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      MORE >Last Updated: Monday, 12 April, 2004, 11:39 GMT 12:39 UK  

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            Canada set for mass seal hunting

                   
                  Previous seal hunts have provoked international outrage
            The largest single seal hunt in half a century begins in Canada on 
            Monday. 
            The government is allowing more than 300,000 seals to be killed this 
            year, many of them in a 36-hour mass cull. 
            The hunting of young seals for their fur almost stopped off Canada's 
            east coast 25 years ago in the face of international outrage. 
            Animal rights groups are hoping to sway international opinion 
            against the hunt, but Canadian officials say it is now both humane 
            and necessary. 
            The seal hunt in Newfoundland and Labrador withered 25 years ago as 
            brutal images of men clubbing infant seals horrified the world. 
                  THE CULL 
                  Up to 350,000 baby harp seals to be killed this season 
                  Preliminary culls started at the beginning of April 
                  2,500 men and 150 trawlers to gather for intensive 36-hour 
                  phase of cull on 12 April 
                  Up to 10,000 seals to be killed per daylight hour 
                  Killing of "whitecoat" seals - aged up to 12 days - banned 


                  Canada's seal cull: Your comments 
            The US banned imports of seal products in 1972 and the EU followed 
            suit a decade later with a ban on white pelt imports, taken from the 
            youngest babies. 
            As a result, the Canadian government reduced quotas for seal hunting 
            to as low as 15,000 annually - mainly for meat and local handicraft. 

            But with fur again in fashion the hunt is back. 
            Last year Canada increased the quotas again, allowing a million 
            seals to be killed over the next three years. 
            It is now being conducted under tighter regulations and most seals 
            are now shot, not clubbed, but the number of animals expected to be 
            taken this year will be the highest in decades and once again it is 
            drawing international attention. 
            Hard to convince 
            At the weekend, Canadian Natural Resources Minister John Efford said 
            many claims made overseas about the hunt are simply wrong. 
            He says the hunt is more humane than ever while the seal population 
            is exploding and commercial fish stocks in the region are vanishing. 

            But the BBC's Ian Gunn in Vancouver, Canada, says against images of 
            dying seals that can be a hard argument to make convincing. 
            The Canadian tourism commission admitted last week they are keeping 
            an eye open for an international backlash should the protests gather 
            strength. 
            Officials estimate there are 5.2 million harp seals in the north 
            Atlantic currently. 
            Guidelines 'ignored' 
            Far from being endangered, the seals are responsible for the 
            depletion of cod stocks, they say. 
                   
                  Society girl Paris Hilton joins the campaign
            Animal rights groups accuse officials of "attempting to scapegoat 
            seals" for their own fisheries mismanagement. 
            The International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) also says 
            government guidelines on humane hunting methods are being ignored. 
            "We filmed and witnessed seals being skinned alive right in front of 
            us," Ifaw activist Rebecca Aldworth told Reuters news agency last 
            week. 
            "We saw live seals being dragged while conscious across the ice with 
            boat hooks, we saw stockpiles of dead and dying seals, it was really 
            horrific." 
            Another group, the US-based Humane Society, is taking full-page 
            adverts in prominent American newspapers to urge for a travel 
            boycott on Canada. 
            They also designed shirts reading "Club Sandwiches Not Seals". 



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            SEE ALSO: 
            Activists blast Canada seal hunt 
            07 Apr 04  |  Americas 
            Norway suggests tourist seal hunts 
            07 Nov 01  |  Business 
            Clubbing 'cruelty' on camera 
            20 Apr 98  |  Americas 
            Russian 'ice expedition' to save seals 
            18 Apr 01  |  Media reports 



            RELATED INTERNET LINKS: 
            Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans 
            International Fund for Animal Welfare 
            Humane Society 
            The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet 
            sites 


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