Russia Bans Hunt for Young Harp Seals

"The bloody seal slaughter, the killing of the defenseless animals, which can't be even called a 'hunt,' is now prohibited in Russia as it is in most developed countries. It is a serious step towards the conservation of biodiversity in Russia," said Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Yuriy Trutnev.

Public opposition to the Russian harp seal hunt has grown over the past year. International Fund for Animal Welfare's Anna Filippova said that anti-hunting demonstrations held in 25 Russian cities and abroad have helped people gain greater understanding of the issues involved in seal hunting.

Juvenile harp seal pup (Photo by As Adversidades - Seja do Bem)

The public outcry led to mounting pressure on the Russian government to close the harp seal hunt.

Trutnev thanked nongovernmental organizations and the public for supporting the passage of the ban, saying, "NGOs actively upheld their position against this hunt, raised public awareness and by all means contributed to the passage of ban on the seal hunt in Russia."

Environmentalists were happy with the government's decision.

The end of Russia's harp seal hunt was applauded by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which has been working in Canada and throughout the world to put an end to commercial seal hunts.

"We are overwhelmingly pleased that the Russian government has finally completed its pledge to protect harp seals," said Masha Vorontsova, director of IFAW Russia.

"The time has now come for the Canadian government to follow suit and end their cruel hunt for harp seals once and for all," said Vorontsova. "These hunts are unnecessary. They are merely supporting the trade in fur used for non-essential fashion items."

"We are delighted at the adoption of this decision and would like to separately underline the important role played by the Russian Natural Resources Ministry in this cause. Thanks to their efforts this has finally taken place. Being a state structure, it greatly influenced the advancement of this process," said Filippova.

The government-subsidized Russian harp seal hunt takes place in early spring in the White Sea off the coast of Russia in an area known as the East Ice.

The Seal Conservation Society, based in Northern Ireland, says the main product of the Russian hunt has been the white fur pelts of very young seals which are dyed black for sale as hats "for which there is little demand."

Although the European Union currently maintains a ban on the importation of harp seal whitecoat products, an environmental group has found evidence that the ban is not being enforced and that whitecoat products have been entering the European Union from Russia through Norway.

"It has been reported that many people participating in the Russian hunt work in conditions of virtual slavery and are forced by their employer to take part in the hunt or lose their jobs, no alternative jobs being available," the Seal Conservation Society says. "There are two sealing concessions for the Russian hunt, sealers using helicopters to reach the seals on the ice and killing the pups by clubbing them. The number of pups killed by Russian sealers in 1999 was 34,850, all whitecoats."

Environmental groups have been trying to promote ecotourism and small business as alternatives to the Russian seal hunt.

Later this week, the world's largest seal hunt will begin off the east coast of Canada. Last year, more than 217,000 harp seals were killed, 99.8 percent of which were under three months of age. Canada does not allow the clubbing of whitecoats. Sealers must wait until the animals get their darker gray coats at about six weeks of age.

But around the world, opposition is mounting to annual seal hunts in Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, as well as Greenland, Namibia and Norway.

On March 2, a European Parliamentary committee voted to ban products derived from seals from being imported into the European Union, exported from it, or even transported through EU territory.

The full European Parliament is to vote on the ban at a April 1 plenary session in Brussels. The measure also must approved by EU governments before it can be implemented.

Harp seal pup in Canada (Photo courtesy IFAW)

On Tuesday, St. Patrick's Day, at the urging of the Irish Animal Rights Action Network, the Irish government announced its support for the total European Union trade ban on seal products from Canada and South Africa with no loopholes and no exemptions.

Seals are hunted mainly for their pelts, but also for meat and fat, which is used in beauty products.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and LUSH Cosmetics, which makes only plant-based products, today announced a new partnership to oppose Canada's commercial hunt.

To launch the campaign, in the Queen Street store in Toronto, Ontario, LUSH employee Kristi K stripped off her clothes, painted herself red and lay on a bloody Canadian flag to symbolize the thousands seals that will be killed and skinned during this year's hunt.

"As a business that cares about animals and the environment, we are ashamed that the blood continues to flow on the ice of Eastern Canada," said Mark Wolverton, North American CEO of LUSH Cosmetics. "Clubbing and shooting baby seals for their fur is cruelty to animals, plain and simple, and LUSH Cosmetics wants to see it stopped."

LUSH has created a new bubble bar in the shape of a baby seal for this campaign with Sea Shepherd. This sea-vegetable soap bar is called "First Swim" because many of the seals are slaughtered so young they have not had their first swim. One hundred percent of the proceeds of the bubble bar are going to Sea Shepherd, to support the organization's practice of placing its conservationists between the seal hunters and the seals.

The Canadian government maintains that the annual hunt is an essential part of the maritime economy and that it is humane. Patrice Simon, a biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada said today that the seals are not skinned alive. "Several independent studies by European and Canadian veterinary researchers have concluded that the seals were indeed dead when they were skinned. They may sometimes still seem alive, because they have a reflex and continue to move following death," he said.

But the Humane Society International points out that veterinarians have studied Canada’s commercial seal hunt for five decades and have consistently found high levels of suffering. "Veterinary experts say commercial seal hunting is inherently inhumane because of the remote, extreme environments in which hunts operate and the speed at which they must be conducted," the organization says. "This is a primary reason why nations around the world are taking action on behalf of their citizens to end their trade in seal products."

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