More than 2 million seals have been killed in the last 10 years. Most of these animals were just days or weeks old, and forced to endure incomprehensible cruelty. The last time this many seals were killed, the harp seal population was reduced by as much as two thirds within a decade.

Independent scientists have warned that reckless kill levels authorized by the Canadian government, paired with the impacts of climate change on the ice dependent harp seals, poses a serious threat to the survival of harp seal populations. In 2010, the sea ice simply didn't form in key seal birthing areas. For ice breeding harp seals, it is a disaster. When the sea ice doesn't form, many mothers are often forced to abort their pups in the water. When the ice that does form is too thin and fragile, pups are forced into the open water before they are old enough to survive there.

The harp seals' sea ice habitat is literally melting from under them.

The hunt is opposed by the overwhelming majority of people in Canada and around the world, and governments are increasingly taking action on behalf of their citizens. In 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a unanimous resolution calling on the Canadian government to end the commercial seal hunt. Last year the European Union voted to prohibit trade in seal products and Russia announced a complete ban on the slaughter of seals younger than 1 year old. In the United States, a boycott of Canadian seafood products that will continue until the seal hunt is ended has gained the support of more than 5,000 establishments and 600,000 individuals, costing the Canadian economy many times the value of the commercial seal hunt.

Round-up of the 2013 Season

The 2013 commercial seal hunt off the Newfoundland coast in Canada has finally come to an end with over 800 hunters taking the lives of more than 80,000 harp seals for their fur, with most of them less than 3 months old. According to the Seals and Sealing Network, the industry was aiming to “harvest” 100,000 seals this year, but the total allowable catch was never released by the Canadian government prior to the opening of the hunt. In 2012 around 680 sealers took part in the hunt and killed more than 70,000 seals – their quota was 400,000. The previous year saw the brutal killing of 38,000 harp seals, less than 10 per cent of the total allowable catch. Click the links below to learn more about the background of the Canadian Seal Hunt and find out how you can help put an end this cruel trade.