HarpSeals.org
March 2013
Seal hunt on last legs with another slaughter cancelled, says anti-sealing group
The Canadian Press
February 27, 2013
SYDNEY, N.S. - An anti-sealing organization (HarpSeals.org) says the cancellation of the annual hunt on Hay Island off Cape Breton is another sign the commercial industry is dying.
Bridget Curran, director of the Atlantic Canadian Anti-Sealing Coalition, says international markets for seal products are shrinking.
Curran says she's delighted by news that a group of seal hunters in Cape Breton have decided against venturing out this year.
Robert Courtney, a spokesman for the hunters, says the hunt has been suspended because there is no market for the pelts.
It's the second year in a row the hunt for grey seals on Hay Island has been called off.
The hunt usually takes in a few hundred seals every spring.
From Cape Breton, Nova Scotia newspaper:
A group of Cape Breton seal hunters say they've
decided to call off the annual slaughter on Hay Island.
Spokesman Robert Courtney says the hunt has been suspended because there is
no market for the pelts.
The annual hunt for grey seals usually takes in a few hundred seals every
spring.
Hay Island is a small spit of land that is part of the Scatarie Island
wilderness protected area, near Main-a-Dieu.
The sealers did not go to Hay Island last year, either.
Governments around the world have been closing their borders to seal
products, including the Russian Federation — once one of the world's largest
markets for Canadian seal products.