No observation permits issued for start of Canadian seal hunt
(mar. 27, 2008)
canada.com

Animal welfare activists accused the Canadian government Thursday of denying them access to the start of the seal hunt to "cover-up" the annual harvest just as the European Union is weighing a ban on the import of seal products.

The hunt was to begin half an hour before dawn Friday in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence but observers and journalists will not be able to document it because they were not issued permits by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

"The government is determined to do everything in its power to stop people from documenting what happens on the ice flows," charged Rebecca Aldworth, director of Canadian wildlife issues for the Humane Society of the United States.

"This says to the world that there is something to hide out on the ice flows off Canada's East Coast," she added.

The Department of Fisheries confirmed that it hasn't issued any permits for observers and explained it is holding off until it has a better idea of the sealing activity.

"We are not in the business of running a travel agency here and we have to make sure this is a safe and orderly hunt," said department spokesman Phil Jenkins.

He couldn't say how many permits had already been issued to sealers, but said a few vessels have left Quebec's Magdalen Island.

"We want to make sure we don't have a complete media circus above one or two or three sealing vessels," Jenkins stressed, adding the department received a record 60 permit requests to observe this year's harvest.

He said a decision will be made Friday on issuing permits to observers based on the number of sealing vessels involved in the harvest.

The Humane Society was planning on taking journalists, mostly Europeans, to the first day of hunting Friday by boat and helicopter.

Another leading opponent of the seal hunt, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), said it will attend the first day of the hunt no matter what.

"Regardless of whether we have the permits or not, we will use our helicopters to go observe the hunt tomorrow (Friday)," said Sheryl Fink, a senior researcher with the IFAW.

Aldworth said it's the first time in 10 years of documenting the seal hunt that she is not able to get permits to attend the kick off.

She blames it on the fact that the Canadian government is lobbying against a possible ban on seal products by the European Union that could come as soon as June.

A delegation of Canadian officials and hunters heads to Europe Friday to make a plea for the controversial sealing industry.

"This is a first and I think it stands out given what is happening politically in Europe," Aldworth said.

The government denied her claim and said it is only driven by safety concerns.

For this year's harvest, the government set a quota of 275,000 seal harps out of a population of nearly six million.

Canadian officials have long maintained the hunt is well-monitored and sustainable and Ottawa announced earlier this year that hunters will now have to take extra steps to ensure the seals die humanely.

But the IFAW denied that claim Thursday and said this new regulation that requires hunters to bleed seals before skinning them "only calls for bleeding to be conducted at some point, where possible".

"This is very weak and no one could really be charged under that regulation," stressed Fink.