Opinion ID: 348720
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Humane Manner

Text: 49 Appellants' third contention is that the Government's decision to waive the moratorium is illegal in that it allows importation of seals taken in an inhumane manner, in violation of Section 102(b)(4) of the Act. 61 Humane is defined to mean that method of taking which involves the least possible degree of pain and suffering practicable to the mammal involved. 62 50 The parties agree that the most humane method of killing is the so-called stun and stick method. The method involves three stages: (1) the roundup drive; (2) clubbing the animal so as to render it unconscious; and (3) severing the great arteries or heart with a knife to kill the animal quickly. The parties also agree that this is the method used in South Africa, but appellants claim that it is not properly put into practice there. Appellants contend that humaneness requires that each seal be rendered instantly and permanently unconscious by a single blow. They cite testimony that in South Africa as many as 40 percent of the seals required a second blow. They also allege that practices at harvests where no observers are present can be presumed to be worse than those observed by the witnesses. 51 Unlike appellants' claims regarding age and nursing, which involved questions of statutory interpretation, their humaneness contention involves only a finding of fact. The Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service made a determination on the administrative record that the South African harvest was conducted in a humane manner. Our role in reviewing this finding is limited; we can reject it only if it is not supported by substantial evidence. 63 While we might agree that South Africa's record of stunning seals with a single blow could certainly be improved, 64 we cannot say that the Director's finding is not supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole. There was expert testimony that multiple blows were not necessarily inhumane, provided they were delivered within a minimal period of time. Two out of three observers concluded that the harvest they observed was, overall, humane. And the record before us provides no solid support for appellants' speculation that other harvests were undoubtedly worse. Therefore, we affirm the Director's finding on this point.