Support Our Sealers

ST. ANTHONY, N.L. — The annual seal hunt off the north coast of Newfoundland is underway amid poor ice conditions and a shrinking market.

A spokeswoman for an animal welfare group says she spotted only four boats heading to the floes off St. Anthony on Monday.

Rebecca Aldworth, Canadian director of Humane Society International, says she could see very few harp seals on the thin and scattered ice pans as the group's helicopter swooped low to film the hunt.

She says the federal Fisheries Department has indicated 27 boats would be heading out, a far cry from the hundreds of boats that participated when pelt prices peaked at over $100 in 2006.

Since then, prices have plunged to about $20 with the European Union imposing a ban last year on imported seal products.

Aldworth says the sealing industry appears to be winding down, but her group won't stop its protests until the Canadian government officially bans the hunt.

Fishermen involved in the smaller hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence also reported fewer boats heading out last month, with most blaming a lack of ice cover.

The quota for the harp seal hunt this spring has been set at 400,000 animals by Fisheries. The total allowable catch for hooded seals is 8,200, some of it rolled over from last year.

The Canadian Sealers Association has predicted that an improved market would see sales hit a high of 120,000 pelts this year, roughly double last year's figure of 68,000.