Sealers' Deaths Underscore Danger of Hunt

March 29, 2008

by Katie Carrus

Media reports confirmed that at least three commercial sealers from the Magdalen Islands died after their vessel capsized this morning. The boat was being towed by the Canadian Coast Guard after the crew encountered problems navigating icy waters just north of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

HSUS/Milani

Ice conditions have already proved problematic, just two days into the 2008 commercial seal hunt.

HSI and The HSUS express their deepest condolences to the families of the men who died.

As sealers set out for the second day of Canada's annual commercial seal hunt, the news comes as a sober reminder of the risks faced by sealers.

The hunt is not only a tragedy for the seal pups—it also poses incredible and unnecessary risks to human life.

Sealers are at the mercy of the ice and weather conditions during this hunt.

Not surprisingly, Canadian Coast Guard representatives define the commercial seal hunt as a "high risk" activity, and a 2004 Coast Guard presentation noted that the "seal fishery" accounted for 24 percent of all search and rescue incidents of the fishing industry.

HSI/HSUS representatives in recent years have testified that they have observed sealers working in dense fog, driving rain, high winds and sleet.

In 2007, seal hunters were observed killing seals in 4.5m ocean swells, and on fragile, broken ice floes.

HSUS/Milani

Sealers hurriedly kill three in the 2008 hunt.

Reports by the Canadian government and marine safety organizations confirm that seal hunters work in adverse weather conditions as a matter of course.

The treacherous conditions of the commercial seal hunt environment compromise the ability of sealers to deliver a humane death to the seals, creating obstacles to accuracy in both clubbing and shooting, as well as the ability of the sealers to retrieve wounded animals and minimize suffering.

Canada's commercial seal hunt simply isn't worth the heavy toll it routinely takes on human and animal life. The Canadian government should take immediate action to end this slaughter by implementing a generous buyout of the sealing industry.

A sealing industry buyout would save the seals—and the sealers. To learn more, visit protectseals.org.