IV 
★
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1314 
Urging the Government of Canada to end the commercial seal hunt. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 29, 2010 
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida (for himself, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Ms. BERKLEY, 
Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 
BERMAN, Mr. FARR, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. POLIS of Colo-
rado, Mr. STARK, and Mr. HARE) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Urging the Government of Canada to end the commercial 
seal hunt. 
Whereas the Government of Canada permits an annual com-
mercial hunt for seals in the waters off the east coast of 
Canada; 
Whereas Canada’s commercial seal hunt is the largest of its 
kind in the world, with an average allowable catch of 
about 300,000 harp seals; 
Whereas the Government of Canada banned the commercial 
hunting of newborn harp seals (whitecoats) and hooded 
seal pups (bluebacks) in 1987, but allows sealers to le-
gally hunt harp seal pups as soon as they begin to molt 
their white coats, at approximately 12 days of age; 
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•HRES 1314 IH1S 
Whereas 97 percent or more of the seals killed are pups be-
tween just 12 days and 12 weeks of age; 
Whereas seals are hunted for their pelts, oil, and meat; 
Whereas commercial seal hunting differs from subsistence 
seal hunting; 
Whereas several aboriginal and Inuit communities tradition-
ally subsist on seal hunting and, for that reason, are ex-
empt from restrictions applying to the commercial seal 
hunt; 
Whereas in recent years, the Minister of Fisheries and 
Oceans of Canada has authorized historically high quotas 
for harp seals; 
Whereas the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans of Canada has 
decided to increase the quota for seals for the 2010 com-
mercial seal hunt despite high pup mortality, low seal fur 
prices and reduced industry participation; 
Whereas seals are either shot or struck on the head by a 
hakapik or club; 
Whereas many seals are injured 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 in 2007, an international panel of experts in veteri-
nary medicine and zoology was invited by the Humane 
Society of the United States to observe the commercial 
seal hunt in Canada; 
Whereas the report by the panel noted a widespread failure 
by sealers to comply with the Marine Mammal Regula-
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•HRES 1314 IH1S 
tions that govern the commercial seal hunt and by au-
thorities to effectively monitor the hunt and enforce such 
regulations; 
Whereas also in 2007, the Scientific Panel on Animal Health 
and Welfare adopted the European Food Safety 
Authority’s (EFSA) Scientific Opinion; 
Whereas the report concluded that avoidable pain, distress, 
fear, and other forms of suffering occur during hunting 
and that seals may be skinned while still alive; 
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 cred-
ible scientific evidence to support this claim; 
Whereas the consensus in the international scientific commu-
nity is that culling seals will not assist in the recovery of 
fish stocks and that seals are a vital part of the North-
west Atlantic marine ecosystem; 
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 
with the remainder coming from seafood; 
Whereas a recent poll reveals that half of Newfoundland 
sealers holding an opinion support a Federal buyout of 
the commercial sealing industry which would compensate 
fishermen for their sealing licenses and invest in eco-
nomic alternatives in the communities involved; 
Whereas polling has consistently shown that the majority of 
people in Canada oppose the commercial seal hunt and 
support foreign nations’ ending their trade in seal prod-
ucts; 
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•HRES 1314 IH1S 
Whereas 11 countries have prohibited trade in seal products 
in recent years, including the United States and the Eu-
ropean Union; 
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; 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 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) urges the Government of Canada to prohibit 
its commercial hunting of seals, while allowing sub-
sistence hunting for aboriginal and Inuit commu-
nities; and 
(2) strongly encourages other countries to ban 
trade in seal products. 
Æ 
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