AR-News: (Canada) Sealers enjoy outstanding year

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Source:  Pioneer-Journal, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Wednesday, June 9, 2004
Sealers enjoy outstanding year  
JIM BROWN


 


CHARLOTTETOWN -- The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) had some good news to report about the spring seal hunt in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and off the eastern coast of Newfoundland. In an interview earlier this week Roger Simon, DFO area director for the Magdalen Islands, called this hunt one of the most productive and lucrative in years. By all accounts, the hunt was extremely well managed, he added.

Sealers were able to harvest 352,000 harp seals, only 2,000 above the 350,000 quota for the spring. That's an impressive statistic, since it's almost unheard of for the final haul to come within 0.3 per cent of the quota, explained Simon.

Newfoundland and Magdalen Island fishers made up the bulk of the sealers during the season, held in three areas of the Atlantic region and running during March, April and May, depending on the area.

More than 125 vessels and their crews were involved in the hunt this spring, with 75 of the boats crewed by Newfoundland fishers.

Simon says sealers were able to command good prices for their pelts, with prices ranging from $35 to $55, with an average of $45 (preliminary estimates) per pelt.

The DFO official said the ice was sturdy enough to allow sealers to reach clusters of seal pups without too much difficulty.

The pack ice was almost ideal for sealing operations, since it wasn't heavy enough to impede vessels, said Simon.

"It was perfect ice for sealers...just right for the boats," he said.

Simon says final figures aren't available yet, but at an average of $45 a pelt, he estimates the seal hunt generated in excess of $14 million for the industry.

There has been a robust worldwide demand for seal pelts that shows little sign of abating. 

Simon stressed a slight 'overrun' on the quota wouldn't make much of a difference in seal populations. Many thousands of seal pups die on the ice from a variety of natural causes ever year, he said.

The harp seal population has grown dramatically over the past several years, to more than 5.2 million and many fishers have raised concerns about seals feeding voraciously on lobster, cod and other commercially valuable species.

At 350,000 seals a year the annual hunt could easily be sustained for the next 10 years without causing population declines, said Simon.

This spring was the second year of a three-year plan, in which a total of 975,000 seals were to be harvested.

Only two years ago the quota was 275,000 seals.

Simon says a total of 56 activists and media representatives were given permission by the DFO to observe the hunt from a distance of 10 metres, down from 15 metres the year before.

The experience this year has been a good one, said Simon, with few confirmed instances of inhumane harvesting, though there were complaints brought forward by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). 

The IFAW remains the only animal rights group monitoring the hunt, Simon said.

Simon confirmed receipt of tape and other documentation from IFAW reps who claimed to have witnessed abuses on the ice, including failure to apply the blink reflex test on clubbed carcasses.

"These complaints are under investigation," he said.

The blink reflex test, which involves touching a finger to a seal pup's eyeball to check for life signs, wasn't performed in a number of cases, according to the IFAW. Simon says there could have been some confusion among sealers this year, since it is the first year the test was to be applied. 

He estimates up to 95 per cent of seal pups, clubbed or shot, were killed humanely, with a minimum of pain and suffering.

The figure is based on a study from Canadian veterinarians conducted three years ago.

Critics argue the study is flawed because sealers modify their behaviour when they are being observed, usually from a distance.