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| The HSUS |
An adult seal spotted in the Gulf. Few pups
survived poor ice in the southern Gulf. |
by Loren Drummond
Journalists, scientists and observers including The HSUS, are positioned along the eastern rim of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to document Canada's annual commercial seal hunt, the first phase of which starts tomorrow morning in the southern Gulf.
The annual slaughter has attracted worldwide scrutiny and condemnation. This year, the Canadian government has estimated that more than 90 percent of the seal pups born in the southern Gulf may have already died due to catastrophic ice conditions. The seals who have survived on small pans of remaining ice will be the targets of sealers in the southern Gulf.
Observers, however, were stymied in attempts to document the killing of these few, surviving seals when the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced yesterday that it would refuse to issue observation permits for all journalists and others who wished to view the slaughter in the southern Gulf. The agency claimed that there will not be enough sealing boats in the area to warrant attention.
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| Reprinted from www.lib.utexas.edu. |
| The Gulf of St. Lawrence. Click map for wider view. |
"We all feel so frustrated." Rebecca Aldworth, who is returning with The HSUS to document the hunt for a ninth year, said. "The Canadian seal hunt occurs in a public space, and observation of this activity is a right guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms—not an arbitrary privilege to be granted by a federal government department."
The Department of Fisheries say they will issue permits to observers for the start of the slaughter in the northern Gulf on April 4. There are reports that sealing vessels have already begun departing towards the north, where Aldworth says she has seen better ice, but still not the tens of thousands of seals that should be there this time of year.
