The Canadian Atlantic Seal Hunt

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The Canadian Atlantic Seal Hunt
Seal Hunt Management Plan March 2006
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The Atlantic Seal Hunt An Overview

• The Canadian seal hunt takes place in and around
  the primary whelping patches off Canadas
  Atlantic Coast.
• These whelping patches occur off the northwestern
  coast of Newfoundland (commonly referred to as
  the Front) and in and around the Magdalen Islands
  and Prince Edward Island (commonly referred to as
  the Gulf).

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The Atlantic Seal Hunt An Overview

• There are six species of seals off the Atlantic
  coast of Canada (harp, hooded, grey, ringed,
  bearded and harbour). Almost all hunting is
  directed at harp seals.
• Total allowable catches (TACs) are set for harp,
  hooded and grey seals.
• There are no quotas for ringed, harbour or
  bearded seals, and relatively small numbers of
  these seals are taken as part of subsistence and
  Aboriginal hunting.
• The majority of sealing occurs between March and
  May, with the main hunt opening in the Gulf in
  late March, and on the Front in early April.
• Openings and closures ensure an orderly hunt for
  animals with prime pelts and to limit quota
  overruns.

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2006-2010 Management Plan

• A five-year approach is being introduced for the
  new Atlantic Seal Hunt Management Plan
  (2006-2010). The timeframe of the plan is
  intended to coincide with the availability of new
  survey data on harp seals.
• Our management objectives are to ensure
• conservation and sustainability
• long-term sustainable use
• humane hunting practices and
• encourage fullest possible use of hunted seals.

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2006-2010 Management Plan

• The TAC for harp seals will be established on an
  annual basis. Setting an annual TAC allows for
  more frequent adjustments to changing
  environmental conditions, and changes in harvest
  levels in Arctic Canada and Greenland. The 2006
  harp seal TAC is set at 325,000 animals.
• An additional 10,000 harp seal allowance has been
  made for new Aboriginal initiatives and the
  personal use and Arctic hunts.
• The TAC for hooded seals remains at 10,000 for
  2006 with no hunt allowed in the Gulf of St.
  Lawrence.
• A TAC of 2,100 grey seals in the Gulf of St.
  Lawrence, and 8,300 grey seals on the Scotian
  Shelf has been established for 2006.
• The hunt for whitecoats (harp seal pups) and
  bluebacks (hooded seal pups) has not been
  permitted since 1987.

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2006 Allocation Sharing

• The TAC of 975,000 in the previous three-year
  management plan was exceeded by about 10,000
  animals (1), largely due to a competitive race
  for seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2004 and
  2005.
• To improve management and control of the hunt in
  the Gulf of St. Lawrence and increase benefits to
  sealers, the Department has established regional
  allocations in the Gulf for 2006.
• This sharing arrangement is based on the
  historical participation of fleets in the Gulf,
  with a special consideration for the Quebec North
  Shore, which has seen a drastic decline in other
  available natural resources.
• These separate allocations will also enable
  sealers to set appropriate opening dates for
  their own areas.
• Even with allocations, the Department will
  continue to closely monitor daily landings and
  keep tight control with closures and measured
  re-openings to reduce the risk of quota overruns.
  

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A Sustainable Hunt

• Canadas seal population is healthy and abundant.
  The harp seal herd the most important seal herd
  for this industry is estimated at approximately
  5.8 million animals, nearly the highest level
  ever recorded, and almost triple what it was in
  the 1970s.
• Canada subscribes to the precautionary approach
  outlined in the Rio Declaration.
• A key requirement in the application of the
  precautionary approach to marine resources is
  that conservation, precautionary and target
  reference points be established as well as
  specific management actions to guide managers in
  managing the resource.
• As such, seals are managed under the
  Objective-Based Fisheries Management Approach
  (OBFM), which adopts warning reference points at
  70, 50 and 30 of the maximum observed
  population size.
• This management regime was first adopted in the
  previous management plan, and was endorsed again
  at the 2005 Seal Forum.
• Over 200 organizations from industry, government,
  aboriginal, conservation and animal rights groups
  were invited to provide their input on the
  proposed management regime.

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A Viable Hunt

• The seal hunt is an economically viable activity
  and is not subsidized by Fisheries and Oceans
  Canada.
• The commercial seal hunt in Atlantic Canada in
  2005 was the source of more than 16.5 million in
  direct revenue from the sale of product
  virtually the same as in 2004, and up from an
  estimated 13 million value in 2003.
• The seal harvest in Atlantic Canada has been
  directed at beater pelt sales (independent harp
  seals between 25 days and 13 months of age). The
  primary market is for beater pelts, which can
  fetch up to 70 each in strong markets.

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A Humane Hunt

• Numerous organizations have studied the hunting
  methods used in the Canadian seal hunt and they
  have found them to be humane.
• The hunting methods presently used were studied
  by the Royal Commission on Seals and Sealing in
  Canada and they found that the clubbing of seals,
  when properly performed is at least as humane as,
  and often more humane than, the killing methods
  used in commercial slaughterhouses, which are
  accepted by the majority of the public.
• Methods used to kill seals in Canada were found
  to be generally more humane than the shooting of
  animals for sport. The Commission also found
  that no methods of killing which have come to
  their notice, other than clubbing or shooting,
  achieve acceptable standards of humaneness.

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A Monitored Hunt

• To help ensure proper conservation, the
  Department will continue to emphasize at-sea
  surveillance, conduct dock-side checks, monitor
  quotas, and check sealers for proper licence and
  observation permits as well as ensure humane
  hunting practices, compliance with Marine Mammal
  Regulations (MMR), and the proper use of hunting
  instruments.

• This year, the Department will increase its
  monitoring and enforcement
• efforts on the sealing grounds. This will
  provide a high ratio of
• enforcement capability per active sealing
  vessel approximately
• double the capability of other fisheries in
  the area.

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What Next? The Shape of the Future Hunt

• A number of other issues such as the request for
  a blueback seal hunt, vessel registration, the
  current licence freeze and training for sealers
  will be addressed through consultations with
  industry over the coming months.
• The most important of these is the Report of the
  Independent Veterinarians Working Group (IVWG)
  on the Canadian Harp Seal Hunt.
• The IVWG was formed in May 2005 to review the
  Canadian seal hunt and contribute to the
  promotion of animal welfare, and to minimize or
  eliminate animal suffering within the context of
  the hunt. The working group formed
  recommendations based on improving the humaneness
  of the hunt, and the Department is working
  towards implementing these recommendations for
  2007 through further consultation with the IVWG
  and the industry. This will require amendments to
  the MMR.

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