III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 84 

Urging the Government of Canada to end the commercial seal hunt. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 24, 2009 

Mr. LEVIN (for himself and Ms. COLLINS) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the Government of Canada to end the commercial 

seal hunt. 

Whereas the Government of Canada permits an annual commercial hunt for seals in the waters off the east coast of 

Canada; 

Whereas an international outcry regarding the plight of the 

seals hunted in Canada resulted in the 1983 ban by the 

European Union of whitecoat and blueback seal skins 

and the subsequent collapse of the commercial seal hunt 

in Canada; 

Whereas the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 

U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) bars the import into the United 

States of any seal products; 


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•SRES 84 IS 

Whereas, in recent years, the Minister of Fisheries and 

Oceans of Canada has authorized historically high quotas 

for harp seals; 

Whereas more than 1,000,000 seals have been killed during 

the past 4 years; 

Whereas harp seal pups can legally be hunted in Canada as 

soon as they have begun to molt their white coats, at approximately 12 days of age; 

Whereas 97 percent of the seals killed are pups between just 

12 days and 12 weeks of age; 

Whereas, in 2007, an international panel of experts in veterinary medicine and zoology was invited by the Humane 

Society of the United States to observe the commercial 

seal slaughter in Canada; 

Whereas the report by the panel noted that sealers failed to 

comply with sealing regulations in Canada and that officials of the Government of Canada failed to enforce such 

regulations; 

Whereas the report also concluded that the killing methods 

permitted during the commercial seal hunt in Canada are 

inherently inhumane and should be prohibited; 

Whereas many seals are shot in the course of the hunt and 

escape beneath the ice where they die slowly and are 

never recovered; 

Whereas such seals are not properly counted in official kill 

statistics, increasing the likelihood that the actual kill 

level is far higher than the level that is reported; 

Whereas the few thousand fishermen who participate in the 

commercial seal hunt in Canada earn, on average, only 

a tiny fraction of their annual income from killing seals; 


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•SRES 84 IS 

Whereas members of the fishing and sealing industries in 

Canada continue to justify the seal hunt on the grounds 

that the seals in the Northwest Atlantic are preventing 

the recovery of cod stocks, despite the lack of any credible scientific evidence to support this claim; 

Whereas the consensus in the international scientific community is that culling seals will not assist in the recovery of 

fish stocks and that seals are a vital part of the fragile 

marine ecosystem of the Northwest Atlantic; 

Whereas polling consistently shows that the overwhelming 

majority of people in Canada oppose the commercial seal 

hunt; 

Whereas the vast majority of seal products are exported from 

Canada, and the sealing industry relies on international 

markets for its products; 

Whereas 10 countries have prohibited trade in seal products 

in recent years, and the European Union is now considering a prohibition on trade in seal products; and 

Whereas the persistence of this cruel and needless commercial 

hunt is inconsistent with the well-earned international 

reputation of Canada: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) urges the Government of Canada to prohibit 

3 the commercial hunting of seals; and 

4 (2) strongly supports an unconditional prohibi5 tion by the European Union on trade in seal prod6 ucts. 

Æ 


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