Russia Bans Hunt for Young Harp Seals

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."

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.

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.