On April 19th, The Humane Society of the United States revealed that Canadian sealers operating on large vessels exceeded the quota for the commercial seal hunt. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) announced today that they closed the larger vessel hunt for harp seals in Newfoundland on April 17, just three days after it opened.
According to the DFO, during the latest phase of the seal hunt, sealers killed 152,000 harp seals over the three-day period. The latest kill brings the total slaughter of harp seals this year to just under 260,000, with 99.5% of the seals killed about one month of age or less.
"We are greatly concerned that the DFO seems unable or unwilling to enforce quotas yet again in the course of this hunt," stated Rebecca Aldworth, director of Canadian wildlife issues for The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). "In 2002 and 2004, the total harp seal quotas were exceeded by 15,000 and 37,000 animals respectively. This cruel, industrial scale slaughter of baby seals is clearly out of control." The total harp seal quota for the 2005 hunt is just over 319,000 seals.
When the first baby seal was clubbed on the ice floes on March 29th, The HSUS, together with a powerful alliance of likeminded organizations, launched a global boycott of Canadian seafood products. Already, two major purchasers of Canadian seafood in the United States – Legal Sea Foods and Downeast Seafoods – have expressed support for the boycott and are taking steps to end or reduce sales of Canadian seafood.
The HSUS is turning its attention to other major U.S. seafood purveyors, such as Red Lobster Seafood Restaurants, the top American seafood restaurant chain, to encourage the major leading companies to join the campaign. "Media reports indicate that most Canadian crab imported by the U.S. is purchased by Red Lobster," said Patricia Ragan, director of The HSUS Protect Seals campaign. "Snow crabs are the top source of income for Canada's sealers, meaning companies that purchase snow crab provide millions of dollars directly to Canadian sealers. The Humane Society of the United States encourages Red Lobster and other major seafood purchasers to listen to their consumers and the American public and use their leverage with Canadian sealers to end this senseless slaughter."
This week, the boycott gained momentum overseas as Marks and Spencer, a leading UK food retailer servicing 10 million customers each week, pledged their support for the Canadian seafood boycott. The company has publicly stated they will not buy products from Canadian seafood companies that are in any way involved in the seal hunt.
"We are thrilled to see Marks and Spencer observe the wishes of the overwhelming majority of UK citizens in taking this stand for seals," stated Mark Glover, director of the British animal protection organization Respect for Animals. "In the 1980s, a successful British boycott of Canadian seafood products forced the Canadian government to end the slaughter of newborn harp seals. The Marks and Spencer decision is just the beginning of a renewed UK boycott of Canadian seafood products until the commercial seal hunt is ended for good."
Last month, observers from The HSUS gathered video evidence of extreme cruelty at the 2005 commercial seal hunt, including baby seals left to suffocate in their own blood, conscious seal pups dragged across the ice floes with boathooks, and seals showing signs of response to pain as they were sliced open.
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