End the Canadian seal hunt campaign
Aim of Campaign
To pressure the Canadian Government to stop the massive annual seal hunt by banning all seal imports in the European Union.
Background Information
Canada’s Shame!
Every year the Canadian Government sanctions the brutal slaughter of around 300,000 seal pups. Harp and hooded seals are blamed for the crash in cod stocks caused by commercial over-fishing in the 1970s. Despite decades of slaughter, there has been no recovery in cod stocks and the seal hunt has become a massive, obscene industry in its own right.
In 1982, the European Union banned the import of ‘whitecoat’ seal pup pelts. However, the hunters now simply wait a few more days for the pups to moult their white fur before killing them. The Canadian seal hunt has doubled in size since the eighties when mass protests took place on the ice floes of the Canadian Arctic.
The young seals are clubbed by hunters in front of their mothers and then skinned, in many cases still alive.
SPAG believes that revenues from wildlife tourism can and often does outweigh revenue from commercial sealing. The Canadian seal hunt is heavily subsidised by the Canadian government.
Canadian seal products in Europe
A range of Canadian seal products enter European countries including the UK. Products include seal skin sporrans, coats and seal oil that is used as a health supplement.
SPAG is fighting for a European import ban on all seal products to help bring an end to this cruel atrocity. In 2007 SPAG funded and supported the production of a lobby DVD on the Canadian Seal hunt that was sent to all Euro MP’s.
We are delighted to say that as a result of the campaign the European Parliament overwhelmingly backed a ban on seal imports.
However the European Commission is now investigating whether killing methods are humane, which of course they are not. We intend to continue our work until a total ban on seal imports is secured.
Take action
Listed below are two simple actions you can take to help our campaign:
1) Write to Canadian Ambassador
Please write to the Canadian Ambassador in your country and pledge to boycott Canada and all Canadian seafood products until sealing is ended. In the UK the address is:
Canadian High Commission, Macdonald House, 1 Grosvenor Square, London, W1X 0AB
2) Write to UK Prime Minister
Please also write to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanding that the UK introduces a unilateral ban on the import of all seal products as have EU partners Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands:
Rt Hon.Gordon Brown MP, Prime Minister, Downing Street, London, SWIA 2AA
If possible please forward copies of your letters including any responses to SPAG, PO Box Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 5BZ or use our contact form to contact us.
Thank you, we will be providing updates about the campaign in the SPAG Blog and News section on this website.
