[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1314 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1314

    Urging the Government of Canada to end the commercial seal hunt.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 29, 2010

 Mr. Hastings of Florida submitted the following resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

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                               RESOLUTION


 
    Urging the Government of Canada to end the commercial seal hunt.

Whereas the Government of Canada permits an annual commercial hunt for seals in 
        the waters off the east coast of Canada;
Whereas Canada's commercial seal hunt is the largest of its kind in the world, 
        with an average allowable catch of about 300,000 harp seals;
Whereas the Government of Canada banned the commercial hunting of newborn harp 
        seals (whitecoats) and hooded seal pups (bluebacks) in 1987, but allows 
        sealers to legally hunt harp seal pups as soon as they begin to molt 
        their white coats, at approximately 12 days of age;
Whereas 97 percent or more of the seals killed are pups between just 12 days and 
        12 weeks of age;
Whereas seals are hunted for their pelts, oil, and meat;
Whereas commercial seal hunting differs from subsistence seal hunting;
Whereas several aboriginal and Inuit communities traditionally subsist on seal 
        hunting and, for that reason, are exempt from restrictions applying to 
        the commercial seal hunt;
Whereas, in recent years, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans of Canada has 
        authorized historically high quotas for harp seals;
Whereas the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans of Canada has decided to increase 
        the quota for seals for the 2010 commercial seal hunt despite high pup 
        mortality, low seal fur prices and reduced industry participation;
Whereas seals are either shot or struck on the head by a hakapik or club;
Whereas many seals are injured in the course of the hunt and escape beneath the 
        ice where they die slowly and are never recovered;
Whereas such seals are not properly counted in official kill statistics, 
        increasing the likelihood that the actual kill level is far higher than 
        the level that is reported;
Whereas, in 2007, an international panel of experts in veterinary medicine and 
        zoology was invited by the Humane Society of the United States to 
        observe the commercial seal hunt in Canada;
Whereas the report by the panel noted a widespread failure by sealers to comply 
        with the Marine Mammal Regulations that govern the commercial seal hunt 
        and by authorities to effectively monitor the hunt and enforce such 
        regulations;
Whereas, also in 2007, the Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare adopted 
        the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) Scientific Opinion;
Whereas the report concluded that avoidable pain, distress, fear, and other 
        forms of suffering occur during hunting and that seals may be skinned 
        while still alive;
Whereas members of the fishing and sealing industries in Canada continue to 
        justify the seal hunt on the grounds that the seals in the Northwest 
        Atlantic are preventing the recovery of cod stocks, despite the lack of 
        any credible scientific evidence to support this claim;
Whereas the consensus in the international scientific community is that culling 
        seals will not assist in the recovery of fish stocks and that seals are 
        a vital part of the Northwest Atlantic marine ecosystem;
Whereas the few thousand fishermen who participate in the commercial seal hunt 
        in Canada earn, on average, only a tiny fraction of their annual income 
        from killing seals with the remainder coming from seafood;
Whereas a recent poll reveals that half of Newfoundland sealers holding an 
        opinion support a Federal buyout of the commercial sealing industry 
        which would compensate fishermen for their sealing licenses and invest 
        in economic alternatives in the communities involved;
Whereas polling has consistently shown that the majority of people in Canada 
        oppose the commercial seal hunt and support foreign nations' ending 
        their trade in seal products;
Whereas 11 countries have prohibited trade in seal products in recent years, 
        including the United States and the European Union;
Whereas the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) bars 
        the import into the United States of any seal products; and
Whereas the persistence of this cruel and needless commercial hunt is 
        inconsistent with the well-earned international reputation of Canada: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) urges the Government of Canada to prohibit its 
        commercial hunting of seals, while allowing subsistence hunting 
        for aboriginal and Inuit communities; and
            (2) strongly encourages other countries to ban trade in 
        seal products.
                                 <all>