Here are tips to help you fight Canada's seal hunt by boycotting Canadian seafood. If you have suggestions that you'd like to share with us, send them to protect-seals@hsus.org.

Read the Label

Under the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) law, larger grocery chains and seafood distributors must identify seafood—whether fresh, frozen, or canned—by country of origin. When shopping at these places, you can clearly identify Canadian seafood products.

Talk to the Manager

Small stores and fish markets are not required to display the country of origin for the seafood they sell, but they may voluntarily do so. In situations where the country of origin is not identified, ask the manager.

Talk to the Waiter

Restaurants are also not required to identify the country of origin for the seafood products they sell, but many voluntarily do so. In situations where it is not identified, ask the waiter. Some restaurants have already joined the boycott.

Explain Why

Whenever you decide not to purchase Canadian seafood, explain that you are doing so in protest of Canada's seal hunt, and ask the store, market, or restaurant manager or owner to join you.

Let Canada Know

Please tell Canada's Minister of International Trade, David Emerson, that you are choosing to boycott Canadian seafood products until the commercial seal hunt is ended for good.

Sign the Pledge and Ask Others to Follow

Join our Protect Seals campaign by signing our pledge to stop purchasing Canadian seafood until the hunt has ended for good. Then ask your friends and coworkers to sign it as well. Finally, please ask your local restaurants and grocery stores, and encourage them to join our campaign. By pledging NOT to sell Canadian seafood products, compassionate companies will help us pressure Canada's fishing industry to put a final end to the commercial seal hunt.  

Twenty Common Seafood Imports from Canada*

Cod, flounder, haddock, herring, lobster, mackerel, mussels, oysters, perch, sardines, scallops, shrimp, snow crabs (85% of snow crabs sold in the United States are from Canada), sole, tuna, swordfish, trout, whitefish, and yellow perch.

*Note: The United States produces many of these seafood products itself and also imports some of them from countries other than Canada. So it is important to make sure, either through the label or by asking the manager, that the seafood product you are choosing not to buy really does come from Canada.