Decades after caving in to international pressure to cancel the East Coast seal hunt, a new Senate report is recommending the federal government implement a harvest management plan and counter what it says is ‘misinformation’ regarding the industry.The report includes revoking tax exempt status for activist groups.The Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans issued an 80-page report on Thursday that calls for — among other things — managing commercial seal populations and countering “the breadth of misinformation and disinformation that surrounds Canada’s seal harvest.”That includes amending the Income Tax Act so Canadian charities that promote “misinformation and disinformation” about the seal harvest have their tax-exempt charity status revoked..As well, it calls for a campaign to promote seal products and the removal of trade barriers that affect them — particularly in the European Union where more than 30 countries have implemented import bans on commercial seal products.The report found that one adult seal can eat 1,000 kilograms or more of fish and seafood each year and that “seals eat 22 times as much fish as is commercially harvested.”According to the report the number of grey seals has increased by 30 times since the 1960s to 366,400. The harp-seal population is estimated at 7.4 million animals. Last year only 1% of the total allowable catch was landed for the grey-seal harvest and only 7% was landed for the harp-seal harvest between 2018-2022..“The federal government, working with industry stakeholders like ourselves and indigenous rights holders, must take immediate action on these recommendations to preserve the health of Canada’s oceans and our remote and rural coastal communities,” Doug Chiasson, the executive director of the Seals and Sealing Network, said in a release.Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is responsible for licensing seal harvesters who are obligated to be trained in what it refers to as a ‘humane’ three-step killing process striking the animal on its head with a hakapik, club or firearm, checking to ensure it is dead or unconscious, and then cutting an artery and bleeding the animal out before skinning it. Since 1987, it’s been outlawed to harvest seals with white fur.The irony is the UCP government under former premier Jason Kenney launched a public inquiry to target environmental groups that campaign against the oil sector.
Decades after caving in to international pressure to cancel the East Coast seal hunt, a new Senate report is recommending the federal government implement a harvest management plan and counter what it says is ‘misinformation’ regarding the industry.The report includes revoking tax exempt status for activist groups.The Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans issued an 80-page report on Thursday that calls for — among other things — managing commercial seal populations and countering “the breadth of misinformation and disinformation that surrounds Canada’s seal harvest.”That includes amending the Income Tax Act so Canadian charities that promote “misinformation and disinformation” about the seal harvest have their tax-exempt charity status revoked..As well, it calls for a campaign to promote seal products and the removal of trade barriers that affect them — particularly in the European Union where more than 30 countries have implemented import bans on commercial seal products.The report found that one adult seal can eat 1,000 kilograms or more of fish and seafood each year and that “seals eat 22 times as much fish as is commercially harvested.”According to the report the number of grey seals has increased by 30 times since the 1960s to 366,400. The harp-seal population is estimated at 7.4 million animals. Last year only 1% of the total allowable catch was landed for the grey-seal harvest and only 7% was landed for the harp-seal harvest between 2018-2022..“The federal government, working with industry stakeholders like ourselves and indigenous rights holders, must take immediate action on these recommendations to preserve the health of Canada’s oceans and our remote and rural coastal communities,” Doug Chiasson, the executive director of the Seals and Sealing Network, said in a release.Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is responsible for licensing seal harvesters who are obligated to be trained in what it refers to as a ‘humane’ three-step killing process striking the animal on its head with a hakapik, club or firearm, checking to ensure it is dead or unconscious, and then cutting an artery and bleeding the animal out before skinning it. Since 1987, it’s been outlawed to harvest seals with white fur.The irony is the UCP government under former premier Jason Kenney launched a public inquiry to target environmental groups that campaign against the oil sector.
