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Seal hunting or sealing is the practice, history and industries associated with both personal and commercial hunting of seals. Long prized for their hide and as a food source by indigenous societies, seals were severely diminished in numbers once commercial sealing became a major industry. They are still hunted today, though regulations are comparatively strict, and the images from seal hunts have become famous symbols for conservation and animal cruelty activists.
Today,
commercial sealing is conducted by only five nations: Greenland, Namibia, Norway, Russia, and Canada. The United States, which had formerly been heavily involved in the sealing industry, now maintains a complete ban on the commercial hunting of marine mammals, however, indigenous peoples are allowed to hunt a small number of seals each year.
The Canadian seal hunt is monitored by the Canadian government. However, although approximately 70% of Canadian seals killed are killed on "The Front", the vast majority of private monitors focus on the St. Lawrence hunt, due to its more convenient location.
The 2006 St. Lawrence leg of the hunt was officially closed on Apr. 3, 2006. Sealers
had exceeded the quota by 1,000 animals by the time the hunt was closed.
Canadian sealing regulations include, among others:
* The minimum and maximum dimensions of both the clubs and the hakapiks that can be used;
* The minimum caliber of rifle and minimum bullet velocity that can be used;
And the following stipulations:
* “Every person who strikes a seal with a club or hakapik shall strike the seal on the forehead until its skull has been crushed”;
* “No person shall commence to skin or bleed a seal until the seal is dead”;
* “[A] seal is dead when it has a glassy-eyed, staring appearance and exhibits no blinking reflex when its eye is touched while it is in a relaxed condition”;
* “Every person who fishes for seals for personal or commercial use shall land the pelt or the carcass of the seal”;