The ban will be implemented in 2010 and will help save hundreds of thousands of seals that are brutally clubbed, shot and often skinned alive each year in Canada and around the world.

“The European ban is a massive blow to the seal killers that profit from horrific cruelty to defenceless animals”, said Andy Ottaway, Campaign Director of SPAG, “However, seals are still being persecuted all over the world including in Scotland and we will continue to actively campaign to provide them with the full protection they deserve.”

It is estimated that thousands of seals are killed each year by the Scottish salmon industry with scientists recently reporting a ‘frightening decline’ in common seals around the UK coast. The Scottish Government has recently suggested that this decline may be due to competition with grey seals or even predation by orcas (killer whales) however these statements lack scientific credibility. 

On 30th April the Scottish Government launched its draft Marine Bill announcing a licensing system for killing seals and salmon farms, salmon netsmen and sea fisheries will be able to apply for a license to shoot seals. The Seal Protection Action Group welcomes stronger legislation to protect Scotland’s marine environment, but we do not believe that a licensing system for killing seals is desirable, realistic or enforceable.

“European nations have voted by public demand to protect seals from cruelty yet Scotland continues to persecute these wonderful animals”, said Andy Ottaway, “Seal killing leaves an indelible stain on the international image of both Scotland and Scottish salmon products and must be stopped.”

We are calling on members of the public to avoid Scottish salmon unless their retailer can guarantee that producers do not shoot seals. Please show your support by signing our ‘Save Scotland’s Seals’ pledge.

You can also help SPAG to protect seals by:

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called the hunt a “bloody industry” and said “it is clear that our hunt should have been banned a long time ago.”

Yury Trutnyev, Russia’s Natural Resources Minister has called seal hunting “one of the most inhumane types of hunting in the world, which is banned in the vast majority of developed states.”
SPAG is campaigning to end the commercial slaughter of seals worldwide and is calling for a comprehensive ban on trade in all seal products within the European Union.

Earlier this month, an influential EU committee voted in favour of a ban on trade and rejected proposals for a labelling scheme that would have allowed trade to continue.

However, as Russia is a major importer of Canadian seal pelts, SPAG is calling on President Putin to also ban imports of seal products. If he does, this would be another huge blow to the Canadian sealers and help put a final end to the hunt of 300,000 seals a year in Canada, the world’s largest slaughter of marine mammals.

“This is fantastic news and yet another massive blow to the global sealing industry that profits from the appalling suffering inflicted upon these defenceless creatures worldwide” said Andy Ottaway, Campaign Director of SPAG, “however, there is much more needs to be done to protect all seals from cruel slaughter and we are determined to do so.”

The world’s second largest large seal hunt takes place in Namibia, seal hunts also take place in Norway, Greenland and the UK.

In the UK, an estimated 5,000 seals are deliberately killed in Scottish waters alone each year, by salmon farming and angling interests. Recently scientists reported a ‘frightening’ decline in the number of common seals around the UK coast.

SPAG is calling on the Scottish and UK Governments to create effective legislation to provide seals with the full protection they deserve. Please click here for further details about our ‘Saving Scotland’s Seals campaign and how you can help.

Please help SPAG to protect seals by:

The Seal Protection Action Group (SPAG) is delighted with this decision. SPAG has been actively campaigning for the ban, and we lobbied key Committee members before the vote urging them to support a complete ban and to reject a proposed seal product labeling scheme instead. The labeling scheme would have allowed seal imports to continue from countries that kill seals provided they met strict guidelines intended to make the killing of seals more humane.

In January, the Canadian Government, that sanctions the world’s largest seal cull, announced changes in domestic killing regulations in an attempt to make the Canadian cull appear more humane and so allow the seal trade to continue.

The European Parliamentary Committee’s vote sets a clear mandate to the European Commission that a comprehensive ban on trade must be adopted.

“A comprehensive ban on trade in seal products within the European Union will be a massive blow to the seal killers that profit from appalling cruelty to defenseless animals” said Andy Ottaway, Campaign Director of SPAG, “However, we still have a lot of work to do to greater protect the hundreds of thousands seals still being slaughtered  worldwide”.

In addition to the massive Canadian seal cull, where over 300,000 seals are clubbed and shot each year, large scale seal hunts also take place in countries such as Namibia, Norway, Russia, Greenland and the UK.

In the UK, an estimated 5,000 seals are deliberately killed in Scottish waters alone each year, by salmon farming and angling interests. Although the UK Government is supporting an EU ban on all seal product imports, SPAG is concerned at the woefully inadequate protection afforded to the UK’s globally important populations of common and grey seals.

SPAG is working hard to protect the hundreds of thousands of seals being persecuted worldwide. For further details about our campaigns and how you can get involved, please click here.

PRESS ENQUIRIES: Please click here to contact us for further information

You can also help SPAG to protect seals by:

However, the Seal Protection Action Group (SPAG) does not believe that the proposed minor changes to killing methods will do anything to change the public’s perceptions of the Canadian seal hunt, or the organisations determination to stop it.

One measure proposes to ban the use the spiked club or ‘hakapik’ to kill seals over a year old unless they have been shot first.  However, with less than one percent of seals killed more than a year old, this restriction will make little difference. The use of the hakapik has led to persistent allegations that many seal pups may still be conscious after clubbing and are thus consequently skinned alive.

Around 90% of seals killed are shot, many in the water that have to be gaffed and hauled aboard the sealing boats causing untold suffering. Under the new proposals the sealers will have to ensure the skull is broken and the animals are bled for a full minute before they can begin to skin them.

Andy Ottaway, Campaign Director of SPAG has said:

“Tweaking the regulations on killing methods will do nothing to diminish public anger and revulsion at this brutal and cruel hunt. Hundreds of thousands of seal pups will still be shot, gaffed and clubbed, with many animals still skinned alive, and that is totally unacceptable in a civilized and compassionate world”.

The Canadian seal hunt is the largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world with an average of between 270,000-335,000 seals annually. The seals are killed primarily for their fur, but other products such as seal oil is sold increasingly as a ‘health supplement’. However, SPAG believes that the high levels of industrial contaminants such as PCB’s and mercury, which build up in the blubber of marine mammals such as whales and seals, poses a serious risk to human health.

The Seal Protection Action Group has been campaigning for a comprehensive EU import ban on all seal products for several years. Unfortunately, although a ban is increasingly likely this year, there is increasing concern that under current proposals seal imports will still be permitted from hunts that meet set criteria for humane killing. However, monitoring and enforcing any standards would be extremely difficult if not impossible.

Andy Ottaway of SPAG has said:

“The Canadian seal hunt is a hideously cruel, environmental atrocity and nothing the Canadian Government can do will alter that fact other than ending it once and for all. The damage it does to Canada’s image and reputation is incalculable”

Although the UK Government is supporting an EU ban on all seal product imports, SPAG is concerned over the woefully inadequate protection afforded to the UK’s globally important populations of common and grey seals. An estimated 5,000 seals are shot in Scottish waters alone each year by the Scottish salmon industry with scientists recently reporting a ‘frightening’ decline in common seals.

PRESS ENQUIRIES: Please click here to download the official Media Release

For further information about our campaign to protect seals in Canada and how you can help – please click here.

For information about our campaign to protect seals in the UK and how you can help – please click here.

Please help SPAG to protect seals by: