Walrus ivory and skins were shipped from the island in large quantities, but it is not clear if seal skins were also included. There can be little doubt that the icebreeding seals were exploited in similar fashion by the early settlers around the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Evidence from Indian middens has turned up various seal bones, including those of grey seals, from Labrador to Cape Cod. In Europe and the Baltic, grey seals were being exploited in similar fashion. The discovery of kerosene marked the end of marine mammals as a source of oil for fuel, although the seal fat continued to be a valuable item for production of food, primarily margarine.
Most grey seals killed today are the result of various government control programs.
These programs are designed to control the expansion of grey seal numbers and range in an attempt to reduce seal damage to fixed fishing gear and the number of parasites in food fish. Historically, the number of grey seals has been held in check by a variety of circumstances. The most effective of these appears to have been the bounty on harbour seals, which originally called for the submission of the seal's snout as evidence of destruction. In 1949 the regulations were changed and fishermen were required to submit the lower jaw, instead of the snout as evidence of destruction. Since the jaws from the two species are readily identifiable, this change essentially eliminated the kill of grey seals from the harbour seal bounty.