for this hunt, therefore it should be terminated immediately.