The Humane Society of the United States took out a full page ad in the Monday, June 16 edition of the New York Times calling for a tourism boycott of Canada until that country agrees to lower its seal hunt quota.
The Canadian government recently announced that it would raise the quota of harp seals that can be killed to 975,000 over the next three years, with a maximum of 350,000 in any year. In 1970, there were only 1.8 million harp seals in the North Atlantic, but today estimates put the harp seal population at 5.2 million.
The ad criticized seal hunters for clubbing baby seals, but Steve Outhouse of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans told the CBC that, in fact, most seal hunters use rifles to kill the animals.
Outhouse also disagreed with HSUS’ contention that the increase in the quota was driven solely by pressure from fisherman who believe seals are responsible for a decline in fish stocks. Noting the near tripling of the harp seal population since 1970, Outhouse told the CBC,
This is clearly a species that is doing well, it’s thriving, it’s growing in numbers. With an international demand, the market forces are calling for more seal products to be on the market.
Outhouse also disputed HSUS’ claim that the Canadian government was subsidizing the seal hunt.
Source:
Ottawa says seal protesters need better facts. CBC News, June 16, 2003.