Seal Hunters Not Following New Licencing Conditions; Seals Suffering

March 29, 2008

Seal hunt observers documented apparent violations of the new sealing licence conditions today in Cabot Strait as international journalists and world-renowned photographer Nigel Barker joined Humane Society International and The Humane Society of the United States in documenting the inherent cruelty of the commercial seal hunt. 

"We witnessed baby seals being brutally bludgeoned and shot to death," said Rebecca Aldworth, director of Animal Programs for Humane Society International-Canada. "Defenceless baby seals are dying in agonizing ways, and we are determined to expose this cruelty to the world."

The Canadian government claims sealers are now required to implement a three-step killing process involving stunning, checking for unconsciousness and bleeding. Yet none of the sealers observed by HSI/The HSUS adhered to the conditions.

"Not one hunter bothered to follow the new licencing conditions," said Aldworth. "I also saw repeated regulatory violations, including sealers failing to ensure seals were dead before impaling them on metal hooks and dragging them across the ice."

"I witnessed with my own eyes, my own camera and my own video crew blatant violations of the rules and regulations by sealers," Nigel Barker, world-renowned photographer and judge on "America's Next Top Model," commented. "Several weeks ago, I documented the birth of the seal pups or 'white coats,' and—earlier this week—photographed the beautiful silver, speckled,  two-week-olds and finally today the mass killing of every young seal in sight in the most brutal and barbaric fashion. I will never forget what I have seen and will never stop until it ends."

HSUS/Milani

Sealers drag seals onto a vessel March 29.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has once again decided to prevent journalists and animal welfare experts from observing opening day of the seal hunt. Nova Scotia's begins at dawn Sunday, and DFO officials informed HSI/The HSUS that it would not issue observation permits until after holding a 10 a.m. Sunday conference call—four hours after hunting commences.

There is no guarantee observers will receive permits at that time. On the opening day of the Magdalene Islands hunt, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans refused to issue permits for the first half of the day.

"The DFO desperately wants to keep these images out of the public eye," said Aldworth. "The Canadian government knows if the European Commission is allowed to see what is actually happening on the ice this year, it will realize there is no humane way to conduct this hunt," she concluded. "This hunt is inhumane and unsustainable, and it must stop now."

Aldworth, journalists and other HSI and HSUS staff plan to continue observing the hunt.