Europe plans massive protest against seal hunt, from The National

"Animal welfare activists will stage demonstrations across Europe tomorrow to put pressure on the European Environment Commissioner to ban the import of Canadian seal products."

Canada's seal hunt wraps up, From ABC Online

"Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans has officially closed the last and largest phase of the seal hunt off Newfoundland and Labrador. Officials say participation for this year's hunt was low, mainly because of the high price of fuel and the low price of pelts, which were selling for about half of what they were a year ago."

Ban on spiked clubs urged in Canada seal hunt, From MSNBC

"The premiers of two Canadian territories are calling for a ban on the use of the hakapik, a spiked club used by hunters to kill harp seals."

Seal activists' ship remains in custody, from the Kingston Whig-Standard

"The federal Fisheries Department still has custody of the Farley Mowat, an anti-seal hunt ship that was seized off Cape Breton earlier this month."

  Canadian seal hunters bemoan low prices, from UPI

"Some Canadian seal hunters in Newfoundland say they aren't sure low pelt prices and high gas costs make going to sea worthwhile later this month.

"While hunting resumed Monday off New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the upcoming hunt along Newfoundland's northeastern shore isn't as appealing to seasonal fishermen, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported."

More training needed for sealers: vet, from CBC News

"New rules adopted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to ensure seals are killed humanely should be accompanied by better training for sealers, says a member of the veterinary panel that looked into the issue.

"A group of nine veterinarians from Canada, the U.S. and Europe met in August 2005 to look at ways to minimize or eliminate suffering of animals during the seal hunt. One of the recommendations was a three-step process for killing, including bleeding the animal after it has been clubbed or shot."

Reader is against the seal hunt, from the Coaster

"I am asking you at take a hard look at yourselves and your leaders. Why are you allowing a barbaric act such as the clubbing to death of baby animals in the presence of their mothers to take place in your community? Babies that have not yet had a chance to take their first swim.

"It is not going to provide you with any long lasting solutions for your life long problems: for example; high unemployment, lack of training and opportunities. Rather "clubbing" your local politicians will bring about these positive changes. If politicians started to do their job, think creatively and work, it would help you to find dignifying work and repair Canada's image."

Barbaric Blood-Letting Seal Hunt in Canada, from Life in the Fast Lane

"British reporter Danny Penman from the Daily Mail spent nearly a week in Nova Scotia, Canada, to investigate this year’s ruthless slaughter at close range as the horror unfolded.

"'The baby seal looked into the eyes of her executioner. Barely a flicker of emotion shows on the fisherman’s face as he smashes a steel-tipped club into her mouth. She lay whimpering on the ice, blood pouring from her jaw and nose.'

'But she wasn’t yet dead, so the sealer hit her in the face another 4 times before slamming a hooked “hakapik” club into her stomach and dragging her across the ice towards the ship.'"

Editorial: Canada is not so caring, from the Brantford Expositor

"The seal hunt, nearing 300,000 slaughtered babies per year for the garment industry, has increased drastically since the Conservatives took power. Most people who do this hunt are far batter off financially than many Canadian households. The hunt is not needed for the survival if the hunter. This hunt is only needed for trading purposes with Asian countries, soon to be the only countries that will allow any seal part into their lands, as we are one of the few remaining countries to allow dog and cat furs into our homes."

Mourners gather in small town to remember sealers, from CTV

"Mourners gathered Friday as the bodies of three sealers, who perished at sea last weekend, were carried into the town hall of Cap-Aux-Meules, a small community located in Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Que.

"A fourth sealer is still missing and presumed dead after the victims' fishing vessel, the L'Acadien II, capsized during a rescue operation by the Canadian Coast Guard last Saturday off the coast of Cape Breton."

Stop the Seal Hunt, Kerry McCarthy, Labour Member of Parliament for Bristol East

"Have just been doing a bit of research on the Canadian seal hunt (yes, I know - a fun way to spend a Saturday night!). For some good info, see here: www.stopthesealhunt.com"

Also found this IFAW press release, which tells us that in Canada seals are classed as fish, rather than as sentient marine mammals that can experience pain, fear and suffering - which I thought was interesting (not to mention highly convenient!)"

Canadian Seal Killers Said to be Breaking New Law, Critter News

"Well, that didn't take long. The Canadian government's new requirement that hunted seals be actually dead before they skin them is already being ignored."

Ice Blocking Canada's Seal Hunt, Blue Marble Blog (Mother Jones)

"Good news. Thick ice is slowing sealing boats from reaching the baby harp seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, reports Planet Ark. Consequently, only three pups out of a quota of 275,000 were killed the first day. This after last year's "hunt" was affected by a lack of ice. The Canadian government has promised the slaughter will be more humane this year. How? After a hunter shoots or clubs a seal, he now must check its eyes to ensure it is dead, and if not, the animal's main arteries must be cut.

"Okay, let's get clear about this. That does not qualify as humane."

Harp seal hunt is barbaric, travel writer Ian Middleton

"I am absolutely disgusted by the cruelty of Canada’s commercial baby harp seal hunt. As you are aware over the next few weeks, more than a quarter of a million seals will be killed for unnecessary fur products. Nearly all of these seals will be less than three months old. Many will suffer painful and lingering deaths. This is unacceptable cruelty and the UK and Europe’s role in the trade in seal products is allowing this to happen."

Brussels mulls action on “inhumane” Canadian seal killings, the European Weekly

"The European Union is contemplating action against the alleged culling of young seals by Canada, the spokeswoman for Stavros Dimas, European environmental commissioner told journalists last week."

Canadians to fight proposed EU sealing ban, the Montreal Gazette

"A Canadian lobby group that includes Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik will be in London Monday to begin a week-long bid to fight against a threatened European Union seal hunt ban."

Sealers 'breaking humane law,'' the New Zealand Herald

"Animal rights activists have claimed that sealers were not totally complying with a new rule designed to make their hunt more humane on the ice off the Gulf of St Lawrence.

...

"'We've just filmed four seals being killed and not a single one was bled out before moving it,' said Sheryl Fink, a hunt observer with IFAW."

In photos: 'Canada Seal Hunt,' Monsters and Critics

"Photo released 30 March 2008 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) showing a hunter as he clubs a harp seal pup on the opening day of Canada's 2008 commercial seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence 28 March 2008 . This seal was struck by the hunter and wounded before it escaped into the water. This is known as seal that has been struck and lost."

Survey: Should Canada End the Seal Hunt?, Treehugger

"That great Canadian tradition, the seal hunt, has started; 325,000 will die in the next few weeks. Many are against it; the Prime Minister says Canada was victim of an "international propaganda campaign," and insisted the cull would be carried out humanely."

Hunters go in for the kill, from the Sunday Express

"A day’s work begins on the ice as a hunter slowly, deliberately raises his evil, spiked club.

"Seconds later, it crashes down on the skull of a seal pup  as the latest sickening slaughter started yesterday.

"The defenceless victim was the first of 275,000 pups, most of them under three months old. 

"They are due to die in a frenzy of bloodletting off eastern Canada over the next few weeks in the largest massacre of marine mammals in the world."

Seal hunt causes annual controversy, from the Montreal Gazette

"Britain's Press Association, the country's respected national wire service, said the federal government has been particularly reluctant this year to give out permits allowing international observers and journalists to go on sealing boats. A fisheries and oceans official told the Press Association that Canada's doesn't intend on running a travel agency for the observers and journalists."

Welcome to Canada!, from Pravda

"As opposition to this barbaric practice, which sullies the international image of Canada, grows both inside the country and in the international community, a number of nations are putting their money where their mouth is, introducing legislation to ban seal products. Among these nations this year are Germany, Italy and Austria, which join the U.S.A, Mexico, Croatia, Belgium, The Netherlands and Slovenia, which already have bans on importing seal products.

"The European Union is considering a ban on seal products, in addition to the ban on white seal pelts introduced in 1983. Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is “looking into” the inhumane practice of killing baby seals and will deliver his report later this year. However, to date EU legislation is half-hearted: while the number of seals authorised to be slaughtered rises from 270.000 to 275.000, the European Union recommends that the animals are dead before they are skinned."

Sealing begins in St. Lawrence, from The Globe and Mail

"The seal hunt opened yesterday with activists and journalists complaining they were prevented from witnessing the action because of foot-dragging by officials.

"...Yesterday, federal fisheries officials waited half a day before issuing observer permits to activists and journalists, handing them out after noon, when the weather made flying in helicopters almost impossible.

"One group of activists with the International Fund for Animal Welfare managed to fly out to film some scenes of the hunt's opening day. But journalists from several major international and European news organizations, and representatives of the Humane Society of the United States, were unable to make it to the ice floes."

Seal slaughter 'censored by Canada', from The Press Association (UK)

"Canada's annual commercial seal hunt has got under way amid claims animal welfare groups and media were being prevented from monitoring the killing.

"The Canadian government has set a quota allowing hunters to shoot and club to death 275,000 seals, and has said new regulations will make the hunt more humane.

"But the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) said representatives waiting for permits to monitor what was happening on the ice had been told that none would be issued until the hunt had started.

"Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans had also refused to hand out permits to members of the media until the hunt was under way, Ifaw said."

Activists dispute new rules make seal hunt humane, from CTV News

"The International Fund for Animal Welfare said Thursday that a new regulation that requires hunters to bleed seals before skinning them 'makes no real changes to the way seals can be killed.'

"Under new federal regulations, hunters will be required to sever the arteries under each flipper, thereby ensuring the animals are dead before being skinned.

"But Sheryl Fink, a senior IFAW researcher, said the new regulations call only for 'bleeding to be conducted at some point.'

"'Now that I have seen the actual text of the new condition of licence, I'm left speechless by its inadequacy,' Fink said in a release."

The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) released the total allowable catch (or TAC) of seals today. 

The number of seal pups Fisheries officials decided it was reasonable to kill is 275,000 harp seal pups, known as beaters...seals whose coats have just started to progress past the white coat stage...and the majority of which will be between 3 weeks and 3 months of age...The International Fund for Animal Welfare issued a press release calling the decision 'appalling'.  You can read the complete release here.

We will keep you updated via this, the IFAW seal hunt blog at blog.stopthesealhunt.com about our plans to let the world see the cruelty of this unnecessary commercial hunt. 

Please spread the word about this cause and tell friends to subscribe to this feed.  Thank you.

Submitted by J.C. Bouvier - IFAW Online Campaigns Staff

Hi all -

I'm happy to post our first 'Seal News Podcast'...stay tuned for regular weekly episodes...and please send any feedback to me directly.  jc bouvier [at] ifaw [dot] org.  Thanks and enjoy!

Download ifaw_seals_news_8_22_07.mp3

The hunt, which resumed this month, targets Cape fur seal bulls and pups. The number of seals to be culled in Namibia has been set at 6,000 bulls and 80,000 pups between July and November 2007.

“It is time for the Namibian government to stop the unjustified culling of Cape fur seals,” said Jason Bell-Leask, Director of IFAW Southern Africa.

Read IFAW's full statement here...

AP Photo.

Fifteen rehabilitated harp seals were recently released back into the wild by Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut.  The seals had been taken to Mystic in April after their original home, the Marine Animal Lifeline facility in Maine, was closed by the National Fisheries Service.  The seals had been treated for a variety of random ailments, such as parasites, and and are now swimming north towards the cooler waters they're used to.  Six seals remain in rehabilitation, but will hopefully be released soon.

Read the full story:  Aquarium releases seals back into water

The South Florida paper, the Sun-Sentinel posted this last report about a bearded Arctic seal, hundreds of miles from where it should have been found...which swam into the Tarpon River in Florida two days ago...was then chased for hours by local officals and Sea World vetinary team members...and then after subsequent capture and attemps at rehydration...died while these same teams were trying to rehabilitate the lost creature.

Speculation about why the seal was so far from home turned from the reasoning of potential strange currents, or the chase of a mating partner to the broader question of Global Climate Change.

Could it be that the changes to the worlds temperature and rising seas are throwing these marine mammals off course?  The autopsy is under way...so hopefully some answers will be forthcoming shortly...but quite a question to ask...

So the 2007 Canadian seal hunt may not take place in the southern Gulf...this story in the Canadian Guardian reports the following:

Canadian Press

CHARLOTTETOWN (CP) - Fisheries officials are urging seal hunters to be patient as they decide whether there are enough seals and ice in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence for a hunt this year.

Fisheries Department spokesman Phil Jenkins says the ice is poor in the southern Gulf around the Magdalen Islands and there's a higher-than-normal mortality of seal pups.

He says it's not certain a hunt can take place this year in the southern Gulf, which is the area that traditionally gives rise to the most controversy because it is accessible to observers and seal hunt protesters.

Click here for the full story.

At the same time, one of our staffers received this note...

Dear IFAW co-workers,

This letter is directed to the people who will leave to Canada this year to capture the seal slaughtering on camera. I hope these words will reach them. I can’t even image how horrible it must be to see the slaughtering in real; I get tears in my eyes when I only think about it. However; it is very important to use video material to confront people with the facts of life. Filming these is a job for animal lovers, but yet for them the hardest. Therefore I want to express my gratitude to you by means of this letter. I wish you all the strength on this difficult trip. Let’s pray that this cruelty to seals will soon be finally over!

--

Well looks like we may not have to this year...but you never know, these predictions turn on a dime...stay tuned!

So...this is J.C. Bouvier, IFAW's Online Community Coordinator,...I'm about to host an informative event in Second Life, which (although I didn't realize it at the time) is the offical launch of our seal campaign for 2007. 

Check out our space on Progressive Island.  128, 144, 25

Many things surrounding the Canadian seal hunt will be talked about, debated, and viewed over the next few weeks...but what strikes me as most important as we get into it...is the importance of civility in the conversation...the respect for the views of all sides and the willingness to understand why someone would make certain choices they believe to be correct.

I'm looking forward to travelling to Canada, to having these discussions and to making as much of IFAW's collective experience available to everyone with an Internet connection...and who don't get a chance to experience these on the ground campaigns first hand.

Anyway, I better eat something or my Daisey Meadowbrook (IFAW's SL avatar) will pass out cold during the preso! ;)